The Wild Center's Youth Climate Program to Present at New Taipei 2024 International Youth Climate Action Forum
Tupper Lake, N.Y. – Two representatives from The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program will travel to New Taipei City, Taiwan, August 29 - 30, 2024, to participate in the New Taipei 2024 International Youth Climate Action Forum - Green Observer’s Action Salon. Jen Kretser, director of climate initiatives at The Wild Center, will travel to Taiwan for the forum and will be delivering a keynote presentation, “Initiate climate action! Action education in the environmental education facility and field.” Accompanying her is Youth Climate Program leadership coordinator Garrett Marino, who will be part of a panel presentation, “Climate action guide: From ideals to practice - Positioning of youth.”
Climate change is a global focus of attention: it is also a cross-generational issue, and the innovation and action of the next generation are the key to the net-zero transition. This forum will focus on sharing and exchanging climate actions of international organizations and international youth. Young individuals and climate experts from industry, government, and academia around the world - including the United States, Japan, Korea, Malawi, and others - will participate in the summit to jointly stimulate sustainable solutions and address climate challenges. The wide range of attendees will facilitate an equitable, intergenerational exchange of ideas and solutions between current and emerging leaders.
The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program inspires global action through Youth Climate Summits: a large network of conference-style events that bring youth together in the name of climate action and justice. Its model program has been replicated around the world over 200 times with summits in over 24 U.S. states and nine countries.
The New Taipei Youth Climate Forum first began to intersect with the Youth Climate Program in 2023, when Kretser participated in the forum. Now in its fourth session, the forum is following the summit model set forth by The Wild Center’s Youth Climate Program, joining an esteemed international network of summit sites.
Kretser has led the Youth Climate Program since its inception in 2009 and has been recognized by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy as a “climate education and literacy change advocate.”
The Taiwan Department of Environmental Protection and the Youth Climate Program continue to work with global industry, government, and academic partners to encourage young generations across the globe to find their place within the climate movement, join an international community of practice, and bring ideas of a sustainable future to fruition.