Climate Change Exchange links youth in four Olympic host countries

Teen leaders discuss challenges and solutions in their respective parts of the world

TORONTO, March 9 /CNW/ - On March 9 & 10, the Ontario Science Centre and the British Council will co-host a live event connecting youth in Olympic host nations. They will discuss the challenges facing their countries as well as their hopes and proposed solutions for climate change.

The real-time dialogues (10 am - 12:30 pm EST each day) will link countries in four continents with different climates and socio-economic conditions. The countries are Canada (2010 Winter Games), the United Kingdom, (2012 Summer Games), Russia, (2014 Winter Games) and Brazil, (2016 Summer Games).

Participants will be students in high school and university, including a core group of British Council International Climate Champions. The young people will discuss the biggest challenges facing their countries and their ideas about how to tackle climate change. The dialogues will be linked by video-conference and largely based at science museums, including the Science Museum in London and the Museu da Vida in Rio de Janeiro.

In Toronto, sessions will be moderated by Nishin Nathwani a dynamic 17-year old human rights activist from Centre Wellington District High School in Fergus, Ont. and a panellist at this year's World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

"The Ontario Science Centre is a place for young people - our future leaders -- to learn, to voice ideas and opinions, and to engage in new ways of thinking about themselves and the world around them," said Lesley Lewis, CEO, Ontario Science Centre. "This event will encourage youth from around the world to share ideas, and strive to find solutions to current and future climate change issues."

The Canadian panellists are:

    
    -   Julie D'Aoust, Marianopolis College, Montreal
    -   Thamy Giritharan, Marc Garneau Collegiate Institute, Toronto
    -   David Lawless, undergraduate student, University of Guelph, Guelph
    -   Edmonton-born Allan Luk, University of Toronto Schools, Toronto
    

"These young leaders are vectors of change," said Martin Rose, director British Council Canada. "They will set the cultural climate in which decisions are taken over the next few years and their leverage over Canada and the world's future will grow and grow," he says.

The event can be viewed live at:

http://www.snwebcastcenter.com/event/?event_id=810

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organization to promote education and cultural relations. We value and promote equal opportunity and diversity/Nous respectons et favorisons l'égalité des chances et la diversité.

    
    About the Ontario Science Centre
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The Ontario Science Centre opened on September 26, 1969, a global pioneer of the concept of an interactive science museum. Since then, well over 44 million visitors have passed through its doors. It is a model for over 2,000 science centres built since its inception around the world.

The Ontario Science Centre uses science as the lens to inspire and actively engage people in new ways of seeing, understanding and thinking about themselves and the world around them. The Ontario Science Centre is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For more information, visit www.ontariosciencecentre.ca or call our box office at 416-696-1000.

For further information: Margret Brady Nankivell, Programmes & Communications Manager, British Council, Tel: [phone] or Cell: [phone], [email protected]; Anna Relyea, Associate Director, Strategic Communications, Ontario Science Centre, Tel: [phone], Cell: [phone], [email protected]