Education, youth and the environment have been the focus of Lisa Glithero's professional and personal life. With Bachelor of Science, Education and Master of Education degrees, she has taught in Canada, Nepal and has served as the Education Director for Students on Ice, an organization that leads educational expeditions for youth to Antarctica and the Arctic. Through eight Polar Expeditions, Glithero has witnessed firsthand the impacts of Climate Change, further igniting her passion to connect today's youth to the planet's global ecosystem.

Glithero's dedication towards a 'greener' society led to her establishment of the EYES Project in 2004. EYES (Education, Youth, Environment, Sustainability) is a Canadian not-for-profit organization committed to bringing a sustainability imperative into educational pedagogy and practice. Since fall of 2006, she has been teaching at the Faculty of Education at the University of Ottawa where Glithero will be pursuing a doctoral degree as of September 2009. She also continues to serve as the Director of the EYES Project, as well as Chair of the Education Advisory Committee for Students on Ice. Glithero served as a Board of Director for the Chelsea Foundation since 2007—a volunteer-based organization committed to enhancing the well-being of community life in her home community of Chelsea, Quebec.

In March 2006, she was honoured with an international "Women of the Earth Award" by the Yves Rocher Foundation for her work in environmental education and in April 2008 was named by Nobel Peace Prize Nominee (2007) Sheila Watt Cloutier, as one of Chatelaine's "Amazing Canadian Women to Watch."

Glithero inspires audiences to engage in the (re)visioning of society. Her extensive travels and work as an educator and community innovator motivates groups to actively participate in the dialogue and relationship building needed to effect positive societal change. Through personal stories, powerful visuals, knowledge and humour, she addresses such topics as Environmental Education, Transformative Learning, Educational Reform, Community and Place-based Learning, Youth Engagement and Agency, Sustainable Community Building, Leadership, Vision, and Organizational Change.

1. Stewardship, Sustainability and the Future of School

    As we understand the finiteness of the planet & our irrevocable & interdependent relationship with it, we need an education system that rethinks its purpose & processes in order to mobilize today's youth in building a more sustainable future. We need visionary pedagogy, institutional commitment & the conscious engagement of Canadian society.

1. Education for Change: A Vision for a Sustainable 21st Century

    What does sustainability mean? What is education for sustainable development (ESD)? What does ESD look like in the classroom? What are some success stories of classroom and school initiatives? This presentation for educators is aimed at 'revisioning and rethinking' the schooling paradigm in order to meet the emergent needs and realities of the 21st Century.

    To achieve a 'revolution of consciousness', we need to begin engaging in meaningful dialogue on ethics and values in critical mass. We are in need of educators, educational settings, and educational policies and pedagogy that model and practice a sustainable imperative. Lisa will address how to make sustainability education real in your teaching practice and school culture. Success stores of exemplary classroom and school initiatives will be highlighted.

1. Nature, Culture and Community: A New Narrative for a New Generation

    A new generation with a new narrative is needed; a narrative that breaks through the 'environment or economy' ethos to embrace a way of being that values the inextricable link between humans and the natural world. Such a narrative will require a generation that believes in cooperation and collaboration; a generation that questions and thinks critically; a generation that promotes social well-being and civic engagement; a generation that recognizes their own agency. How can our respective learning communities work together to foster such a generation?

1. Architects of Societal Transformation - Building Learning Communities that Inspire a New Generation

    Higher education institutions serve as profound learning communities from which to propel the next generation forward. As architects of these communities, we must ask ourselves, what type of world do we want to prepare today's youth for? We are in need of a generation that embraces, adapts and drives change; a generation that believes in cooperation and collaboration; a generation that questions, thinks critically; a generation that understands the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world; a generation that values social well-being and civic engagement; a generation that recognizes their own agency. As architects of these communities, how do we work together to foster such a generation.

1. Youth Finding the Levers to Change

    We live in a complex, rapidly changing, unpredictable world. We have, or rather are learning, that our current path is not sustainable. Societal transformation is upon us. And although challenging, what an incredibly exciting time to be young, to be exploring who you are as a person, and what values and choices will guide your life path. We are in need of a new generation that embraces, adapts and drives change; a generation that believes in cooperation and collaboration; a generation that understands the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world; a generation that values social well-being and civic engagement; a generation that recognizes their own agency. What are places for youth to intervene in a system?

1. The Climate Change Generation: Educational Journeys from Pole to Pole

    In asking "what type of world do we want to prepare today's youth for," an understanding of climate change, embedded within a larger sustainability imperative, are the emergent realities of the 21st Century. This dynamic multimedia presentation will share personal stories, photographs, perspectives, impacts and outcomes of unique transformative education programs that connect youth with the polar regions and the role the 'ends of the earth' play in our global ecosystem as a whole. Through experiencing the physical, biological and human dimensions of these regions, the Students on Ice team, in turn, hopes to inspire youth to become leaders in creating a more sustainable future.

1. Inspiring a New Generation

    Have you ever felt like one small person trying to move mountains of change or perhaps questioned how to go about creating change and who to turn to for help. This dynamic multimedia presentation will share personal stories, photographs and perspectives of unique transformative learning experiences that will challenge you to see yourself, not as one of 6 billion building blocks doing your one little 'act of green' but rather as a leader who, through your choices, actions and vision, can push the levers that lead to positive school, community and global change.

1. Exploring Teacher Education Reform under a Sustainability Paradigm

    Faculties of education prepare teachers who themselves will impact on the values, beliefs, attitudes and practices of children and young people for the next forty years. The Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) gives teacher educators a chance to rethink our purpose and processes to better reflect growing societal awareness and interest in broader sustainability issues. Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is not simply about integrating a course on sustainability or ecological design. It is about ESD becoming the new paradigm—what students learn, how students learn, where students learn, and with whom students learn all become transformed. What would it take to prepare beginning teachers who actively promote a sustainability ethos in classrooms, schools and communities?

1. A Revolution of Consciousness

    This dynamic multimedia presentation will share personal stories, photographs and perspectives of unique transformative learning experiences that connect youth with our planet, and in turn, inspire youth to become leaders in creating a more sustainable future.

1. It All Starts With An Experience

    Personal experiences, or lived stories, serve as catalysts to transformation. When youth are actively engaged in learning experiences that foster a sustainability ethos at the start of their lives, the opportunity for a broader societal shift towards well-being is created. Come learn about dynamic Canadian youth who are changing the societal landscape.

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