Maya and I are the new interns at the NBEN as part of CIDA’s international youth internship program. During the past 3 weeks at the NBEN, we had the chance to participate in different interesting projects, one of them is the “Branch Out, Make Waves” challenge that will soon be launched! We are now getting ready to leave for Costa Rica. For the next 6 months we will have the opportunity to develop new skills and to put what we learned at the NBEN into practice while working for the International Analog Forestry Network. You can follow our adventures on…

Today’s the second day of training at the NBEN office! There are lots of new people to get to know and lots to learn. My fellow co-workers, Annie, Lisa, Sidney, Anne-Marie, Maya, and I have a lot on our plates, but it will certainly be a fun and rewarding experience! Annika Chiasson - Health and education programs assistant Annie Guérard – Programs coordinator Lisa J. Griffin – Programs coordinator Anne-Marie Dufour– Intern Maya Irwin – Intern Sydney Wood – Communications and special projects

The UN Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) comes to an end next year. What have we accomplished in Canada to support the Decade? What challenges did we face? And where do we go from here? It was these questions that shaped the discussion at a national ESD workshop I attended at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO annual meeting recently. In general, the workshop provided an interesting discussion, although it was a bit too much of listening to ourselves talk and not quite enough of concrete action items for my liking. Perhaps one of the most thought-provoking comments included…

Did you know that the middle class will grow from 25% of the world’s population to 50% of the world’s population between now and 2030? This stat was put forward by one of the keynote speakers at the Canadian Commission for UNESCO’s AGM that I recently attended. If true, the implications are quite amazing. Many national governments that now represent mostly poor people will soon represent mostly middle class people – people whose basic needs are met and who can focus on broader issues such as environmental sustainability and social justice. Is our world about to change for the better?…