Aug 10, 2023

Youth-of-T Talks empowers young people to take action against climate change

Current Students

By Sarah Topa

In celebration of International Youth Day on August 12 we spoke with Youth-of-T Talks Leads and Institute of Medical Science (IMS) PhD students Muzaffar Bhatti and Shaghayegh Foroozan about their team's efforts to empower young people to take action against climate change.

What is Youth-of-T Talks?

Youth-of-T Talks was created by the IMS graduate student organizers of UofT Talks - an annual symposium that dives into timely issues related to human health. In 2021 the event's theme was climate change and its impact on healthcare. This served as the catalyst for brainstorming ways to expand our reach and impact.

With funding from the IMS Jay Keystone Award for Innovation in Scientific Communication we were able to develop and launch Youth-of-T Talks - an initiative whose mission is to educate and empower young people to be active participants in addressing climate change. Using content from the symposium our team created age-appropriate materials for children and youth ranging in age from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

A Worm's Tale comic for kids about composting

What resources have Youth-of-T Talks created?

For Kindergarten to Grade 3 we created a colourful comic featuring Wormy, an anthropomorphic worm that explains the importance of composting. There are also activities related to planting seeds and understanding their carbon footprint.

For Grades 4-9 we have interactive activities like building an air pollution sensor to learn about greenhouse gases and a Waste Wizard character who shares tips on reducing waste. They also explore how geography affects biodiversity and discuss renewable energy sources.

For Grades 10-12 we designed activities that encourage critical thinking involving real-life scenarios related to environmental racism. Students are invited to design solutions and ways to advocate for change.

How are you empowering young people to be agents of change?

By providing educational content that aligns with curriculum, Youth-of-T Talks makes it easier for educators to discuss complex topics like climate change with their students. We want to give teachers tools they can use to facilitate meaningful discussions about environmental and healthcare issues. During Earth Week, we were able to collaborate with the Toronto Catholic District School Board to offer activities in classrooms virtually.

All Youth-of-T Talks' materials were developed with the goal of sparking young people's curiosity in science, fostering a sense of responsibility for the environment, and encouraging them to find simple solutions to climate change they could take in their daily lives. Whether it's reducing their carbon footprint or advocating for change in their communities, we encourage them to see how individual actions can have a big impact. We want young people to be optimistic about facing such a daunting challenge and to know solutions exist and progress is being made.

Contributing to the education of future scientists and empowering young people to tackle climate change was inspiring. I hope Youth-of-T Talks' materials continue to engage and impact students for years to come.

Muzaffar Bhatti, Student Lead

What's next for Youth-of-T Talks?

Long term we envision Youth-of-T Talks becoming a useful resource for educators across Canada and beyond. By fostering an early interest in science and global issues, we hope to nurture the next generation of scientists, policy-makers, and advocates who will play pivotal roles in addressing pressing challenges like climate change.

The Youth-of-T Talks team includes IMS students and alumni Laura Best, Rachel Dadouch, Kimia Gannad-Zadeh, Jesse Joynt, Shamantha Lora, Swapna Mylabathula, Naomi Robson, Veena Sanmugananthan, Hannah Shuster-Hyman, Isis So, Sajeevan Sujanthan, Sami Ul-Haq, Claire Wunker and Helen Yang.