POLLUTION SOLUTION
Project Background
The Community Change Initiative (CCI) is a year long project undertaken by second year students in the Leadership Program at the University of Denver. The purpose of the CCI is for a group of leadership students to come together around a shared passion related to a current social issue. Throughout the three quarters of their second year, groups will research their issue and connect with community stakeholders in order to establish and create meaningful and uplifting change, ideally with some degree of impact lasting past the lifetime of the year-long CCI project itself.
Defining Our Issue
Our CCI project addresses the issue of climate change through environmental education for youth. Climate change is perhaps the biggest issue that the world collectively faces, but unfortunately, there is a general lack of care regarding the issue. Care and concern for the planet and its rapidly shifting climate is often developed through engaging with the outdoors and nature, but unfortunately there is a significant lack of outdoor exposure for the typical youth in our modern age. One of the biggest challenges in creating care for climate change is consistent and frequent access to the outdoors, something that is especially challenging for underprivileged communities.
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Tragically, the effects of climate change disproportionately affect these underprivileged communities, which is why it is important for students of all backgrounds to have access to the same outdoor opportunities and education. Without access and education in regards to the natural world, youth are not being provided with the opportunity to cultivate a long-lasting love for the outdoors or natural spaces. Such love, we believe, is fundamental to creating effective and passionate advocates for action to prevent climate change and perhaps alter the course of our planet.
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Climate change has been recognized by many scientists and individuals as the greatest threat that the human race collectively faces at the moment. Our planet is rapidly approaching a point of no return, at which no amount of drastic and radical change will be able to save the Earth. A global increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius will cause irreversible harm to health and biodiversity. Burning fossil fuels pollutes the air leading to heart attacks and strokes, causing between three and nine million premature deaths a year. Increased temperatures have already reduced crop yields and the overall nutritional quality of food. Countries and populations already struggling with food insecurity will face increased malnutrition, leading to illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
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Without action, erratic and damaging events will continue to occur more frequently and cause massive harm to our planet and its populations. In regards to classroom settings, a vast majority of teachers and parents believe that climate change and environmental topics should be taught in some form. However, less than half of all teachers are able to and supported in teaching these topics in public schools, contributing to the massive lack of environmental education.
Project Abstract
Our project addresses the issue of climate change by providing young students with access to the outdoors and environmental education. By bringing students of all backgrounds and identities together in an outdoor experience that is not only exciting but also informative, our program worked to instill a passion for the environment in young students that will drive them to take action in the future. By working with our community partners at two of Denver’s public schools, Cole Arts and Science Academy and Garden Place Academy, we implemented a program to address the gaps in environmental education. Our program succeeded in taking students out into nature and ran classroom-based learning sessions for four Fridays during the month of April. These sessions consisted of fun activities as well as informational segments in order to both engage and teach students about the issues of climate change and its effects on the world around them.
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