Bailey Gardien

Bailey Berdan Gardien is a Knowledge Integration student in her 4B 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 minutes

I got involved with Climate Connect because over the course of my university career I feel as if I have gained a lot of perspectives on climate change from a Canadian or North American lens, but I had little knowledge about how students from around the world view it. Also, I hope to continue my education with a master’s degree in Europe. So I wanted an opportunity to interact with an international community. 

I think the best thing about this program is that it is connecting like minded individuals from all across the world. It is clear that climate change won’t have just one solution, but rather many working together in tandem. This program lets us make connections with others our age who are looking to make a difference. It enables us to critically think of our country’s role in the climate crisis and to reflect on how we as global citizens can work to improve it. 

I am proud of my contributions I've made, including to the first conversation in the program. I filmed a part for the video we shared with the other cohorts. In the video I explained a physical impact resulting from climate change, which was rising temperatures and how it will affect air quality. My part was small but I enjoyed being a part of it. 

Overall, I've really enjoyed being in a cohort with students outside of the environment faculty who still have a passion for solving climate change. I have learned how people across different disciplines interpret sustainability. For example, working with Nilusha it is clear that she has such a clear image of how climate change intersects with Public Health and that is something I never thought of before. 

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.