 Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay) Nunavut. Photo Credit: Brandon Pludwinski Several months have now passed since the 2023 Youth Leadership Summit in Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut. Looking back, it's hard to avoid the thought of wildfire evacuations and the associated anxiety, stress and grief many of us experienced during that time. We know that for participants of YLS 2023, these thoughts were at the forefront. Day one of the gathering coincided with the official evacuation order from the city of Yellowknife and several other NWT communities. This meant only a fraction of the registered participants were able to attend. However, for the small group who were able to gather, the teachings and discussions throughout the week held extra significance. The Summit began with a facilitated workshop at the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), led by Sarah Newton, who helped the group identify individual and collective core values for grounding discussions of climate change in the north. Those values were: Adaptability, Respect, Sharing & Resilience.  2023 Youth Leadership Summit Participants and Facilitators. Now, these values will of course look different depending on who is applying them, and where. But in all cases, they inform how we connect with new people, ideas, and situations. Having to adjust in the case of this year's summit certainly gave us a unique situation (if we can call it that). But it ended up being a valuable opportunity to put some of those values mentioned above into practice. Expectations had to shift. We needed to adapt, but we also needed to ensure we were still working toward the shared goals of the group. Going Deep We talk about gatherings like these being a place where youth can build their capacity to confront climate justice struggles with strength and resilience. But how does that even happen? We definitely have the potential to mark a poignant shift for people at these events, but this likely can't happen if we only come for a shallow exchange of ideas. The goal of YLS is to leave feeling energized by new connections, so that our efforts can be sustained once everyone heads back to their home communities - which is why youth are encouraged to share their vulnerabilities, to speak openly about anxieties, and to talk about the grief they experience witnessing drastic ecological changes in the lands they live. Reflecting on what he witnessed as an organizer for this year's gathering, Brandon Pludwinski of Ecology North noted how, "Some [participants] found comfort in being heard, some found comfort in hearing others, and some found comfort in knowing that they’re not alone."  Uvayuq, Nunavut. Photo Credit: Brandon Pludwinski These summits are vital because they gather people of varied backgrounds to share a common emotional thread. They allow us to explore the connections that only show up when we're given the chance to tell our stories openly in the presence of others. That isn't to say that these threads erase what's distinct however. Our differences are important, because we are each uniquely capable of bringing something new into our awareness of what climate change is, how it connects to other struggles we face, and how we each might respond to it. When we see the ways others are responding to distressing ecological changes where they live, we can be motivated. We can recognize that though we might feel a heaviness, we can all still move with a sense of commitment to our values, by sharing the weight together. Who's Got the Map? This point is particularly powerful when given the opportunity to learn from Inuit Elders invited to the gathering. Elders spoke to participants of times in living memory when they could plan according to an understanding of the transitions between the seasons year to year. Now they note that the ice may not be thick enough to go out hunting when they used to, threatening access to traditional foods, and making travel more risky. But there also seemed to be a welcome sense of assurance. Participant, Juutai McKitrick reflected on how "the North has always been a place of struggle", adding that Inuit societal values prompt us to "look at what we can do." There's a sense of humility and respect in that, but also... perhaps a call to experiment. To share ideas, and to keep on moving, finding out through collaborating and learning together what it is we can in fact do. We have these paths of connection available to us, through story, and memory, and conversation that can strengthen and renew us in order to meet uncertain roads ahead with wisdom at our back.  Presentation at Kitikmeot Heritage Society. Photo Credit: Brandon Pludwinski I'll close with a quote from YLS 2023 facilitator Sarah Newton: "The value in experiences like this cannot just be measured in the time that’s spent together, as time can take on strange shapes in the land of the midnight sun when a group is connecting at the heart level, or in the distance you travel to get to a strange land. It’s in the strength of the connections you build and the things you take with you on the journey forward." So let's continue to do all we can to expose the systems, mindsets and behaviours that harm our planet's capacity to heal. But as we do, let's also remember to stay open to the unexpected connections that form as we venture down pathways, new and old - together.  Iqaluktuuttiaq (Cambridge Bay), Nunavut. Photo Credit: Brandon Pludwinski It’s the seventh and final day of the 2017 Young Leaders’ Summit on Northern Climate Change! We spent the morning packing our gear into the vans and headed off to the Yukon Arts Centre in Whitehorse for our press conference. This event allowed us to share what we learnt throughout the summit and our plans for climate change action with the public. Following our presentation of our declaration, a few participants were interviewed by the press about their experiences, which was aired on the radio. We then visited the Whitehorse Rapids fish ladder (the longest wooden fish ladder in the world) and learnt fun facts about the Yukon River salmon migration while watching fish swim by. The NWT/Nunavut participants had to catch our flight to Yellowknife so we said goodbye to the Yukon participants and made our last drive of the trip to the Whitehorse airport. We’ve had an amazing week travelling and learning about climate change with an awesome group of individuals! Many thanks to everyone who made this trip a success and who shared their perspectives, stories, and research about climate change with us!   Learning from Bart at Elemental Farm Day 6 was our last full day together in the Yukon. We spent the morning of at Elemental Farm, a certified organic farm owned and operated by Bart and Kate, located about 30 minutes outside of Whitehorse. The family’s hard work and commitment to sustainable living in the North was inspiring. For those of us that were interested in starting a home or community garden in our own communities, Bart encouraged us to just dive in and get started with what we have available to us. The success of their farm didn’t come without trial and error, and a lot of hard work.
We spent the afternoon at Ear Lake with Gillian from WWF-Canada, who came to Whitehorse from Inuvik to do a Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup with our group. It was crazy to see the number of trash bags that were collected in the few short hours that we spent there. My favorite part about this day was the feeling that I, as a young person, could go home to my community and implement the things that we learned about. For the past few years, I have grown a small container garden at my house in Yellowknife. Every year I have expanded bit by bit, and tried growing a few new plants. Over time, I am learning what works and what doesn’t. This process of trial and error is the same thing that Bart and his family have done to grow their farm. Our time spent on Elemental Farm has encouraged me to keep going in that direction. The Shoreline Cleanup is something that all of us can host in our own communities. Participating in cleaning up the shoreline of Ear Lake together promoted a sense of community in our group, and it was great to learn about this opportunity that is accessible to all of us. The activities of the day showed us that going to school and becoming a researcher isn’t the only way to make a difference. There are things that we can get up and do now in our home communities that will have a positive impact.  Team building at the BYTE Leadership Workshop Day 5 of the Summit brought us back to Whitehorse, but not without a few stops along the way. Zoé and Hana from BYTE led us through workshops centered on leadership, communication, and community awareness. We took the David Baum & Associates Leadership Wheel assessment, a tool which assesses your leadership styles during positive and negative scenarios. This self-reflection is an important element of personal growth. Later on we broke into smaller groups to discuss our home communities: what makes our communities strong, what fosters a sense of community, and what positive changes are ongoing to improve engagement. It was a day of personal growth which strengthened our network of young leaders, and helped guide the idea development and writing of our climate change declaration.
To finish off their week-long summit, the young leaders of the 2017 Young Leaders Summit on Northern Climate Change held a press conference at which they made a declaration for climate change action. After their presentation, a few participants got to speak to the press about their experience! They did an awesome job of talking about what they gained through participating in the summit. Listen to their interviews with CBC Radio!  Martha is one of the participants in the interview! |