THUNDER BAY — A two-day Northern Ontario Youth Climate Action Summit began at Westgate Collegiate Vocational Institute on Wednesday.
The summit was part of the 13th annual Thunder Bay Science Festival, which also featured events at SnowDay on the Waterfront on Monday and a 19+ Nerd Nite at Sleeping Giant Brewing Company on Tuesday.
Ashley Larose, CEO of Science North, explained the high school was chosen for the summit because “the answers of the future lie in the students of today.”
“If we can really educate and inspire this generation to take action toward climate change, we’ll all be better for it and… we are there to then support them,” said Larose.
Students had the chance to bead bracelets in remembrance of their ancestors as part of the event.
Larose said that, as far as she could understand, students were loving the summit.
“Really, all of the problems that we’re facing in the future are going to be solved by science and so what we’re hoping to do is change people’s minds around what they may think science looks like. Science is all around us,” said Larose.
“It’s in everything that we do and when they can understand that and they also understand that they have the tools to make a difference, then we’ll have done our job.”
She said if they can help empower them with the tools they need, that will help everyone toward a better climate future.
However, Larose added they never love to do activities at Science North that involve just grown-ups speaking to kids.
“We really want them to be involved, to be building, to be doing and so there will be some educational components where we teach them about some of the upcoming technologies, but also we want them to understand that they can take control of their future,” said Larose.
She explained it really is about inspiring and letting them see that they can make a difference.
“We’ll teach them about responsible activism and what that can look like, that their voice matters and how they can have their voice be heard, what sustainable technologies look like and they’ll get to do some experimenting around sustainable technologies as well,” said Larose.
The final Science Carnival will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Intercity Shopping Centre.
As Science North’s longest-running festival, it will help the organization connect more with its communities yearly.
“We are right in the middle of Science North’s 13th Science Festival here in Thunder Bay. We have events running all week and we culminate on Saturday with our big science festival,” said Larose.
“It’s a free event. We invite everybody to come and join us and it’s really where we will showcase the amazing science and innovation that’s happening right here in Thunder Bay. It’s hands-on. It’s a lot of fun. There are lots of activities for the entire family and we hope to see everybody come out.”
She said they have a great team, locally and from Sudbury, to ensure that the festival really has lots of great hands-on and Science North-style activities.
“What could be better than mixing a carnival with science, where visitors are going to get to interact with science, technology (and) Indigenous knowledge, all in a really fun and interactive way, which is the Science North way,” said Larose.
She added that they really bring in activities that help to communicate “the science that’s here.”
“It’s not just walking around looking at posters. There’ll be all kinds of experiments, lots of different activities and really something for all ages,” said Larose.
