From 15 European nations we came,
including Germans and Latvians, but no Danes,
to learn about the impacts of climate change,
in an ecosystem once considered so strange.

Pedalling hard on our bikes,
we saw many dykes,
we exchanged our views, hopes and dreams,
whilst keeping our eyes open for migrants.

With role plays we entered local thinking,
and learnt that the Wadden Sea is sinking.

Whilst the farmers complained,
the conservations exclaimed.
Statistics were used,
and the coastal protectionists were all but confused.

In the end the Ministers agreed,
that there was indeed a need,
sand supplementation would be put to the test,
and the Netherlands promised they would do their best.

From tying knots at the Schutzstation,
to digging for worms in the mudflats,
We grew to love Langeness,
An island of peace and happiness.

Alas our time here has come to an end,
But along the way we’ve made many a friend.

Photo: Peter Prokosch

From 23 to 28 April, we will be bringing 20 highly motivated students and young professionals from 13 different European countries together to experience at first hand the issues affecting the Wadden Sea, the world’s most important inter tidal zone and a region rich in biodiversity, cultural heritage, and of global importance for migratory birds. The Wadden Sea, which is both a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is also a region where different economical and societal interests and stakeholders are present, providing an important case study on if and how conservation and societal interests can be reconciled.

 

The aims of the training are to give the young participants a greater understanding of climate impacts on the Wadden Sea ecosystem and its global implications, as well as to examine topics such as sustainable development and tourism, climate adaptation policy and climate change communication. The training will give participants an opportunity to network and exchange ideas with like-minded individuals from other countries while providing them with the skills and inspiration to develop and implement their own projects in their home countries.

Over the week long training course the group will be based on the island of Langeness and the town of Husum on the north-west coast of Germany. Activities will include examining life on the mudflats, visits to cultural sites to examine local issues and perspectives, a visit to a wind farm and lectures on topics such as adapting coasts to sea level rise and the Wadden Sea in the global context. Participants will be communicating their experiences through blogs, short films and through their local media. Watch this space for more info!

The training programme is being delivered by UNEP/GRID‐Arendal, a collaborating centre of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in collaboration with the British Council and Youth in Action.

Photos courtesy of  UNEP/ GRID Arendahl, Peter Prokosch

An idea of people who go to „the end of the world” for the new discoveries, can be fascinating. Even living in the times of high speed connections and fast planes, going to the Arctic is  still definitely something. Now, if it’s not only the remote region of coldness and white desert but a special place in the world that indicates the changes on the planet, it raises even more attention. When the exploration comes into exploitation phase, the political struggles comes in, even if hidden below the snow and ice.

On one cold January evening about 40 people came for the slideshow from our Arctic adventure and that I had a pleasure to organize thanks to the Travellers Club of WSE “TRAMP”. The venue took place at the Warsaw School of Economics during the regular meeting with traveling stories that is organized every Wednesday. The Arctic stories brought many questions to the floor, not only about the practical info about Spitsbergen but also sustainable tourism and the political and environmental changes that this region is facing.

I, personally, can’t still believe that I was there. It’s good that these sideshows exist, as I can sometimes remind myself that IT WAS REAL. As we are the generation more or less the  “people of the move” how Zygmunt Bauman described it his last year review, it is so good to sit with the cup of hot tea, see the frozen Warsaw outside the window and think: the Arctic is still there.

Regina

The British Council and its partner UNEP/GRID-Arendal are seeking students and young professionals aged between 20 and 30 years who have a proven commitment to climate change issues. These applicants should be focused on developing their knowledge and skills and want to be part of a European network dedicated to promoting more environmentally responsible lifestyles.

The 5-day training event will take place on the island of Langeness (within the Wadden SeaUNESCO World Heritage Site) in the company of UNEP/GRID-Arendal Research and Sustainable Development experts. Training sessions will cover climate impacts on the local Wadden Sea ecosystem, sustainable development and tourism, climate adaptation policy in the region, and tools to communicate environmental and climate changes to different target audiences.

There will also be dedicated sessions for participants to share their experiences,network, and develop new project ideas. At the same time, participants will see and experience the full beauty and drama of this unique and vulnerable region.

Participants are expected to develop a project plan by the end of the training, and successful applications may receive funding of up to 10,000 Euros from the EU Youth in Action initiative.

To participate, applicants must:

• be aged 20-30 years
• demonstrate a passion for and interest in climate change – experience of hands-on climate activities is desirable
• understand that this is an educational expedition, not a vacation. He/she must be committed to participate fully in all aspects of the programme.
• demonstrate some or all of the following qualities: strong academics and/or passion forlearning, interest in the environment; leadership qualities and/or potential to develop these qualities; active involvement in the community; a desire to make a difference and become a Climate Champion/youth ambassador for change and action.
• accept the responsibility to act as a Champion for his/her community and deliver associated activities after the Training Programme.
• be committed and demonstrated self-directed learners that are flexible and willing to work in group environments
• be committed to practicing sustainable and responsible behaviour

To apply, please see:
www.salto-youth.net/tools/european-training-calendar/training/climate-change.2360/

Deadline for applications: 2nd March, 2012

The Training Programme is funded under the EU’s Youth in Action programme and by the British Council. Travel costs to and from the venue are to be paid for by the sending National Agency (please check with your national agency if this incurs a participation fee). Participants will need to make their own travel arrangements to meet in Hamburg by midday on Monday, 23rd April.

Despite taking place on the opposite side of the planet, the annual UN climate conference (COP17) was surely one of the most important event of the year for the future of the Arctic.

Keeping in mind that the Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the planet, the outcome of these international negotiations has a particularly high impact on the environment of the High North and on its local communities.

The Arctic remains a key reference in the climate discourse, polar bears and cracking sea ice remaining for instance two of the most iconic images used to illustrate the phenomenon. Despite being often described as a “canary in the coal mine”, the Arctic has however never been the focus of much attention in the international climate talks (only two out of hundreds of documents adopted in these negotiations over the past twenty years include a reference to the Arctic).

In the past, the Arctic has been evoked at the climate negotiations mainly through two perspectives. The release of important scientific reports such as the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment increased the visibility among the climate change community of Arctic issues. Also indigenous people representatives have repeatedly highlighted the impact of climate change on their communities, for instance through the Many Strong Voices project, which builds a link between small island states and Arctic indigenous communities. This year, two youth came from Nunavut in order to share at the conference an Inuit perspective on the impacts of climate change.

In Durban, Sweden, as chair Arctic Council, organized a parallel event during which impacts of climate change in the Arctic where discussed.  During the event, Mr. Anders Flanking read a statement by Carl Bildt, Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs and chair of the Arctic Council, urging “all countries to take decisive action, recognizing that deep cuts in global Greenhouse Gas emissions are required according to science with a view to reducing global Greenhouse Gas emissions so as to hold the increase in global average temperature below 2 C above pre-industrial levels.” This call built on the Nuuk Declaration adopted by the Arctic Council in May, in which the 8 Arctic States “urged” for the first time other nations to take urgent action in order to mitigate climate change. Jens B Fredriksen, deputy Prime Minister of Greenland, also joined the panel highlighting the challenges that Greenland faces due to climate change, as well as potential opportunities that might arise from it for Greenlandic economy.

Despite the commitment expressed by all eight Arctic States in the Nuuk Declaration, their governmental delegations adopted very different roles during the Durban conference. The participation of Norway for instance will be remembered on the basis of the impassionate statement by Erik Solheim, Norway Minister of the Environment and International Development, on the last hours of the negotiations, calling for a bridge between the interest of some developed countries for a future legally binding instrument and the plea for equity made by some developing countries.

On the opposite side, the United States and Canada have emerged of the climate conference as the two of the main obstacles on the road to a stronger legal framework to curb carbon emissions. Canada’s unilateral decision to withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol earlier this month constitutes perhaps the most significant blow dealt over the past decade by any country to international climate action.

The outcomes of the Durban conference constitute a small step towards a new international agreement to address climate change. On the other hand, the COP17 did nothing to address the issue of the enormous gap existing between existing pledges for national mitigation action and the agreed objective of reducing average increase of temperatures to two degrees. Considering that the Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet, the current low level of commitment signifies that the region is heading towards radical physical changes. In this context, one can only regret that the consensus among the eight Arctic States affirmed in the Nuuk Declaration has not prevented some of them to take opposite stands in Durban.

Pictures credit: Arviat History Project and Sébastien Duyck

This morning I decided to spend some time reflecting on the last year of my life. I find it a therapeutic and wonderful experience to trawl through e-mails, photos, messages, ticket stubs etc, which remind me of places I have visited, people I have met and the experiences I have had. It is great fun to do, especially when you are looking through photos which you took aboard a ship in the Northern Arctic!

Although I am always thinking of the incredible week I spent in the Arctic, nothing is more inspiring than watching videos and reading the blog posts of our experiences. It was also great to watch the Frozen Planet series as a reminder of how powerful the Arctic environment is. 

I still have Arctic energy running through me and I look forward to taking this into the New Year. I am not sure what I will be doing on the work side of life, I have recently finished working as a Sustainability assistant for an Investment Bank so have some time off to plan an Arctic related project!

All the best for the New Year!

James

Marina Flevotomas, Luka Tomac and Sebastien Duyck meet again in Durban, South Africa for COP 17.  

 Every young person has an experience of climate change. For some ,  it is a fondness for a place  threatened by flooding or a fear about the predicted impacts, for others it is a hope for the recovery of the employment market through new green jobs. Whatever your experience, we would like to hear from you and communicate your thoughts and ideas to the global community.

This week on a special Question Time, Ambassador Mxakato-Diseko addressed young people, in the presence of the UK Foreign Secretary, Energy Secretary & British Council’s CEO, with a call to action:

“You’re not bystanders; you’re integral to the resolution… because climate change knows no borders… We as adults sometimes don’t think beyond our noses and we think we know more than we do but I find there’s a certain dynamism that young people inject when they are within frameworks of interaction… We hope to create such spaces in Durban because your voices count and your ideas are important.” 

This project harnesses your “dynamism”; we are collecting Climate Postcards to build a visually powerful collage of youth voices through the creative and honest expression of young people. Their permanent home will be an online gallery at www.climate4classrooms.org and http://zerocarbon.britishcouncil.org. You can check out some example postcards there. We will also have a large-scale exhibition of the most outstanding postcards displayed in Durban for COP17 for international decision-makers to take a look.

We’d love you to design the blank postcard attached, scan it into the computer and email it to climatepostcards@gmail.com. You could draw, paint, take a photograph, write a poem… however you feel you can best express your message.

Please circulate to other people you think will be interested.

The deadline is 19^th November if you want your postcard considered for the exhibition at COP17. Otherwise, please just keep sending them in!

We’re looking forward to seeing your creativity!

On Tuesday, 8th November from 3pm to 4.30pm (CET) there will be a Question time on climate change with:

William Hague, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Chris Huhne, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Martin Davidson, Chief Executive, British Council
Leonie Joubert, South African author and journalist

The one-hour panel discussion is taking place in London with an audience of 80 young people from around the UK.
The webcast is at: http://video.webcasts.com/events/felt001/40339/.

 Anyone who wants to view must register with name and email in advance. Once you have registered, you can test to see that you will be able to view the webcast. Viewers can log in up to half an hour beforehand using the email address they registered. Please also Tweet in comments during the event, #climatecomments.

Almost 4 months ago we 17 engaged young people from 14 different countries went on a training that was not only a learning journey. We went to this very vulnerable and beautiful place called Svalbard – in the middle of the Arctic.

4 month have passed, but I am still as astonished about the impact this environment had on me, as I was back then. The inspiration of our Arctic adventure has stayed – and not only that. The wish to spread, to share, to discuss about this incredible experience with all the people who are interested is steadily increasing. With every single person I have talked to about our Arctic Climate Training, this wish has grown. No matter how big or small the occasion was, how many people listened, watched or discussed, every single conversation counted.

Today, I want to share one of these occasions with you. One which reminded me of an important realization that had somehow managed to sneak to the back of my mind. It was at the Hamburg Climate Week in Germany http://www.klimawoche.de/hamburg/. Together with Julia and Dirk I had the pleasure to answer questions about our Arctic Climate Training. What was the reason we went there? And what did we take out of it? In the midst of one of the biggest shopping centers in Hamburg we were showing pictures and movies of our Arctic experience. Even though almost all people seemed quite busy, and many passed, there was a moment when some stopped. They had stopped because we were asking them questions – questions about Hamburg and climate change and polar bears in our quiz. We had become interactive. We all participated together. The importance of participation and interaction – this was, once again, the striking insight of the day. I should never let this realization hide from me again. Let’s continue to share, interact and participate. ;)

Maike Buhr

Arctic Climate Training

Below you’ll find links to presentations during the Arctic Training:

• The European Union and the Arctic
  
• Many Strong Voices - Climate Change and Adaptation in the Arctic and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
  
• Oil and Gas in the Arctic

Two months ago, I was selected as the Canadian delegate to attend a climate change training session with European youth on board an expedition vessel in the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard. Training was led by a team from the United Nations Environment Programme’s polar research centre, GRID-Arendal and the event was organized by the British Council and Youth in Action. I set off from Toronto with my incredibly warm Canada Goose Expedition parka on an adventure that would become the most inspiring experience of my life.

On our first evening aboard the “Antarctic Dream,” embarking on our voyage into the Svalbard wilderness, our expedition leader Philipp told us about something called “polar fever.” He described it as a passion for the Arctic that grows within oneself upon experiencing the region, and he hoped that we would all catch it. After spending a week immersed in the unparalleled natural splendor of Svalbard, I can say that, without a doubt, I’ve caught a bad case of polar fever – and I’ve never been happier to feel so ill. Unfortunately, the Arctic region has also caught its own version of the polar fever - and humans are causing it. Unlike the polar fever that I’ve caught, the Arctic region has a temperature that is rising quickly – it is called climate change, and the Arctic needs some serious medical attention before it’s too late.

    We’ve all heard a lot about climate change and much of the information disseminated to the public can seem confusing and even contradictory. There are many vested interests in maintaining discord within the public opinion about the legitimacy of climate change. However, there is scientific consensus that the current accelerated changes in climate are anthropogenic – in other words, caused by humans. For humans, who have an individual average lifespan of less than one hundred years, and who have collectively been in existence for one very minute fragment of the earth’s history, it can be very difficult to understand the vast concept of time in which the earth’s cycles exist.

On our last day in Svalbard, we hiked up a mountain and sat down on its flank, overlooking a glacier and the vast Arctic Ocean. Some of us were already drifting into a quiet meditative space, when our guide asked everybody to sit down, put down their cameras and take a few moments in silence to reflect upon our experiences over the past week. To try and understand a natural rate of climate change, I recommend taking some time to sit on a mountain and reflect. Reflect upon the millions of years that it has taken to form, and how it is changing constantly, but at a pace that we are unable to perceive. 

    The climate of the earth does fluctuate in long-term cycles that can last tens of thousands of years and longer. With these changes in climate come mass changes in the types of flora and fauna that flourish and cease to exist. In other words, the survival of species is, and has always been, largely dependent on climate. The human species is no exception – we have grown and thrived on the relatively moderate and stable climate since the last ice age, allowing us to develop agriculture, technologies and infrastructures that have created a productive and efficient global society. An unstable, warming climate will undoubtedly have a profoundly negative impact upon our individual lives and upon our species collectively.

The Arctic is a harsh environment for any species to live and thrive, and indeed, few species do thrive, making the food chain short and highly interdependent. Those few species that have managed to adapt and specialize to this climate are resilient but at the same time vulnerable - if one population destabilizes, it has an impact upon the entire ecosystem. The Earth is composed of systems that are all interconnected - when change occurs in one system, it impacts everything else. Many of the environmental changes that we are bearing witness to are scientifically linked to climate change. We had some profound interactions with wildlife in Svalbard that have touched my heart and brought me a new level of understanding about their plight. Polar bears are the face of climate change in the Arctic and they have an arduous struggle for survival ahead of them. Climate change is about wildlife and the natural environment, but it is also about you and me.

From extreme weather events, droughts and forest fires, to invasive species and declining native populations, freshwater and food security to human health, climate change impact us all. Although it is easy to forget living in an urban centre, we all rely upon the natural environment for survival. Climate change is undoubtedly the most significant issue our species has faced in modern times. A high level of international cooperation should be sought in order to strengthen protection for the already vulnerable Arctic region and to address global climate change in a cohesive manner. The Arctic is the canary in the climate mine, and it is already showing major impacts of climate change. We must heed the warning call and come together as a nation to address the issue of climate change and develop comprehensive mitigation and adaptation strategies. Adaptation will not be easy – indeed, it will require a major infrastructural shift to more sustainable technologies and lifestyles – but the consequences of ignoring climate change will be far more severe.

Back here in Toronto, my case of polar fever continues to grow – every day I become more motivated and inspired to share my experience with others and to engage them in dialogue about what climate change means for us all. For through understanding comes action, and through action comes transformation. Let’s address the Arctic polar fever and global climate change before it’s too late.

By Celeste Longhurst

Arctic impacts on us… thoughts from Slovenia on a specific moment during the Arctic Climate Training: In Search of the Switch.

GPS noon position: 79˚ 56.1’ N, 016˚ 52.4’ E
Weather at 16.00: 5˚C, overcast, good visibility, calm

Day 4 of our trip up to the north of Svalbard, landing at Sorgefjorden.

The group is divided into 2 subgroups of 40 persons, in order to get closer to the walruses. Everybody super excited when implementing the silent step to step human wall tactic to get closer to the animals, lying on the beach and apparently not noticing or not caring about us.

But what I would like to focus on is something else. After we were done with the walrusses, we went to explore the so-called polar desert. The area with very little precipitation (less than 250mm/year) and very limited flora.
However, because of the ocean currents the coastline didn’t resemble a desert very much. There were numerous tree remains that were carried by the ice from Syberia.

And not just this. In this remote place, one of the most remote I have ever visited, there were lots of signs of human activity, again, brought from the sea. A Coca Cola can, a pencil, and a lot of remains from the fishing nets and other forms of hardly decomposable plastic.

And than it happened… After 20 minutes of peaceful walk on the shore of this Arctic desert there was a sudden change that came into the minds of a few of us and then spread throughout the group. We started to pick up the trash and use our rucksacks for carrying it to back to the ship.
Most of the people joined us in this action – us, participants and trainers at the training course and other tourists from the ship.

That’s how we did our first real action on this trip and we definetely felt we are doing something good seeing the results of the trash hunt after coming back to the ship.

However, thinking globally in terms of humans’ environmental impact, just collecting litter will not be enough. Much more is to be done both on a personal and an economic level.

Nowadays, people have started to be aware of the huge impact our society is having on the planet, but we need to proceed to the next step.
We need to find »the switch« that will turn us on in taking concrete action on environmental issues in order to achieve a more sustainable (and only possible) future.