A youth led initiative in Calgary focusing on climate change culminated with students presenting their findings after months of research on Saturday. The Vitruvian Fair had students research specific aspects of climate change, then showcase it through an artistic medium. Funded by a grant from the Canadian Red Cross Resilience Foundation, this three month project was led by university students, who helped guide participating high school students on their focus of study. “Youth are 100 per cent of the future for this world, so we need to be 100 per cent involved,” said Vitruvian Fair co-founder Valeria Duran Bascope, who recently graduated university, “We can all tell ourselves that we’re hopeless, that there’s nothing to be done. But we’re also all individually capable of saying, ‘well, I’m going to make a change. I’m going to take that first step,’” Duran Bascope continued. Duran Bascope says the program had students research and create their works for three months before the presentations, with each student taking a different approach to climate change. For example, Wissem Boudjema created a children’s book called “Clouds Born of Fire,” focusing on wildfires. “I’ve heard a lot about people dying, about people having to rush from their home, flee from their home. And I thought that was a really important topic, because although people are aware that wildfires exist, I feel like a lot of people don’t get how bad it’s gotten,” Boudjema said. “I want to touch more upon the feelings I can evoke, and hope at the end of this, especially in relation to climate change, how wild fires are everywhere now,” she continued. Her book focused specifically on pyrocumulonimbus clouds — clouds formed from intense heat and wildfires — and she says it’s a topic that hasn’t been very heavily researched. “A lot of the articles I found were actually published this summer. Obviously there were big research papers and everything that came in 2022, 2015. But this summer I saw a lot of articles covering what’s happening across the whole world, so I thought it was a good time to get on that train and bring awareness,” she said. As for why she chose a children’s book specifically, she said it was a way to connect with her four-year-old brother. She says wildfires can be a complicated and scary topic, especially for young children, but hopes her book can introduce the topic in an accessible way, while also providing hope. “It’s our job as youth, as young people, to take care of the planet,” she said. Fashion While Boudjema focused on wildfires, fellow student Olive Shaddock chose to approach the topic through fashion. As a fashion student who creates her own clothes, Shaddock says fashion always interested her, and says it can have a significant impact on our climate. “Regarding the climate change aspect of it, how it affects our environment before the garment is made, during the garment’s production, and after, when it’s in a landfill, all affect the environment in negative ways,” Shaddock said. Fast fashion was a big focus of her research, not just for the waste and excess consumption that ends up in landfills, but the amount of resources it takes to produce. “Growing plants like cotton and flax, which are extremely common, and clothing production takes so much water to grow, especially in climates where it doesn’t rain too often and in indoor growing facilities,” she continued. The Vitruvian Fair ended with the presentations, and Duran Bascope says whether it returns comes down to funding. However, she plans on reapplying for the same grant from the Canadian Red Cross Resilience Foundation next year, as she says it was a productive and enjoyable experience for all involved. “You can see them (the students) light up. You can hear them try and step in when you’re saying something that resonated with them, because they have these ideas and they have all this passion, and I know that it’s going to be an experience that they take with them and that helps them grow,” Duran Bascope said.
