October 3, 2011

2011 Youth Leadership for Sustainability Awards

Environment Canterbury and Ngai Tahu are celebrating the contribution of young people to environmental sustainability this month.

The 2010 Youth Leadership for Sustainability Awards are a joint initiative between Environment Canterbury and Ngai Tahu recognising awareness of environmental and social issues among Canterbury’s youth.

The awards were presented to students recently at Lincoln Event Centre by Environment Canterbury Chair of Commissioners Dame Margaret Bazley and Ngai Tahu Kaiwhakahaere Mark Solomon.

The individual award was open to students in Years 12-13 and recognises their work in sustainability, either through their own initiative or by supporting or leading a wider project. The group award celebrates the contribution of a team of young people be they in a school group or involved in another youth organisation.

Individual Category: Year 12 or 13

Matthew Young, Lincoln High School – first place.
Matthew is the leader of Lincoln High School Enviro Council and has worked on water quality monitoring, in particular of their local Liffey Stream. He has also been actively developing a school wide anti-littering campaign and regularly publishes enviro statistics in the school notices. Outside of school he also works on social projects supporting people with Autism and Down’s Syndrome.

Keziah Smith, Aranui High – second place.
Keziah is Deputy Head Girl at Aranui High and worked on a project called ‘Burst the Bubble’, which she initiated after attending Youth Vision 2050 in in May where she focused on social equality and justice in our communities. Keziah aims to burst the bubble of prejudice in a renewed Christchurch.

Jenny Burns, Cashmere High – third place.
Jenny looked at household power consumption at her home and created a plan to reduce energy loss She is committed to spreading the word about how we may reduce our energy waste.

The criteria for the individual category included being a self starter, having initiated activities, being a team player, having keen personal interest and engaging in extra curricular work.

Group Category: secondary school students

Nina Valley Restoration Group, Hurunui College – first place.
Nina Valley Restoration Group made up of 25 active students from Hurunui College released five juvenile kiwis into the valley. The team look after them by monitoring progress and changing their transmitters. Hurunui College students have been working with DOC over a period of years and have established two new trap lines which they check for predators every three weeks. So far this season they have trapped 150 predators such as stoats, rats and hedgehogs. They also checked the predators’ stomach contents and found mostly mice in the stoats stomachs last season, but more insects in recent catches.

PI Changemakers, Aranui High – second place.
PI Changemakers were formed in 2011 to attend the Pacifica Climate Change conference in Fiji. They are helping to connect Pasifika youth to environmental issues that closely affect them, like rising sea levels in the Pacific. The students attended the UNICEF Youth Congress 15-17 July in Auckland, where they met Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations and in September, participated in the global day of action on climate change.

EFS 301 Class, Cashmere High – third place.
EFS 301 Class created a sustainability strategy for Cashmere High, initiated Christchurch’s role in international “I am challenge” and produced a shade audit and plan for their school. A number of the students are also involved in the locally inspired Habitat Project.

The criteria for the group category included being driven, having leadership and team spirit, and working in partnership with other organisations in the community.

ENDS

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