Download SPONSOR A YOUNG LEADER TO ATTEND CONSCIOUS MINDS

SPONSOR A YOUNG LEADER TO ATTEND CONSCIOUS MINDS CAMP
WHAT:
The power of Conscious Minds Camp lies in the diversity of youth we bring together, the
holistic perspective on learning and health, and most importantly, our power lies in our
ability to practice living in a democratic and inspiring community. You can empower a
young Canadian to learn, grow, and develop their skills and knowledge to create a better
community, Canada, and world! The learning your young person gains will ripple
through your community, and in this way, your sponsorship not only empowers one
young person, but all those around them.
Conscious Minds Camp (CMC) is a two-week sleepover collaborative leadership
program developed by and for youth and young adults who want to cultivate healthy and
resilient communities.
Our goal is to empower networks of youth to take personal and community action in
advancing resilience to climate change, human rights, and decolonization. CMC is a fun,
cooperative, and intentional space for youth to develop their visions of the world they
want to live in, and begin to master skills, knowledge, and strategies that will facilitate
their role as confident leaders and mentors in their communities.
The camp is for young people age 13-29. We often get asked about this large age gap:
when we bring together youth together with up to 16 years difference between them (as
well as adults, elders, and children around them), a deeper sense of community is created.
There is also a natural and nurtured mentorship that occurs between the older and
younger youth; and, through our teaching methods, the diversity in lived experience
greatly deepens the possible learning for everyone, rather than hindering it.
This summer, we will host up to 60 youth at the beautiful Cobourg Scout Reserve – a 62acre property outside of Toronto. At camp, we explore three themes of climate change
resilience, human rights, and decolonization through a holistic hands-on learning process.
Our activities range from nature hikes to a full day scavenger hunt detailing the history of
the banana trade; from yoga to assembling solar panels. Each day holds space for
physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health practices and learning.
CONTEXT:
It’s no mystery: we’ve known about climate change and solutions needed to address it for
decades. The technological answers are there; priorities and strategies for farms, cities,
whole countries, have been proposed. However, though targets have been decided upon,
policy has been created, solutions have not yet been put into action at the level needed. In
2005, Canada set a goal to cut emissions by 80% by the year 2020 – it is now 2016 and
little action has been taken to successfully reach this goal. Why is it that we know climate
change is a major global problem, yet no initiative has been taken on trying to address it?
Climate change is not just an technology problem, and solutions are not just
technological.
As Ontario Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Glenn Murray, has aptly
stated, climate change is a social and spiritual problem. For us, addressing the root causes
of climate change – society’s values, culture, and perspectives on our relationship with
nature – is the first step to tackling this global crisis.
The existing cultural and societal ideas about nature need to change in order for real
progress to take place. CMC’s goal is to assist and support the next generation of leaders
to shift their values and practice to ones that understand why and how to live within the
boundaries of the Earth.
We need your support to equip youth with the critical thinking skills to think through
short and long term consequences and solutions, as well as the skills to work
collaboratively towards mitigation, adaptation, and regeneration. We need to envision and
create a society that does not mutually-destroy nature and people; a society that respects
all life, where people live in cooperation and reciprocity. CMC yields a community of
youth who understand how to put climate change resilience into practical action.
RESEARCH:
“Education alone cannot achieve a more sustainable future; however, without education
and learning for sustainable development, we will not be able to reach that goal.” - UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
The Problem:
We don’t like to talk about it– it’s global, hard to understand the impacts on our
individual lives, and trying to conceptualize solutions is a daunting task. Common
reactions to climate change include anxiety, fear, guilt, denial, and depression (American
Psychology Association). So we push it aside. A survey conducted of our 2015
campers corroborates this research. When asked how they felt about climate change
before camp, respondents answered they felt overwhelmed, angry, frustrated, scared,
concerned, or apathetic, stemming from a lack of attention and action from the larger
community and people in positions of power, the high complexity of the issue, and a
sense that it was not personally relevant.
We understand so little, but feel so much. The anxiety and depression caused by climate
change amplifies the already alarming rate of mental illness in Canada: 15% of our child
and youth population face mental health issues, and 1/3rd of Canadians report
experiencing mental health problems (Canada Mood Disorders Association, 2009).
Yet no matter how much we don’t want to deal with it, the effects of climate change are
already happening (Health Canada, 2005). And it’s not just climate change. The
boundaries for safe changes in biodiversity loss and human interference with the nitrogen
cycle have also already been vastly exceeded; with ocean acidification, stratospheric
ozone depletion, phosphorus cycle changes, global freshwater use, and changes in land
use having reached dangerous levels as well (Steffen et al, 2011). Our daily habits that
contribute to these global crises are hard to change, and indeed may be “one of the most
important obstacles to mitigating climate change impacts” (American Psychology
Association, p.67).
Youth in Canada are particularly unprepared to tackle these intertwining crises that are
the defining feature of our future. In our survey of 2015 campers (with a 20% response
rate) respondents unanimously stated that the formal school system does not prepare them
to deal with climate change.
Specifically, there is no discussion of resilience or adaptation, minimal coverage in
science, no practical aspect, as well as a lack of urgency and optimism. Without
education, how can we act? And without action, our mental, emotional, and physical, and
environmental health will continue to deteriorate.
The problem that Conscious Minds Camp addresses is not climate change directly,
but our collective ability to understand and act upon it.
In a review we conducted of youth policy, education policy, and climate change and
environmental policy at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels, we found a clear
lack of attention paid to youth training and education. For example, the 2014 Stepping
Up youth policy and the 2012 Ontario Youth Action Plan make no mention of climate
change. The 2015 Ontario Climate Change Strategy mentions the importance of
generational change, and ‘raising public awareness’ but gives no specific targets or
implementation strategies.
As youth who understand the implications of environmental crises on our futures, we see
our generation being left out– we are not included in policy making despite Canada’s
commitment to youth engagement in the 1992 Rio Agreement, nor are we considered in
implementation plans for climate action. How are we supposed to reduce our carbon
footprint, greenhouse gas emissions, destructive consumption and waste patterns, if the
next generation of leaders are not being given the knowledge or motivation we need to
act?
Why is it that the technological solutions such as solar roads and windows, aquaponics
greenhouses, green architectural designs, etc. exist, but are not being implemented? We
believe the root is a lack of education.
Opportunity:
Children and youth are not just the most vulnerable population when it comes to climate
change. We are also powerful agents of change, and extraordinarily resilient in the face of
significant challenges (UNICEF, 2013). We understand that climate change is not only a
crisis; it is also one of the greatest opportunities we have had as a species to innovate and
create for a global increase in human wellbeing…but only if we take action now. At a
macro level, by addressing climate change in a meaningful way, we have the potential to
radically increase global equality and wellbeing, as solutions to climate change align with
solutions to poverty, and social equities.
Conscious Minds Camp is not the solution to climate change, but it is a highly important
project in preparing young Canadians to find and implement solutions. After camp 2015,
the same respondents who reported feeling depressed and scared about climate change,
now reported feeling engaged, realistically hopeful, empowered, informed, aware,
motivated, and less overwhelmed. “Emotional and psychological resilience was clearly
increased through camp activities” (Kolnick, 2016).
By bringing together youth from across the province for two weeks, we have the
opportunity to not only increase our understanding of the problem, but to empower youth
in solutions in six important, and empirically proven effective ways:
1. Increasing awareness of solutions and engaging in them – such as building
solar panels and a visiting permaculture farm
2. Increasing ability to relay knowledge of problems and solutions to family,
community, and policy/decision-makers
3. Increasing the social capital of participants, and sense of community belonging
with peers to enable action
4. Practicing healthy and sustainable habits – from healthy eating, to community
conflict resolution, to consumption patterns within Earth boundaries.
5. Increasing sense of wellbeing by engaging in climate action, and by being in
nature – both of which have been extensively proven to increase well being
(American Psychology Association).
6. Increase emotional and psychological resilience in the face of significant
challenges
Conscious Minds Camp not only meets the standards of increasing climate change
resilience set by academic literature (Kolnick, 2016); but it aids in the achievement of
two key objectives in the Federal Environment of Canada’s 2011 Federal Adaptation
Policy Framework, which are (1) for “Canadians to understand the relevance of climate
change and associated impacts on their quality of life”; and (2) for “Canadians to have
the necessary tools to adapt to climate change effectively”. It also meets many of the
recommendations in Chapter 25 of the 1992 Rio Agreement to which Canada was
signatory, and the 2015 Paris Agreement which affirms the importance of “education,
training, public access to information and cooperation at all levels”.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Last year we run a very successful camp with 35 youth, 6 organizers, and 9 elders and
mentors. Support now exists for 35 youth, who have become part of a community whose
purpose is to nurture the emotional, physical, and mental well being of its members. After
conducting a post-camp survey, we found that 90% of camper responded saying they
would return to Conscious Minds Camp if given the opportunity. [INSERT CAMPER
QUOTE that I can’t choose because they’re all good). We’re not just a summer camp –
CMC continues to thrive in the fall and wintertime, where connections with camp
members and organizers are nurtured through visioning retreats and “CMC family”
reunions.
Out of Conscious Minds Camp grew Conscious Minds Co-op (CMCo-op). The camp and
the Co-op share the same vision: empowered youth cultivating healthy and resilient
communities. The Co-op’s main objectives are to host educational and networking events
and spaces towards equitable and ecologically rooted living, support members’ CMC
related initiatives and projects, and support Co-op Members in the full development of
their individual human personality to the maximum available resources and capacities.
Existing in the Information Age allows us to expand our networks to the international
world – a vision that we hope to actualize within the next year with the creation of a
CMCo-op internal web.
The IPCC reports, the U.N., and all relevant authorities at the national and international
all agree that children and young, as well as those suffering from poverty and other forms
of marginalization are going to be those most affected by climate change. It is therefore
imperative that disadvantaged youth are given the opportunity to attend Conscious Minds
Camp and increase their communities’ resilience to climate change.
We need your support to host up to 60 youth for a two week transformative experience.
We have two versions of a budget below – the bare minimum we need to make the camp
a healthy and safe experience, and our ideal (the main difference is that in this version,
our youth organizers get paid).
In our bare bones budget, we need to raise $418 per camper; in our ideal, $991 per
camper. Campers are asked to raise/pay what they can, and with your support, we will
reach our target.
Your role as a funder is vital to providing campers and organizers the best version of a
CMC experience possible. To support this camp is to invest in youth climate change
preparation – an incredibly valuable investments given the frightening future that we
face.
Budget:
Land
Insurance
$1,000 $1,000 Pay in monetary fee and hard labour to refresh the space
$1,000 $1,000
Food
$10,000 $10,000
Chefs
$4,600 $4,600
Health Care Supplies
Honorariums for guides and
elders
Transportation
Solar Energy Workshop
$750
Workshop Supplies
Honorariums for 11
organizers
% to charitable sponsor
Website Fees
Post Camp Programming
Total
$750
- $2,500 for a chef; $1,500 for su-chef; cpp and tax
requirements
- from poison ivy remedies to Band-Aids
$2,000 $1,000 - $200 per guest facilitator
$1,100 $1,000 - transporting supplies to camp, field trip gas costs
$3,500 $1,000
- from sticky notes to butcher paper; markers to arts and
$2,000 $1,000
crafts supplies
$23,000 $0
$3,000 $1,000
$1,000 $240
$6,500 $5,00
$59,450 $25,090
SPONSORSHIP LEVELS:
Sponsorships may be in the form of a monetary payment, or the equivalent in in-kind
donations such as food, arts and crafts supplies, camping supplies, etc. For a full list of
in-kind donation options please contact organizers at: [email protected]
Bronze Level - $200 + Partial Sponsorship
 Copy of the CMC Womxn Magazine – 200 pages of photography, drawings,
poetry short stories and articles from within and beyond the CMCommunity
o Shareable with up to 5 people
 A thank you mention in the Bronze Sponsors list in the next magazine
o Our magazines reach at minimum 300 people across Ontario
 A hand-written thank you letter and camp photo from the camper you support
Silver Level - $418 + Bare Bones Full Sponsorship
 Copy of the CMC Womxn Magazine – 200 pages of photography, drawings,
poetry short stories and articles from within and beyond the CMCommunity
o Shareable with up to 10 people
 A thank you mention in the Silver Sponsors list in the next magazine
o Our magazines reach at minimum 300 people across Ontario
 A hand-written thank you letter and camp photo from the camper you support
 A print of your choice of art from the Magazine + a Holistic Health Care Package
Gold Level - $600 + Partial Ideal Budget Scholarship
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Copy of the CMC Womxn Magazine – 200 pages of photography, drawings,
poetry short stories and articles from within and beyond the CMCommunity
o Shareable with up to 10 people
A thank you mention and your logo in the Gold Sponsors list in the next magazine
o Our magazines reach at minimum 300 people across Ontario
A hand-written thank you letter and camp photo from the camper you support
A print of your choice of art from the Magazine signed by the artist
A Holistic Health Care Package
A 2 hour workshop for you and up to 5 people from certified instructors in one of
the following:
o Ashtanga Yoga
o Bootcamp
o Mixed Martial Arts
o Symptometry
o The Art of Facilitation
o Climate Change 101 or 201
o Human Rights 101 or 201
Platinum Level - $991 + Full Sponsorship
 Copy of the CMC Womxn Magazine – 200 pages of photography, drawings,
poetry short stories and articles from within and beyond the CMCommunity
o Shareable with up to 10 people
 A thank you mention and your logo in the Platinum Sponsors list in the next two
magazine issues
o Our magazines reach a minimum of 300 people across Ontario
 A hand-written thank you letter and camp photo from the camper you support
 A print of your choice of art from the Magazine signed by the artist
 A Holistic Health Care Package
 Two 2 hour workshop for you and up to 5 people from certified instructors in one
to two of the following areas:
o Ashtanga Yoga
o Bootcamp
o Mixed Martial Arts
o Symptometry
o The Art of Facilitation
o Climate Change 101 or 201
o Human Rights 101 or 201