Regina Flores

My name is Regina Flores and I am an Environmental and Resource Studies major at Trent University. I am involved in environmental issues both from an academic and personal interest standpoint. I chair a student-based committee that raises and addresses environmental issues that pertain not only to the university context but to the community and beyond.

The experience of sitting as the student coordinator on the Presidential Environmental Advisory Committee at Trent has reinforced my conviction that student representation is essential in addressing environmentally related concerns, because the views of youth offer a different and valuable perspective. For this reason I feel that the student involvement at the World Conservation Congress is an important step in improving communication and awareness and in establishing ties between youth and the environment.

The main objective of the IUCN is to encourage the conservation of nature and natural resources in the context of sustainable development. Sustainability is especially relevant to youth because of our interest in future generations and the future of the Earth. It is, therefore, our duty, as student representatives, to share the knowledge that we will gain here with others in order to accelerate the environmental education effort.

My specific role during the Congress is to research and become informed about the main issues and the specific workshop topics and to report my findings back to the team.