UPEI biology student Christian Norton says a national youth conference he took part in was literally out of this world.
Norton was one of three UPEI students selected to join other young leaders at the all-expenses-paid conference recently. He was joined by Joshua Mohan and Joy Ang Xin Yi.
The keynote speaker at Impact! Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership was none other than Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who shared his perspective on the planet and the special role young people can play.
“He inspired us to be leaders,’’ Norton said. “He is an astronaut and that is the pinnacle of most kids’ dreams. He talked about space . . . but the underlying theme was the essence of leadership and how to be a leader.’’
The UPEI students were among 175 college and university students chosen from more than 730 applicants across Canada to participate at the event hosted by the University of Guelph. The conference included workshops, mentoring and funding for student projects.
The students teamed up with experts to develop real sustainability solutions to take back to their campuses, communities and current or future workplaces.
Norton talked about the importance of not just moving into jobs like medicine, engineering or public works to gain experience and cash pay cheques. He talked about bringing ideas and concepts with them.
“We talked about challenges with sustainability, how to make sustainability accessible to the public and how to take these ideas back with us.’’
Norton’s task at the conference was citizen engagement, finding ways to engage people about sustainability.
“The conclusion we came to is if your message isn’t understandable then no one is going to understand. Communication is the most important part for citizens engagement.’’
Norton plans on taking the energy he came home with and applying it to a project that involves water but he isn’t saying much more than that, thanks to some media training he got, learning what not to say to reporters.
