Climate Solutions Innovation Forum - Student Energy: Empowering Youth in the Energy Transition

Date: June 27, 1-2 ET

Cost: Free on Zoom Webinar

Student Energy shares the story of its evolution from a single student-led summit in 2009 to becoming the world’s largest youth-led energy nonprofit, now engaging over 50,000 young people in 120+ countries. Founded in response to the lack of meaningful pathways for youth to shape energy systems, Student Energy emerged from the belief that young people can lead ambitious action on the energy transition, when supported with the right tools, knowledge, and community.

In this CSIF session, Student Energy reflects on how it has grown over time, building a Programs Ecosystem of 8+ initiatives that help young people forge diverse pathways in the energy sector. Presenters will discuss the early challenges of building a global organization, rooted in Canada, from the ground up, how trust was built within a global and highly diverse youth network, and how the organization earned credibility with partners, funders, and institutions. The session will explore how Student Energy’s unique youth empowerment model took shape, and how structures were developed to ensure that young people remain at the heart of decision-making.

Presenters will also share key lessons from building programs like the Student Energy Summit, a network of 60+ university-based Chapters, and the Energy Systems Map, while collaborating with over 100 partner organizations in the climate and energy space.

The Climate Solutions Innovation Forum is a multi-year program that highlights newer innovative environmental nonprofits who share the story to inspire emerging leaders and/or to expose seasoned leaders to new ways of affecting change and reaching new audiences. CSIF shines a light on less traditional policy-oriented NGOs, youth led organizations as well as recently emerged culturally-focused ENGOs.

We thank the Ivey Foundation for their funding support of this series.

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Our Presenters

Helen Watts is the Executive Director of Student Energy. A Forbes and Corporate Knights 30 Under 30 honoree, she advocates for youth inclusion in decision-making and energy project implementation. Helen oversees Student Energy’s programs, strategic vision, and partnerships. Under her leadership terms as Executive Director and as Partnerships Director, Student Energy launched its UN-Energy Compact for youth contributions to SDG7, the first Global Youth Energy Outlook, the Greenpreneurs global accelerator, supported 10 youth delegations to COP and international forums, and directly administered 1M of resources to youth.

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Shakti Ramkumar is Senior Director of Policy and Communications at Student Energy. She is a climate action and clean energy advocate, passionate about collectively building a globally equitable energy system that operates within our planetary boundaries. Shakti regularly speaks about the crucial role of youth in just energy transitions in spaces including UN Climate Change Conferences (COP) in Madrid, Glasgow, and Sharm El-Sheikh, the Clean Energy Ministerial and Mission Innovation forum, the Canadian Energy Regulators’ Conference (CAMPUT), and media outlets including the CBC, BBC, and National Observer.

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How to choose your stream:

‍ENGO representatives may self-select from the three workshop tracks based on their previous learning experiences with decolonization content.‍

‍Introduction to Decolonization in the ENGO Sector is designed for first-time learners and those with limited comfort exploring the Session topics. Sessions will be lecture-style making limited space for group discussion. Breakout rooms will be used intermittently to encourage first-time learners to practice discussing topics and gain confident understanding of materials.

‍‍Advanced Decolonial Theory and Application is designed for ENGO representatives who have experience with session topics and are ready to take chances by participating in potentially uncomfortable conversations to expose the root issues at play. These spaces are designed with safety of participants in mind with the goal of exposing the potential reproduction of colonial thinking/doing within the ENGO sector. Sessions will be conversational while making use of lecture-style teaching.

‍For Indigenous Ears Only - A Space for Reflection and Action is designed for Indigenous people who work within the ENGO sector and seek to connect with others to discuss experiences and vision decolonial pathways forward. These session agendas will be co-developed with participants.

Introduction to Decolonization in the ENGO Sector

Fridays, September 19, September 26, October 3, & October 10 (1-4:00 pm ET)

Session 1: Settler Colonialism 101

Introduce ENGO representatives to the fact that colonization is a structure and not an event. Identifies key ways that colonialism moves through individuals and organizations.

Session 2: Positionality

ENGO representatives learn how to articulate their social location within a settler colonial state, and in relation to potential Indigenous partners.

Session 3: Inherent Indigenous Governance 101

Introduce the fact that Indigenous nations have their own sources of political authority that they can (and do) draw on when addressing environmental issues. Examples provided.

Session 4: Building Better Relations

ENGO representatives will road test ways they can implement previous workshop key points to re-imagine partnerships with Indigenous nations.

Cost: $100 (or register 4 staff from the same organization for one stream and get the 5th registration free)

All registrants will be provided with a link to access the recordings and presentation slides for 60 days following each session.

Instructor:

Dr. Les Sabiston (Red River Métis) is from Aswahonanihk (Selkirk), Manitoba. Working at the intersections of political, legal, and medical anthropologies, as well as Indigenous Studies, Les’ work brings together critical social theories of colonialism, race, class, gender and sexuality with the political commitments of decolonization and aspirations of realizing alternative worlds informed by Indigenous futures. A guiding principle to his work has been to develop a more robust understanding of the ongoing process of encounter with Indigenous peoples in Canada, that is, how the state and its people interact with and understand themselves in relation to the original peoples of this land.

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Advanced Decolonial Theory and Application

Thursdays, October 23, October 30, November 6 & November 13 (1-4:00 pm ET)

Session 1: Diagnosing Settler Colonialism in the Enviro Sector

Participants will be asked to share ways in which they have diagnosed and traced power in social justice movements and/or in the ENGO sector. This workshop will make space for discomfort as part of promoting decolonization.

Session 2: Inherent Indigenous Governance

A mix of advanced and introductory theory, this workshop delves into legal and political pluralism, naming the fact that Indigenous nations have their own sources of political authority that they can (and do) draw on when addressing environmental issues.

Session 3: The Nonprofit Industrial Complex

ENGO participants are introduced to theories and examples describing the Nonprofit Industrial Complex and the “Shadow State.” Purpose is to show how settler colonialism structures civil society.

Session 4: Decolonizing ENGO-First Nation Partnerships

This workshop delves deep into how ENGOs can partner with Indigenous nations beyond the Nonprofit Industrial Complex while promoting deference to inherent Indigenous political leaders.

Cost: $100 (or register 4 staff from the same organization for one stream and get the 5th registration free)

All registrants will be provided with a link to access the recordings and presentation slides for 60 days following each session.

Instructor:

Dr. Damien Lee is a member of Fort William First Nation and holds a PhD in Indigenous Studies from the University of Manitoba, and a Master of Arts in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria. Dr. Lee has extensive experience facilitating/teaching adult-focused education at the post-secondary level and co-leads Gimiwan Research and Consulting. Gimiwan serves mainly Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations by providing research and workshop services based in decolonial ethics and Indigenous worldviews.

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For Indigenous Ears Only - A Space for Reflection and Action

Tuesdays, October 21, October 28, November 4 & November 11 (1-4 pm ET)

The Indigenous only space will be collaborative in nature but critical in approach. This track is a space for Indigenous folks within the ENGO sector to come together to discuss their experiences and work, with an eye to taking a position on what the sector might need to do in order to promote decolonization. Participants will use the first session to define our goals for the remaining three meetings. Therefore, session topics named here are proposals only.

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Session 1: Naming the Cannibal: Settler Colonialism in the ENGO Sector

Session 2: Proposed topic: Reflections on working in the ENGO Sector

Session 3: Proposed topic: Centering Indigenous Thought in the ENGO Sector

Session 4: Proposed topic: Visioning a Decolonial Environmental Sector

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Cost: Free

Instructor:

Dr. Damien Lee is a member of Fort William First Nation and holds a PhD in Indigenous Studies from the University of Manitoba, and a Master of Arts in Indigenous Governance from the University of Victoria. Dr. Lee has extensive experience facilitating/teaching adult-focused education at the post-secondary level and co-leads Gimiwan Research and Consulting. Gimiwan serves mainly Indigenous communities and Indigenous-led organizations by providing research and workshop services based in decolonial ethics and Indigenous worldviews.

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