Between September and December of 2019, Canadian high school students from coast-to-coast came together through virtual connections and an online collaborative classroom to discover, discuss, and dialogue significant and timely issues facing Canadian and International biodiversity. With a specific focus on the 2020 Biodiversity Goals and Targets, and under expert guidance and support from scientists, scholars, and mentors from the Alliance of Natural History Museums of Canada and their partners at Ocean Wise, these youth collaborated on a 4-month learning project to understand the complexity of the most prominent issues concerning Canadian biodiversity and ecosystem health. To further broaden their voices, they conducted a National Youth Survey, reaching out to peers in their schools and communities to get a better understanding of youth knowledge and opinion on these issues. Informed by schools, communities, regional, provincial, and expert perspectives, they shared ideas, knowledge, and experiences to produce a synthesis of these efforts into a final, national white paper, written in their voice to express their concerns, impact, and potential measure surrounding biodiversity, the promotion of populous awareness, and overall to strive for action. As we move towards the UN Decade of Oceans, the youth want to put forth a set of thoughts and calls to action around what has been done and what we have yet to do as a nation. The enclosed white paper, National Youth Dialogue on Biodiversity and the UN Decade of Oceans, is an effort to capture and capitalize on their shared passion and drive for a better tomorrow.

Winston Knoll Environment Club participated through weekly video conferences, and sent 3 members to Edmonton in November 2019 for a writers retreat. We also sent the survey around to youth in Regina, and hosted a large Town Hall Meeting with 3 classes of approximately 25 students participating in adding their ideas to the discussion.