Student-led discussions, student research posters, and energy experts will occupy concourse
By Jamal Al-Bayaa, Staff Writer
On April 1, FortisBC and Douglas College will be putting on their energy and climate change themed event titled “Climate Change: Beyond the Headlines.” This is the third event that FortisBC and Douglas are doing together.
The event will highlight student research projects and bring community energy leaders together in a panel, where they will be preparing materials and engaging in discussions with students based on questions they might have.
The panel discussion will be thought-provoking and exciting, since students from one of Douglas College’s Geology classes will be coming prepared with an array of questions that should garner comprehensive responses.
Before the panel will be more conversation. Eight student-led dialogues will be hosted by Siobhan Ashe’s Environmental Sociology class, with themes such as efficiency, innovation, and conservation.
One of these groups is linking energy, climate change, and agricultural choices together in a way that hopes to shed light on how our food choices can positively or negatively affect the planet. In these dialogues, participants can expect a chance to talk about what they know, present their ideas, and listen to the ideas of others. The goal of these dialogues are to present a “solution page” to Fortis based off of the discussion that each dialogue table has.
While all this is going on in the Fishbowl, the concourse will be teeming with student-research posters, approximately 15 in all, that fall either under the category of “Creative Solution” or “Scientific Inquiry.” A vote will take place, judging the observers’ favourite posters. The winner by majority will receive a $200 cash prize for the efforts.
Voting on posters is one of many ways that participants can engage in the event in a meaningful way.
“This is an event for everybody,” student organizer Alina Alimbetova said in an interview.
Alimbetova was pivotal in organizing the event, and said the hardest part wasn’t the event itself, but in coordinating the number of busy students who are trying to balance work, school, and other volunteering events. She did add that what makes it all worthwhile is that all of the students she is working with are interested and motivated to help.
Overall, about 12 students will be needed to run the event smoothly. Everything from IT, to volunteer coordination, to popcorn vending are equally important in making sure that everyone can enjoy the event as much as possible.
One notable guest is NDP New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy. Environmentalism has been an important issue to her for over 20 years. In the late 1990s, Darcy co-founded Water Watch, a national and local alliance of environmentalists, citizens groups and blue-collar water workers who showed enthusiasm and commitment to preserving clean water and making it freely accessible to the public.
