After months of conference calls and regular working group meetings, the Canadian Youth Delegation is ready to meet in person, for the first time tomorrow afternoon (November 26).
This first meeting has been billed a "pre-summit," and is being hosted by the good folks at TakingItGlobal in Toronto. The pre-summit offers delegates some basic skills training in areas of climate policy (e.g. key issues to watch out for in Poznan), media messaging and the use of new media, anti-oppression, and even a quick lesson on basic Polish. What an amazing way to build a stronger, more engaged group of participants!
The CAW was asked by CYD pre-summit organizers to participate in a delegate mentorship program, which aims to educate delegates on climate challenges and solutions from a variety of perspectives - including workers. Nick DeCarlo, of the CAW Health, Safety & Environment department is scheduled to speak at this event along with folks like Clayton Thomas-Mueller of the Indigenous Environmental Network and Cheryl Ratchford of the Ecology Action Centre.
I'm hoping to upload some materials, as well as photos, from this event to share with those following this blog. Understanding these different perspectives on climate change is so vital in our efforts to build bridges of solidarity across progressive movements, and may be of use to many of you out there... wherever you are!
Before leaving for Poznan on Friday the 28th my goal is to provide a short debrief on the pre-summit (which runs from the 26-27), some background material on the UN Climate Change Conference itself (and all of it's complexities) as well as all relevant policy, media and action-oriented material produced by the CYD over the past months. Enough reading to keep you occupied for weeks!
