Center for Environment at Catawba Accepting Applications for National Environmental Summit

The Center for the Environment at Catawba College is now accepting applications for its 2012 National Environmental Summit for High School Students.

The event, “Redesigning Our Future,” is an intensive experience which is open to high school students who will be juniors and seniors in the 2012-2013 academic year.

Sustainability designers, scientists and engineers from the prestigious Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) of Colorado will collaborate with the Center and Catawba professors to provide the leadership and instruction for the summit.

Scheduled for July 9-14 with follow-up activities through May 2013, the summit will emphasize whole systems thinking, helping students become collaborative leaders and effective communicators. Summit leaders will provide knowledge and help the students hone analytical skills that will help them return to their schools and communities empowered to have a tangible impact.

A hallmark of the summit is its involvement of multiple disciplines. Students will explore the concept of environmental leadership through the perspective of their own skills and interest in the arts, humanities, education, history, business, science and technology. They will learn how essential elements of these varied disciplines – creativity, expression, innovation, observation, experimentation and teamwork – are critical to their effectiveness as leaders.

The summit will take place on the Catawba College campus. Many sessions will be held in the Center for the Environment facility –one of the first green facilities on a college campus in the nation – and on its 189-acre ecological preserve. Participants will stay in gender specific, LEED-certified residence halls.

The cost is $300, which includes all meals, lodging and interactive instruction. A limited number of full and partial cholarships are avalaible.

The Center for the Environment has been conducting community outreach on multiple environmental topics since 1996. RMI is an international leader in research on sustainable designs, practices and policies.

For more information, contact Cathy Holladay  704.637.4791 chollada@catawba.edu                              

The Center for the Environment at Catawba College was founded in 1996 to provide education and outreach centered on prevalent environmental challenges and to foster community-oriented sustainable solutions that can serve as a model for programs throughout the country. For more information, visit www.centerfortheenvironment.org or www.campaignforcleanair.org.