A few weeks ago, I discussed my connection with Greening Forward: a youth led, nonprofit environmental organization aimed at educating and galvanizing youth to take action on pressing environmental issues. Being their outreach manager, one of my major tasks is to plan their yearly conference, this year renamed the Empowered Young Envrionmentalist’s Summit (EYES). As the conference quickly approaches, and planning begins to be finalized, I wanted to share some about it, as well as how you all can get involved. It’s shaping up to be an incredible event for both environmnentalists the general public alike. So, let’s talk about EYES 2019!
What is EYES?
The best place is to start is by talking about what exactly this conference is. Essentially, EYES, held annually in New York City, is a conference that brings together over a dozen organizations from the New York area to educate high school about environmental issues and the ways in which they can get involved in the solutions. It’s an opportunity for organizations to network, forward their projects, and find volunteers, as well as a chance for students to begin their advocacy in interesting and meaningful ways. It’s fun, engaging, informative, and most importantly, inspiring.
The Four-Pronged Approach
How exactly does the conference accomplish this? Well, EYES engages youth using four major approaches:
1. By offering a tabling opportunity for organizations which allows students to talk with them and find volunteer/internship opportunities. This gives an opportunity for organizations to spread awareness about what they do, as well as an opportunity for students to get involved in their local communities.
2. By hosting fun and creative workshops that engage students on a more personal level, and which typically focus on more specific environmental issues or solutions.
3. By showcasing youth speaker presentations which share various stories about how youth have and can enter into the environmental movement.
4. By provoking thoughtful student discussion and debate meant to encourage insightful thought about both issues and solutions.
With this four-pronged approach, the conference aims to not only educate but inspire students to act on environmental issues within all walks of life. We include this mixture of different approaches to ensure that all students, regardless of how they learn, are engaged and involved.
What Issues Does it Focus On?
EYES focuses on a broad spectrum of different environmental issues, from climate change, to deforestation, to environmental justice, to solutions like how to start sustainable projects in your community, to enhancing climate change communication, and much, much more. Depending on which organizations attend, the issues and solutions addressed, as well as the topics in general, can tend to vary, but the conference aims to address the widest variety of both issues and solutions possible.
EYES 2019
That’s EYES in general, but I want to spend the second half of this post talking specifically about this year’s conference. This is the part you should pay close attention to if you’re thinking about possibly attending.
The Schedule
This year’s conference will be spread out over two days: March 29th and 30th, and it’s going to be held at the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The first will largely consist of discussion based activities, a movie screening, and a conference breakdown (which will be provided on the second day as well). The second day is the “main” day of the conference, and includes the tabling session, workshops, as well as speaker presentations and and student debates and discussions. It’s going to be a full two days, so let me break it down a little bit more in detail:
The First Day
Here's a schedule breakdown of the first day (please note: these schedules are subject to change):
The Second Day
And here’s the schedule for the second day:
Attendance
Those are the major details so far, and further ones about specific workshops and organizations are soon to come. If you think you or someone you know would be interested in attending, then you can find more logistical information and details, as well as a registration form/sign up sheet, on the EYES web page by clicking here. Additionally, we have an official flyer for the event, so spread the word about it to those you think would be interested!
Conclusion
This conference is the culmination of a ton of work from the Greening Forward crew, and it would mean a a lot if we could get a healthy number of passionate students to attend. This conference is aimed at educating and inspiring as many people as possible in a time where environmental issues are only beginning to reach the forefront of people’s attention, and it is just one of the many different steps Greening Forward has taken to forward their goal. So, if you know anyone who might be interested in attending, or if you’d be interested in attending yourself, then sign up! It’s shaping up to be a fantastic event, and I’m going to continue to work to make it the best that it can be. Here’s to a great year for EYES!
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