ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Mallory Kosterski, the Youth Education Coordinator with the Biosphere Institute of the Bow Valley. Tell us a little bit about the Canadian Rockies Youth Network.

MALLORY KOSTERSKI: The workshops themselves are designed to create Canadian Rockies Youth Ambassadors. We want to have youth that are educated on issues affecting our Canadian Rockies. They understand the stakeholders involved, and then they also understand ways that they can take action. It was created by Ben Green, a student from Central Memorial who wanted to have a greater voice in land management issues in the Canadian Rockies. The partners extend all the way out into the Stoney Nakoda Nation. We have Daryl Kootenay, an Indigenous storyteller, and he’s been helping students understand the Indigenous perspective, along with some other speakers that are coming up at our next workshop.

RM: This is really focused around environmental sustainability?

MK: Absolutely. Our core pillars are Indigenous knowledge, climate change, wildlife, and biodiversity.

RM:  There’s a big event coming up?

MK: Yeah, it is going to be happening May 12th to 14th. Students can get involved as individuals. Teachers can also sign up and just bring their classroom along. Students can also join as a youth group or an environmental group at their school.

RM: Has there been a lot of engagement from the Bow Valley?

MK: Absolutely. We’re working with the Canmore Collegiate High School students right now. They’re creating a series of sustainability videos.

RM: In addition to the summit, there’s a number of pre-summit workshops going on? I believe you had one earlier this month, how did that first one go?

MK: It was amazing. We had a great turnout. Daryl Kootenay spoke, along with John Wilmshurst, a PhD Wildlife Biologist. We asked students –  Why are you inspired by the Canadian Rockies? What image do you think of? Everyone’s image was different – for John Wilmshurst, it was a photo of a white bark pine. For myself, it’s a photo of Mount Assiniboine which I’ve traveled to four times, including once when I was 11 years old and I ran into a grizzly bear, saw my first moose, and jumped in a glacier lake for the first time. The next workshop is coming up on Tuesday, so any student, classroom, or youth group can join. It’s at 10:30 to 12, but we’re also prerecording the workshops, they’re designed to watch offline as well.

RM: Are you looking for other assistance for this initiative?

MK: Absolutely. Environmental leadership starts at a grassroots level in the community. We have a lot of opportunities for involvement including sponsorship, and also including inspiring the action component on our action challenges. If any community organizations want to hop in on this amazing youth led, youth driven summit and organization, they can email me or they can just hop on to the Canadian Rockies Youth Network website.