FRANÇAIS
About SYC
(project details below)
The Sierra Youth Coalition is an organization run by youth and for youth, serving as the youth arm of the Sierra Club of Canada. Our mission is to empower young people to become active community leaders who contribute to making Canada a more sustainable society. To this end, we educate young people about ecological and social sustainability; we challenge unjust and environmentally destructive systems by using a solutions-based approach; and we advocate for the new generation of people in Canada who want to inherit a world worth inheriting: one where social justice and the environment are at the center of society's priorities.
Over ten years the Sierra Youth Coalition has grown into a nation-wide network, with hundreds of registered members and thousands of dedicated volunteers, operating in over 70 colleges and universities and in 10 high schools. The Sierra Youth Coalition is present and active in every major urban center and in many rural regions as well. Our projects affect the health and well-being of over 500 000 people across Canada.
We run the national
Sustainable Campuses project, which concretely reduces the ecological footprints of our learning establishments while training a new generation of environmentally conscious leaders. We hold a national campus sustainability conference annually and many regional conferences where skills and success stories are shared. We engage high school students through the
Community Youth Action Project and the
Sustainable High Schools project, through which we are developing a culture of volunteerism and social activism in a younger target audience. We also organize national and international awareness campaigns on pressing environmental issues raised by our membership (e.g.
To The Tar Sands (Alberta) and the
Deconstructing Dinner Caravan (Canada, USA, Mexico) bicycle campaigns). And finally, we provide a venue for youth participation at
major conferences and summits at the local, national, and international level (Province Houses, Canadian Parliament, World Trade Organization, UN, G8, etc.).
Sierra Youth Coalition operates within an
anti-oppressive framework. Within our work and lives, we work to dismantle systems of oppression, including but not limited to oppression based on 'race,' ancestry, place of origin, ethnicity, language, class, citizenship, creed, system of belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, record of offences, marital status, family status, physical and/or mental disability.
SYC Advocacy and Activism
see here
Programs and Campaigns
The Sierra Youth Coalition has three major core projects — Sustainable Campuses, Sustainable High Schools and Community Youth Action. We also support a variety of volunteer-driven campaigns that fall into 4 categories: Climate Change and Energy, Environmental Justice, Trade and Environment or Sustainable Economies and Trade and Consumption. Many projects and campaigns have their own satellite sites: make sure to check them out! Do you have an awesome campaign idea that falls into one of these four volunteer areas? Contact us at
info@syc-cjs.org! SYC is always open to supporting new initiatives.
Sustainable Campuses Project
The
Sustainable Campuses project aims to support, document and spread the efforts of Canadian post-secondary students who are working to make their college or university more sustainable. Sustainable Campuses is the only Canadian network of post-secondary students, with over 60 participating campuses! Read our collection of
Campus Success Strategies or post your own!
Sustainable High Schools Project!
The Sustainable High Schools Project is a youth-driven initiative created to support high school communities in envisioning, assessing and improving their schools' level of sustainability. The project aims to empower students to bring together their peers, staff, administrators and parents in making their high school communities models of sustainability.
The SHS Project has been adapted by high school students from SYC's highly successful Sustainable Campuses project. The Sustainable High Schools was launched across BC in partnership with the Sierra Club BC Chapter's Education Program and has proved highly successful. Building on this success, the project is set for an
Ottawa launch in September of 2008!
We offer mentorship to student clubs, presentations to classes, and a chance for students and teachers to network with others working for school sustainability. For more info or to join the network, contact
emily@syc-cjs.org in British Columbia and
andre@syc-cjs.org in Ottawa!
The Community Youth Action Project is designed to activate, empower and educate a broad diversity of high school-aged youth on issues of social justice and sustainability in their communities. Central to this project are Youth Action Gatherings (YAGs), regional camps that have been designed for and by local youth.
Canadian Youth Climate Coalition
SYC members who attended the UN Climate Change Conference in Montreal 2005 haven't stopped being concerned about climate change and how drastically it is going to affect our futures. Youth are the most important stakeholder in the discussion surrounding climate change and we want to make sure our voice is heard.
In September 2006, SYC became a founding member of the Canadian Youth Climate Coalition, a non-partisan coalition of youth who are standing up and speaking with one voice to demand immediate and meaningful government action on climate change. Visit the Coalition's website at
www.ourclimate.ca to find out how you can get involved!
Stop the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Campaign
A $7 billion dollar pipeline through the Northwest Territories to Alberta, with $88 billion more of gas and oil development to follow. The project threatens local communities and habitats, condemns Canada to a further generation of oil and gas development and threatens our ability to fullfil our Kyoto obligations.
Learn more and find out how to help stop the pipeline!
SYC unites youth who care about the world around them. Working independently and through our networks, we work with youth to challenge the injustices that surround us, to lobby decision-makers and encourage youth to become decision makers ourselves, and most importantly, inspire ourselves and our fellow Canadians to act. Alongside promoting sustainable lifestyle choices, we work to transform high schools, universities, and governments into models of sustainability.
EXCOMM ELECTIONS 2008-2009!
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Elections
