YRE students attending WEEC in Vancouver
For the second time, YRE has been given the exciting opportunity of sending students to participate in the World Environmental Education Congress (WEEC).
This year, the congress will take place in Vancouver in Canada from the 9th to the 13th of September. YRE will be represented by 13 aspiring students from Turkey and Canada, including three from Seaquam Secondary, two from University of British Columbia, and eight from Izmir Saint Joseph High School.
The students will attend the different sessions, conduct interviews with participants, and write articles about their experiences. Make sure to have a look on Exposure, as we will be uploading the students’ articles here.
For the final plenary session, on the 13th of September, a highly dedicated student from Canada has been selected to be part of the panel discussion. Abnash Bassi is a grade 11 student from Seaquam Secondary in Delta. Through her participation in the YRE programme, she was inspired to become involved in a variety of activities related to education and environment. On the panel, she will be representing YRE internationally and she will also be talking about her personal experiences from the programme.
With Abnash’s permission, we are sharing the following extract from her application:
“For me, YRE means focusing on spreading environmental awareness, but more so empowering myself and others to explore the capabilities we have in being messengers of change. You see, the power of being a Young Reporter for the Environment lies not in the title, nor the recognition, but in the raw epiphany that it serves as. As a teenager, I consume an endless amount of media. We use the media to learn, understand, and evolve alongside the world around us. However, a great deal of environmental issues are not explored by the media, and when they are, the coverage is often confusing and incomplete. This lack of coverage creates a gaping chasm in society’s understanding and fosters cognitive dissonance or even blind ignorance. It is within this chasm that the seemingly short term challenge of creating a video, composing a photo, or crafting an essay transforms into a long term bridge, a continuum of awareness. We ourselves can cover essential environmental issues - not just as reporters for a media company, or a school newspaper, but as reporters for the environment.”