Meditating on the escarpment during the scavenger hunt © Anna ET
2022 Youth Summit for Mother Earth
We hope that the 2022 Youth Summit for Mother Earth can be hosted in-person with participation from youth across the province. The 2022 Summit will be held September 23-25, 2022. We will send sponsorship packages to Nature Network groups in June.
You may have heard that our beloved summit venue, YMCA Geneva Park, was sold this past year. We have been working to find a suitable location to host an in-person event, keeping COVID-19 restrictions in mind. We have been researching an appropriate venue that ensures the safety of youth, staff, chaperones, speakers, Elders, and their community members. We are still working to finalize the venue.
Registration Costs and Sponsorship
Should we decide to host the summit in-person at our top venue choice, sponsorship rates will be roughly $400 per youth. This is a $25 increase from our last in-person event and is a result of higher accommodation costs. We will send a sponsorship package to all clubs with more details in June.
We apologize for any inconvenience this delay has caused, and thank you for your understanding.
Contact
If you have any questions about our annual Youth Summit or are interested in sponsoring our event, please contact Christine Ambre, Conservation Education Coordinator, at 1-800-440-2366 ext. 244 or christinea@ontarionature.org.
Highlights from 2021
From September 25 to 26, 2021 environmental leaders from across the province gathered virtually for cross-cultural learning and knowledge sharing. In partnership with the Youth Council, the Youth Circle for Mother Earth partners and Coordinating Circle, this re-imagined gathering brought 92 young leaders and 12 youth mentors together.
These youth represented 54 communities across Ontario from as far as Windsor, Ottawa and Kenora, with youth identifying from Indigenous communities across Turtle Island and cultures around the world. Youth also participated in group activities, outdoor challenges, virtual discussions and youth-led sessions on nature-inspired art, story sharing, Two-Eyed Seeing, climate action, environmental policy, biodiversity and networking.
This year’s keynote, Dr. Dan Longboat – Roronhiakewen (He Clears the Sky), shared stories, inspired the summit community to come together from different knowledge systems to solve the world’s complex issues, and reflect on how we are all interconnected.
Thank you to our Nature Network members and other organizations whose support made the 2021 Youth Summit for Mother Earth possible:
- 4imprint Canada’s One by One Program
- AWARE Simcoe
- Bancroft Field Naturalists
- Beaverton Horticultural Society
- Bert Miller Nature Club
- Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation
- Birds Canada
- Brodie Club
- Carden Field Naturalists
- Credit Valley Conservation
- Durham Region Field Naturalists
- Eden Mills Eramosa River Conservation Association
- Four Seasons Conservancy
- Friends of Charleston Lake Park
- Friends of Frontenac Park
- Friends of Mashkinonje
- Friends of Minesing Wetland
- Friends of Ojibway Prairie
- Friends of the Rouge Watershed
- Halton-North Peel Naturalists
- Hamilton Naturalists’ Club
- Headwaters Nature
- Huron Fringe Field Naturalists
- Ingersoll District Nature Club
- Iroquoia Bruce Trail Club
- Kawartha Field Naturalists
- Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority
- Leeds and Grenville Stewardship Council
- Macnamara Field Naturalist Club
- Midland-Penetanguishene Field Naturalists
- Mississippi Valley Field Naturalists
- Nature Barrie
- Nature Guelph
- Nature League of Collingwood
- Nature London
- North American Native Plant Society
- North Durham Nature Club
- Ontario Environment Network
- Ontario Horticultural Association
- Orillia Naturalists’ Club
- Owen Sound Field Naturalists
- Patagonia Toronto
- Pembroke Area Field Naturalists
- Pickering Naturalists
- Quinte Field Naturalists
- Sarah Margolius Impact
- South Peel Naturalists Club
- Southern Ontario Orchid Society
- Sudbury Naturalists
- Symbiotic Living/The Bornstein Family
- Thunder Bay Field Naturalists
- Toronto Field Naturalists
- Urban Minds
- Waterloo Region Nature
- Willow Beach Field Naturalists
This project has been made possible by:
Ontario Nature members
Miigwetch – miigwech – nya:wen – hiy hiy – nakurmiik – merci – thank you!*
*The above translations may differ from other Ojibwe, Kanien’kéha, Cree and Inuktitut dialects, and reflect the languages shared with and spoken by members in the Youth Circle for Mother Earth’s Coordinating Circle and project partners.
Over the past 12 Youth Summits, we have engaged 231 communities across Ontario.