I attended the Seeds for Change: Local Solutions to Global Issues conference at the University of British Columbia yesterday and today. It was organized by the UBC Student Environment Centre with support from the Sierra Youth Coalition.
While initially I felt somewhat out of place amidst a sea of young people, it was a fun and informative conference. Speakers ranged from Marx and Lenin-spouting whippersnappers to erudite professors with well thought-out presentations.
It's good to see that kids do care, and are thinking about the environment and sustainability.
I particularly enjoyed presentations by three well-spoken profs:
1) Yves Tiberghien on "The Global Battle over the Governance of Genetically Modified Food." He maintains an interesting site on the Politics of Genetically Modified Organisms.
2) Michael Byers, Professor, Canadian Research Chair in International Law and Politics, who spoke on "Climate Change -- Why Nothing is Happening at a Global Level." He gave an entertaining talk on why politicians and corporate leaders calculate that there is no reason to deal seriously with climate change.
3) Kai Chan, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustainability, who spoke on "Conservation Planning of Ecosystem Services." The topic dealt with how ecosystem services (the benefits of nature that sustain and fulfill human life) are neglected and abused because they are not traded in markets and not accounted for in standard accounting practices.