Centennial College students attended a story circle to discuss solutions to climate change hosted at the Story Arts Centre this Friday.
The story circle was a learning event that took place after Greta Thunberg’s heartfelt speech last week at the UN climate action summit.
“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are in the beginning of a mass extinction,” she said at the summit.
The story circle was an initiative to bring local millennials together and share their views on climate change. About 30 students sat in a circle and discussed what they thought was behind climate change and shared how it affected them personally.
Thunberg’s speech sparked great conversation and solutions at the story circle. Education in primary and secondary schools was one of the solutions, students proposed.
A recent study found, that the Canadian curricula are providing inadequate information on climate change to high school students.
It found that learning objectives tend to focus on “little or no emphasis on scientific consensus, climate change impacts, or ways to address the issue.”
According to the study, 52 per cent of young adults between the ages of 18 to 24 are “somewhat concerned” and “not at all concerned” about climate change.
Students said that education is the key to climate change solutions. They said that highschools should better educate them on the side effects of climate change and hot reverse these side effects.
Students then broke down into smaller groups of 10 and had intimate discussions with their facilitators and peers. They discussed how the consequences of climate change can be reversed.
As well as education, students also shared other solutions to combat climate change. Some solutions students suggested were: free transit allowing fewer cars and pollution, apps giving daily climate-friendly tips, and reducing plastic use.
Although Thunberg said that the effects of climate change are irreversible, Centennial College students were hopeful and are taking steps every day to reduce the side effects of climate change.
Students said they use reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, recycle, and walk instead of driving to create a greener environment.
Students ended the discussion by sharing their thoughts on the climate change story circle. Some of the words they used to describe the event were “overwhelmed,” “informed,” “aware,” and “educated.”