Understanding climate challenges through a multi-dimensional perspective
Eurus (Jiaqing) Pan is an Honours Planning student in her 3B term and one of the participating Waterloo students in the Climate Connect program. Here is what she had to say about her experience.
Estimated reading time: 2 minutesI got involved with the Climate Connect program to meet people with the same passion for sustainability from different parts of the world and to explore the diverse contexts and realities of the climate crisis and sustainability.
One contribution that I am proud of is my work on the video assignment for the program's first conversation. We had the opportunity to explore different perspectives on the climate change challenges we face at home and conduct our own research. During the discussion I learned some new facts about the political actions and roles in Canada on climate mitigations. Also, in the international meeting, we get to watch other universities’ videos and discuss our similarities in terms of the challenges we are facing.
The program's last discussion on COP26 provided some insights that were impactful for me as an environment student. We talked about the commitments by each nation and the recent influence of political power dynamics and how they are all playing a crucial role in determining our future sustainability. In the discussion, one of the students referenced the Tuvalu ministers’ statement that I thought was impactful.
I believe the value of this program is that it creates communication among communities at a global level. Through the experience of sharing and learning about diverse perspectives on sustainability, we have a deeper understanding on the local context. The challenges faced by different regions can be a reference and we can relate it back to our own challenges.
The climate issue is a global issue and it requires collaborative work. The conversations initiated in the program construct bridges for communication in the future.
Climate Connect is a collaboration between six universities across four continents to promote international networking across student and academic career stages, and to create space to share and learn about diverse perspectives on sustainability and how the climate crisis and responses to it are being experienced from one region to another.