Guelph – With both interest and professional programs devoted to sustainability on the rise, a select group of students have a leading-edge opportunity to lead the way to lasting social change. Now, Keith Colaco, of the University of Waterloo, is preparing to lend his energy to addressing the serious economic, social and environmental challenges our world currently faces. Mr. Colaco is among 180 college and university students chosen from more than 900 across Canada to attend a one-of-a-kind conference on sustainability leadership entitled, Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership – a one-of-a-kind conference on sustainability leadership.

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to gain insight from experts across the country and work with them to implement sustainable practices within my local and school communities. The Co-operators have provided me with the platform I need to develop innovative solutions. I am thrilled to join a diverse, empowered and talented group of students so that we may assist one another in creating the change we would all like to see.”

Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership is particularly timely as demand rises for employees who are familiar with the concept of sustainability with its triple-bottom line approach of balancing economic, social and environmental factors, and this awareness expands in response to concerns about climate change and global warming.

David Suzuki, award-winning scientist, environmentalist and broadcaster, and co-founder of the David Suzuki Foundation, will be the keynote speaker at Impact! The Co-operators Youth Conference for Sustainability Leadership. Other speakers include Peter Schiefke, National Manager of The Climate Project Canada, and experts in such fields as community engagement, networking and activism, poverty, ethics, working with government and the media, innovation and leadership, and people management. More information on the roster of experts can be found at www.impactyouthsustainability.ca.

Over the summer months, Keith will be conducting over thirty hours of pre-conference research, which includes a customized on-line course and research initiatives alongside other students via virtual work groups that explore sustainability practices in large and small organizations in the field of manufacturing. After his engagement at the conference, Keith will begin implementing solutions in his university community. He hopes to achieve this by auditing clubs and societies on their paper usage, energy usage and carbon footprint and advising them on ways they can reduce, reuse, or recycle to both cut costs and to be environmentally friendly.

He joins his colleagues at the University of Guelph campus in Guelph, Ontario from September 24 to 27, 2009 where they will team up with experts to develop real sustainability solutions to take back to their campuses, communities, and current and future workplaces. The participants, ages 19 to 25, represent many fields of study, perspectives and geography so the conference will offer a diverse and multi-disciplinary approach.

“In many ways, students already are leaders in sustainability,” said Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators. “This conference is a way to give young people the tools and networks to become catalysts for a more sustainable society.”

The work of the conference participants begins long before the event itself. Already, participants have started an online sustainability course created by The Natural Step, are conducting interviews with Canadian business and sectoral leaders, and are exploring existing sustainability practices within a given sector. More importantly, participants will be assigned to a project on which to explore the unique sustainability issues facing a chosen industry. The work includes interviews with Canadian business and sectoral leaders, and developing practical sustainability solutions. Participants will also continue their actions after the conference.

Partnering with The Co-operators are the Research Network for Business Sustainability, AIESEC, the David Suzuki Foundation, the Natural Step Canada, the University of Guelph, Wilfrid Laurier University, the Centre for the Study of Co-operatives at the University of Saskatchewan, Coopsco and the Richard Ivey School of Business.