April 7, 2008

We’re packing up to return to Calgary after an action packed weekend. The last two days have been a bit of a blur: so many inspirational talks and plenty of good information to help us prepare for giving our own presentations.

On Saturday Al Gore was with us the entire day walking us through his slide show and talking about presentation techniques. Also present was Dr Andrew Weaver from the University of Victoria. As a prominent climate change scientist and part of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), he filled in some of the scientific background to Mr Gore’s presentation. Dr David Suzuki also stayed for the day to add to the discussions.

Sunday was an opportunity to learn about climate change solutions with presentations from policy experts and past trainees from the climate project. These mentors had good perspectives on how to make a lasting impression on audiences. We also heard from Ray Zahrab and Jean Amire, who are both adventurers, inspirational speakers and have a deep concern for the environment. Ray has competed across the world in ultra-marathon races, but his most recent run across the Sahara prompted him to become an advocate for water and desertification issues. Jean spent a year and half along the coast of the Antarctic continent in his yacht to make a film and raise awareness about the fragility of the wildlife and environment in this part of the world.

We are leaving Montreal with an amazing set of resources to give climate change presentations. We hope that we can use this information to speak to as many people as we can in Calgary over the coming year.