Supporting Young People in their Environmental Work

By Jeff Wilson

At the May meeting of Interfaith Grand River, we discussed environmental issues, and

considered the question “In a society which has become increasingly skeptical of the relevance of religion’s insights, how can we create/discover spaces where our contributions can be effective in influencing hearts and minds?” One common theme in the discussion period was young people. On the one hand, religion’s “brand” has become poisonous to many young people because (rightly or wrongly) it is associated with anti-science and oppressive viewpoints. And on the other hand, young people are precisely the ones who will inherit our ecologically-damaged world and thus do most of the work to restore it.

Given their skepticism, I suggest that it isn’t a matter of us older, wiser people trying to push our ideas and institutions onto younger generations. Rather than playing the role of teachers, we should serve as learners and opportunity-makers. Rather than telling young people that they should become religious, we should be telling them that we religious people support them in their valuable scientific and community work to care for the environment, which we too cherish. We might reframe the question slightly as “In a society where young people are increasingly skeptical about the relevance of religion, how can Interfaith Grand River create spaces where younger Canadians are supported in their eco-conscious values and efforts?”

A concrete way we can begin to do that is by sponsoring forums where students can showcase their environmental efforts. As a thought experiment, let’s consider a quarterly Interfaith Grand River Environmental Stewardship speaker series where we recruit students from the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. We could hold it at a church near the campus, where other students could easily gather. Each session might be a single, longer talk by an advanced student researcher, several short talks showcasing the work of various promising young scholars, or a discussion moderated by an IGR member who asks questions of a student guest or guests.

For students, this would hold several benefits. They would be given a forum in which to

publicize their work and have it celebrated. They could add the public talk to their academic resumé. It would help them build their network and practice their presentation skills. Perhaps we might even present an honour to the best presentation, with a small financial award.

For IGR, it would also hold benefits. We could show young researchers that local religious people support them. We could bring speakers and an audience of students to a tri-city congregation that they otherwise likely would never enter. We could learn from their work, and discover new ways to interface with up-and-coming generations. And it would be a chance to work together as an interfaith group by giving back to the wider community on a topic that aligns with our shared values.