News - Mission Earth
Dr. C gives virtual presentation to the 10th Annual Young People’s Summit held by the country of Malta
Dr. Kevin Czajkowski, a professor in Geography and Planning and PI for GLOBE Mission Earth: Fusing GLOBE with NASA Assets to Build Systemic Innovation in STEM Education, sponsored by NASA, recently had the privilege of presenting virtually at the 10th Annual Young People’s Summit held by the country of Malta.
Malta is a small country south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea with a population of just of 500,000 people. As part of its ongoing efforts to give voice to children about issues concerning sustainability, Nature Trust-FEE Malta organized the annual Young People’s Summit in preparation for the 15th Annual Young people’s Eco Schools Parliament to be held in June. Over 30 schools attended this event, along with two international speakers, including Dr. Czajkowski. The summit discussed themes raised by the students themselves on marine pollution and loss of biodiversity, urbanism (urban heat island effect), sustainable food consumption, carbon neutrality and carbon sequestration.
As creator of the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHIE) Campaign and the Surface Temperature Protocol for the GLOBE Program, Dr. Czajkowski’s presentation focused on Urban Heat Island, the phenomenon that is best described when a city experiences much warmer temperatures than nearby rural areas. The population of Malta is growing rapid as is construction of new buildings after Malta joined the European Union in 2003. GLOBE is an international program in 125 countries that engages students in authentic research of their local environment. The Honorable Prime Minister of Malta, Robert Abela, gave opening remarks to over 300 students. With 70% of the meeting spoken in Maltese and 30% spoken in English, Dr. Czajkowski was able to follow along using Google Translate, as well as the fact that many words in Maltese are the same in English. Dr. Czajkowski also gave advice on how to monitor change within the country.
During the Malta’s Annual Eco schools Parliament event, the declaration from the 10th Annual Young People’s Summit will be discussed with various MPs, the leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister, and the final report will be given to the Honorable Prime Minister.
Eco Schools is an international program bringing together over 20 million students worldwide. The Virtual summit was held with the support of the Maltese Ministry of Education, Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning, Ambient Malta, HSBC Malta Foundation, Transport Malta, and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Malta.
