CCEAC has just finished up our busiest term
ever! This term saw the Climate Change Fair, Weekly Public
Lectures,
Brown Bag lunch seminars, the Pledge Competition, The Climate Change
Expo, Alternative Car Day, and the Interfaculty Symposium on Climate
Change.
Thanks again to all our volunteers, as well as
everyone who came out to learn more or give words of encouragement at our
public events.
The Coffeehouse
The Coffeehouse was our biggest fundraising
event, and featured local bands at the Bombshelter in the SLC.
Weekly Public Lectures
Professor LeDrew's open public lectures brought
in experts from a number of fields, all dealing with climate change. The
lecture topics ranged from Parks & Recreation to the Kyoto Protocol, and
were held in combination with Geography 475.
The Climate Change Fair
The Climate Change fair was the term's first
major attempt at reaching the wider UW student audience, and featured
information booths and public seminars in the Great Hall of the Student Life
Centre.
Brown Bag Lunch Seminars
These seminars were held over lunch hours, to
give staff and faculty a chance to get a comprehensive and concise account of
the core issues and challenges surrounding climate change. This seminar
was an evolved version of the one given at the Climate Change Fair, and it
continued its development process right up into the Climate Change Expo.
The Pledge Competition
In the pledge competition, we asked campus
groups and others to form teams to spread the word about climate change, while
raising money for their favourite campus club or charity. The pledge
read as follows: We, the undersigned,
recognize that climate change is a serious global challenge, and that action
to mitigate it must be taken by individuals. We therefore commit to
learning more about climate change, and taking personal action to reduce
emissions of greenhouse gases.
The Climate Change Expo
The Climate Change Expo was our biggest event
yet - a weeklong affair returning again to the Student Life Centre. It featured information booths from groups such as the Residential
Energy Efficiency Project, the Citizens Advisory Committee on Air Quality, and
Greyhound bus lines. We also had public seminars in the Student Life
Centre, providing comprehensive, concise information about the implications
of Climate Change and how we can take action. The Expo featured two
other events: Car Day and the Interfaculty Symposium on Climate Change.
Car Day
Surprised that a Climate Change campaign would
feature a car day? Don't be - on Tuesday the 23rd of April, we hosted
several high-efficiency and alternative fuels vehicles, including the Midnight
Sun, UWAFT, Honda Insights, and a Toyota Prius. This day gave people
on-campus a chance to see ways that our society's transportation is evolving,
and learn more about technologies that may help reduce our impact on the
earth's climate.
The Interfaculty Symposium on Climate Change
With the symposium, CCEAC was able to address
the needs of UW Professors, by providing a forum where experts from vastly
different disciplines could pool their knowledge and make connections outside
their field. The symposium included three speakers, as well as a panel,
and was attended by both UW and Laurier profs, as well as UW graduate
students.
