Photo:  Ken Skublics

Beneficiary: Scouts Canada, $5,000 award

"Climate change is topical and relevant, and it’s having a sweeping impact."

Scouts Canada has a proud history synonymous with an abiding respect and appreciation for nature. Indeed, the Scout motto "Be Prepared" is a general counsel to all members, while its laws specifically encourage them to be "wise in the use of all resources." Today, through Scouts Canada's Climate Change Education and Action Program (CCEAP), Scouts across the country are using their century-old values to take on the world's most pressing environmental issue. "Climate change is topical and relevant, and it's having a sweeping impact," says program director Julian Celms from the Scouts Canada national office in Ottawa. "It's a natural fit."

According to scientists, global warming will have a catastrophic effect on the Earth's climate and environment within this century. The culprit: the heat-trapping accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Determined to do its part, Scouts Canada teamed up with The Delphi Group, an Ottawa-based environmental consulting firm, to launch CCEAP, a national program that reaches 84,000 Canadian boys and girls and 25,000 Scouting volunteers, in the fall of 2004.

Timed to coincide with the federal government's One-Tonne Challenge, CCEAP uses a multi-faceted, multi-dimensional approach to foster climate-change awareness among Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers and Rovers across the country. CCEAP has rolled out dozens of age-appropriate games, crafts and activities, as well as state-of-the-art online calculators that track GHG savings, to motivate the thousands of 5-to-26-year-olds participating in Scouting. "The leaders had strong, positive feedback about educating youth with environmental messages and values through the different levels," says Celms.

Seamlessly integrating CCEAP into its badge system and its lineup at weekly meetings, Scouts Canada has also added a Climate Change Crest. Before you can shout "riverbanks!" a colony of Beavers is part of a garbage-sorting relay, Akela is teaching Cubs to build a simple solar cooker and Scouts are learning how to undertake a home-energy audit. "It's kid-friendly and kid-appropriate," Celms says of the program, which stresses personal responsibility and community collaboration. "Leaders can add detail to the program or put an individual spin on it to suit their groups. It's a subject that has real currency for kids."