The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Environmental Studies Program, with the support of Vice Chancellor Ronnie Green, College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources Dean Steven Waller and NebraskaSCIENCE, will host the #Youth4Climate Rally from 3 to 4 p.m. Dec. 4 in the Centennial Room of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.
In the leadup to December’s Conference of Parties 21 in Paris, the program is partnering with the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the White House in a United Nations initiative to promote climate change awareness among youth. Program leaders want to identify and develop ways in which youth can move from awareness to action using the resources and expertise at UNL.
The Environmental Studies Program is inviting all departments and programs on campus to participate in the event. The rally will include speeches by Green and representatives from the Association of Students of the University of Nebraska and Sustain UNL. Students will be able to view informational posters and are encouraged to share photos of themselves with promotional materials via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #Youth4Climate. Students will also have the opportunity to brainstorm new ways of getting involved on campus.
Departments will promote opportunities for students involved in their discipline who also have an interest in climate change and related issues such as national security, food security, innovations in agriculture, climate refugees, drought mitigation, social justice and local/state/federal/global policy.
The Environmental Studies Program will create posters for all cooperating departments and programs and display them prominently at the event. It will then send the posters back to the home departments to display in their main educational spaces for continued reference by their students.
Departments are encouraged to further explore cross-disciplinary opportunities that may exist outside of the academic community and offer partnerships off-campus. The Environmental Studies Program has initiated a large K-12 project to coincide with the event and already has commitments from educators working with about 3,000 students across Nebraska. These students are creating awareness through postcards, posters and bumper stickers.
