By Daniel Hammond, The Students Commission
Members of the Environmental Club at Westview Centennial Secondary School in Toronto are taking action to change their community. On February 7, 1997 they hosted an official press conference to launch their implementation of a program called the "Environmental Sustainability Indicators for Action Project". The project was put out by the Rescue Mission team, a group of young people from around the world. Furthermore, Environment Canada published the project package as an initiative for young Canadians to examine sustainabilty in their region.
Specifically twenty-two Canadian schools are taking part in the project, and Toronto's Westview is one of them. Two hundred schools from across Canada have been invited to participate next year! The Canadian government is looking for ideas, concerns and ideas about the environment, especially from youth, and it hopes that the "Environmental Sustainability Indicators for Action Project" will fit the bill. Ever since the release of agenda 21 in 1992, an action plan on Sustainable Development put out by the UN, governments around the world have been seeking youth to commit themselves to the environment. The results have been seen in the formation of such groups as the Rescue Mission team.
Sustainability Indicators
What are "Sustainability Indicators"? They are things about community life that are easily measured and can be changed. Indicators can tell a whole lot about how a community is changing and whether or not those changes are sustainable. Examples are biodiversity, security, waste and pollution, and education and culture. The term sustainability means whether or not something promotes life and well-being for all living things. Obviously, the students at Westview have their work cut out for them!
The first step for the members of the Environmental Club was to decide what geographical area they wanted to study. As suggested in the project package, a geographical area is best studied by starting with a map. The map could be that of a community, a town or a whole city! The students at Westview then made a presentation which included a look at sixteen sustainability indicators.
"As you can see from the diversity of racial backgrounds in our group, we are concerned with the things that have an impact on us, like education and culture, human rights and quality of life" explained Anna Truong, Enviro Club member. Members chose these areas after much discussion and a review of the indicators of the Sustainability Indicators Project. Members of the Westview Club are planning to use surveys and interviews to study education, culture and human rights in their neighbourhood. Using surveys and interviews are not the only methods for creating an indicator, in fact as mentioned in the project package, there are many interesting and educational ways of implementing an indicator. Read the project package to find out just what these are.
Young people all over the world are taking a closer look at their communities. Being universally applicable, the Sustainability Indicators Project is one way that this is being realized. The Environmental Club members at Westview Centennial are armed with the facts and committed to making a difference through education and action. Now that is leadership in action!
Link to Environment Canada's Green Lane: http://www.ec.gc.caTell us about your sustainability project, POST to the discussion forum!
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© 1997 - TG Magazine / The Students Commission
© 1997 le magazine TG / la Commission des étudiants