Baffin Island Exchange

Youth Expedition Cultural Exchange

The goal of this project is a Youth Expedition Cultural Exchange between the School of Environmental Studies and the Inuit school, students, and community of Clyde River on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. The remote community of Clyde River is at the epicenter of the environmental changes being observed in the arctic as a result of global warming. During the exchange students from both cultures will come together to learn about climate change and its global implications. During Earth Week in late April 2007, students from SES will join the Will Steger Global Warming101 Expedition team in Clyde River and participate with the Clyde River students in a variety of exchange activities, including technology enabled, web based activities with the general SES community back in Minnesota. Following the Clyde River portion of the exchange, students from the Clyde River School will travel down to Minnesota and be hosted by the SES community. They will participate in educational activities with SES students and share stories of the ecological and cultural change they are witnessing in their community as a result of climate change. Through the exchange program activities students from the two schools, cultures, and communities will be empowered to join their generation's efforts to meet this global challenge.