After watching many of their ideas fall on deaf ears through the Jasper Community Sustainability Plan process, a group of local high school students will share their ideas with some of the top green architectural and planning minds on the continent.

The Sustainability Club for Youth have been invited to the Living Future Unconference for Deep Green Professionals in Seattle, Washington this spring. The club, which consists of Kai Okazaki, Nicole Alton, Matt Dolny, Emily Fenton and Adrian Butler, will get to take part in workshops and discussions with several leaders in the field of green building, and have been invited to make a brief presentation about youth engagement in sustainable ventures.

“It’s pretty prestigious. We’re the only youth voice invited to attend,” said teacher Adam Robb. “The co-ordinator heard of our involvement with the Jasper Community Sustainability plan and our frustrations, and said it would be a good idea if we applied.”

The students’ application beat out 120 other applications to earn the invitation. Also attending the Unconference will be members of several green building councils, and U.S. President Barack Obama’s green building group – a much different crowd than the Pecha Kucha hosted as part of the community sustainability plan.

While the students are excited to attend the conference in May, they’re intrigued by the possibility of learning new ideas and bringing them back to Jasper. The students believe in their cause and said they will continue to have a youth voice in Jasper.

“It’s good to have youth feedback. They’re given a sense of ownership within the community,” said Butler.

“We’ve engaged ourselves. A few people were resistant, but we weren’t yet ready to stop,” said Dolny.

The students are excited at the networking and idea sharing opportunities presented by the conference, and are busily preparing fundraising and other initiatives. Each has his or her own reason for attending.

“I’m interested in seeing all of the ideas coming from architecture, and bringing the proposals back to town,” Alton said.

“I’ve never been to the United States, and Seattle will be great to see, but I’m interested to see what will come after this,” Okazaki said.

The group has consistently bemoaned the fact Jasper lacks opportunity for teenagers.

“Jasper has nothing to do if you’re not a skier or a hockey player,” Butler said. “We need somewhere to socialize, but there’s no where to go.”

While many encouraged their involvement within the community sustainability process, they still feel much of their input was largely ignored.

The students participated in many sustainability plan events throughout the process, adding their own ideas and opinions in an effort to help shape the future of the town. Beginning with a push for a youth centre, the club branched off into other areas, including ideas of creating a youth employment centre
However when the draft plan was unveiled in Sept. 2009, their ideas weren’t included.

The group is also attempting to achieve a level of sustainability through an expansion of its ranks.

“We want to follow up every year and keep this ongoing,” Okazaki said.

The team’s progress can be followed at www.jasperscy.blogspot.com