The Exploration Place has announced a new national project that your museum is a key partner in. Together with the Discovery Centre in Halifax, Science North in Sudbury and the Canadian Association of Science Centres (CASC), the museum has received a $6 million dollar grant to fund the Inspiring Youth to Climate Action Project.
Dov Bercovici, President and CEO of the Discovery Centre says that these funds are to support not just the named partners, but that much of the fund, through the CASC, will be disbursed to up to 30 Canadian Science Centres for work aimed at “helping youth to understand current and credible climate science, transforming their thinking and most importantly, inspiring them to take action.”
“The Exploration Place was approached as a partner for this project because of our strong partnership with the Lheidli T’enneh Nation and our outreach work across Northern British Columbia,” said Tracy Calogheros, CEO for the Exploration Place. “We aim to work with our Indigenous friends and partners to both develop, and then take this programming out, to indigenous youth wherever they live across the province.”
According to Calogheros, the Exploration Place has had great success in delivering Tech Up programming on line, in partnership with Science World, throughout the pandemic, and that they will take what they have learned over the last year and apply it to this new program. This is a multi-year project, with development beginning immediately and programs rolling out in 2022.
This project is being funded by Environment Canada through the $38 million dollar Climate Action and Awareness Fund that has been set up to support projects like this one all across the country. In order to reach Canada’s target for emissions reductions, for us to achieve “net zero” by 2050, we will need the energy and inspiration of Canada’s youth working hand-in-glove with all levels of government, industry and communities.
“Canada’s science centres are the perfect partners to help move the needle on the issue of climate change, misinformation and disinformation,” said Calogheros. “We have earned the public’s trust over some 50 years and, in partnership with our museums who hold our collective memory, we are well positioned to help inspire the public discussions and answer the questions we are all struggling with around climate science and reliable sources.”
This link shares the video released by the Discovery Centre today.
“The world is facing several existential threats at the moment,” said Calogheros. “The pandemic, social inequities, systemic, historic and current racism, bigotry and sexism and, influencing all of the aforementioned, Climate Change. This Museum, YOUR Exploration Place, is the community forum, the safe place for difficult discussions and a trusted source of information that has grown organically in the North for the North. We will work through these conundrums together, as neighbours and colleagues, friends and family. Simply put, we have to.
“We are honoured to work with all of our partners on this,” said Calogheros, “it’s never a bad idea to have the whole country involved in inspiring change.”