New York Student Launches Project to Improve Community and World After Participating in Innovative Educational Program and Studying Climate Change in Bangladesh

(April 2, 2013, San Francisco, CA) – New York youth leader Julia Lee, a sophomore at Trinity School in New York, NY is implementing a unique community project designed to ignite interest and advocacy from her peers surrounding the issue of climate change. In this knowledge to action project inspired by time abroad in Bangladesh, Lee will facilitate two intensive sessions regarding climate change where students will draft statements to be read over the telephone to senators and representatives. The statements focus on issues like pollution and climate change refugees and include what the United States government, civilians and global citizens can do about these issues. The most effective statements will be used in communication with the United States Mission to the United Nations and other Missions to the United Nations in an effort to impact her local, national and international community.

Last December, Julia, along with 28 other youth leaders and five educators from across the United States, earned the unique opportunity to experience how climate change affects the local environment and community in Bangladesh. While abroad, youth leaders and educators witnessed the devastation in the Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, and visited communities that lost farmland due to the changing climate. They also met with Nobel Peace Prize recipient Muhammad Yunus who enriched their understanding of economic and social development and it’s connection to environmental health. The international trip was part of the American Youth Leadership Program (AYLP), an initiative sponsored by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. Department of State and global education and community engagement nonprofit, World Savvy.

The project is the Lee’s way of sharing the knowledge she gained during her month in Bangladesh studying climate change in-depth. Lee’s firsthand experiences there are driving her to take action to mobilize her own community towards climate change advocacy and solution-seeking. While working with climate change organizations abroad, she observed how regional actions could directly impact global sustainability and she hopes her peers and neighbors, too, will feel inspired to act on climate change issues. World Savvy’s Executive Director and Co-Founder Dana Mortenson shared that “meeting individuals affected by climate change in Bangladesh illuminates the connections between issues, events and people, locally and globally, and promotes informed, positive action.”

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About World Savvy

World Savvy educates and engages youth in community and world affairs, to learn, work and thrive as responsible global citizens in the 21st century.

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Editorial Contact: Laura Klivans, World Savvy International Program Manager

Email: laura@worldsavvy.org