About the Summit

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The National Environmental Summit is an annual event hosted by the Center for the Environment at Catawba College, a leader in environmental education, in collaboration with fellow environmental leaders at the Rocky Mountain Institute, Environmental Working Group, and Catawba College faculty. The summit brings together 14-17 year old high school students from across the country for five immersive days of interdisciplinary environmental activities, studying topics including collaboration and communication, natural and social science issues, and whole systems thinking to help students become collaborative leaders and effective communicators.

In past summits, students have had the chance to explore environmental stewardship through the perspectives of fields like the arts, humanities, education, history, business, science, and technology. The summit is designed to provide students with the insight and specific skills that environmental leaders need to create a sustainable world while developing their own unique talents. They learn how essential elements of these varied disciplines - creativity, expression, innovation, observation, experimentation, and teamwork - are critical to their effectiveness as environmental leaders, no matter what career they choose to pursue.

Students return to their schools and communities empowered to have a tangible impact on the world around them.

Redesigning Our Future 2020 will be held at the Center for the Environment, located on Catawba College's campus in Salisbury, NC, just north of metropolitan Charlotte. Participants will be housed in Abernethy Village, a complex of five residence halls which are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified. The majority of programming will occur in Catawba's 189-acre ecological preserve and in the labs and classrooms of the Center for the Environment's green facility.

For more information on the National Environmental Summit, please visit its official webpage here.

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