Youngsters prepare climate summit

Erin Pearson
YOUNG Australians passionate about climate change will converge on Geelong in August for a national summit.
The Australian Youth Climate Coalition will run Power Shift meetings in Geelong, Adelaide and Canberra following a Sydney gathering in 2009 that attracted more than 2000 young participants.
Organiser Karina Donkers, 21, said people from as far as Tasmania would travel to Geelong for the summit, featuring guest speakers, workshops and a panel of local MPs.
“I was so excited to find out that Geelong had been picked for a summit,” Ms Donkers said.
“Geelong is an area where young people can have some influence – it’s (part of) a marginal seat and I believe there’s quite a bit of interest down here that hasn’t been tapped into.”
Ms Donkers said she had been involved in climate change movements for three years.
Ms Donkers believed spreading the climate change message to regional cities was important.
“It’s about engaging people around the Victorian region around climate change and the skills needed to engage politically and locally on sustainability.”
“We hope to influence local government and we want them to commit to strong ideas and targets around climate change.
“We also want to demonstrate that our youth are very concerned and willing to give up their whole weekend to be educated and trained around the issues.”
Ms Donkers said the summit would be at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus on August 14 and 15. Young people who wanted to attend could register at www.aycc.org.au, she said.