Laurier students interested in climate change initiatives and impacts invited to participate in United Nations filmmaking project

The Laurier Graduate Enhancement Fund, in partnership with the Youth Climate Report, is issuing an open call for applications from Laurier graduate and undergraduate students to participate in the Documentary Filmmaking for the United Nations project.

The project provides Laurier students the opportunity to collaborate on the production of short documentary films, each three to five minutes in length, on the subject of climate change research at Laurier or climate change impacts in Waterloo Region and throughout Canada. The short films created by students will be presented to the United Nations for consideration for addition to its Youth Climate Report (YCR) project.

The YCR project is celebrating its 11th anniversary in 2022. The UN program is designed to give youth a voice at the annual UN climate summit known as COP, or Conference of the Parties. More than 600 videos have been added to the UN’s YCR project world map showing climate research, impacts and solutions on all seven continents.

Laurier’s Documentary Filmmaking for the United Nations project is administered by Faculty of Arts instructor Mark Terry, who will provide workshops, training and guidance to participants over a three-month period. Terry also serves as the executive director of the Youth Climate Report and is uniquely positioned to train participants and facilitate getting their films in front of UN policymakers, world leaders and international media.

"We all want to end climate change,” says Terry. “But we often feel frustrated that there is nothing short of participating in the occasional protest that we can do about it. The Documentary Filmmaking for the United Nations program at Laurier gives students the opportunity to ‘speak youth to power’ and directly inform and influence the environmental policymakers of the United Nations.”

The short films made by students and selected by the UN will be showcased at COP27 in November, giving their research and films unique exposure on the world stage and making a direct contribution to the fight against climate change. The COP27 summit will take place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from Nov. 7 to 18, 2022. Last year, three Wilfrid Laurier University students’ films were featured at the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals Global Festival of Action.

How to Participate

Laurier graduate and undergraduate students interested in climate change, climate research and solutions, as well as the impacts of related work being done at Laurier, in Waterloo Region or throughout Canada, are invited to apply to be a part of the Documentary Filmmaking for the United Nations project. Interested students can email Terry at mterry@wlu.ca. The deadline for applications is May 31, 2022. 

Timeline of events

Application deadline

• Friday, May 31, 2022, 1 p.m.

Filmmaking workshops

• Friday, June 3, 2022, 1 p.m.
• Friday, June 17, 2022, 1 p.m.
• Friday, July 8, 2022, 1 p.m.

Deadline for film delivery

• July 15, 2022

UN approval deadline

• July 31, 2022