Location: Bailey Allen Hall, University of Galway
Date: Wednesday November 15th
Start Time: 9.30am
Audience: invited secondary schools and youth groups

The primary aim of the Galway Youth Climate Assembly is to increase youth awareness of and participation in decision-making in relation to climate action policies. All secondary
schools in Galway City as well as Oranmore will be participating.  Last year’s event, held as part of the Galway Science and Technology Festival, was the first assembly of its kind to be organised at a local level in Ireland. Its success encouraged other parts of the country to follow suit.

The Youth Assembly provides a space for young people from our city’s secondary schools to gather together on the issue that is increasingly impacting on the lives of all lifeforms on the
planet where they will be introduced to policies, processes and products being undertaken in Galway-in line with the United Nation’s Sustainability Goals to tackle the Climate and the
Biodiversity Crises- by local stakeholders ranging from world class scientific research centres to grassroots projects; to give them opportunities to be involved in initiating positive change
through their own school and/or youth/community group; and to help them in having their voices heard in the expectation that it will influence local and national government policies.
At the Assembly there will be a panel of experts that will be available to answer questions from the young participants.

There will also be an exhibition space where students from both universities (as well as Galway environmental education/business/community projects) will showcase research
projects in the areas of Climate, Biodiversity and Sustainability.  The decisions, which are made at national and local level now, are going to greatly impact
on young people’s future. Therefore it is important that their ideas and suggestions are taken into consideration when climate strategies are being adopted and implemented.
The Assembly is being co-organized by SAUTI-Youth project, Galway National Park City initiative, the University of Galway, the Atlantic Technology University, the Students’ Union
of the University of Galway and the Galway Science and Technology Festival.

In parallel with the youth assembly Duncan Stewart, the renowned environmentalist, and Dr. Anne Dolan, coordinator of the M.Ed in Education for Sustainability and Global
Citizenship at the Mary Immaculate College in Limerick as well as author of a number of educational books including ‘Teaching Climate Change for Primary Schools’, will host a
separate morning event for secondary school teachers.