Sustainable development policy is a “pretty hot topic” these days, said University student Nathan Forster, which is why he created the Student Delegation For Sustainable Development at the University at the end of last term.
SDSD, which is attempting to become an official student government group, offers University students the opportunity to work and become involved in sustainable development policy and implementation practices through diverse communities near and far, according to an SDSD brochure.
“People in the group are encouraged to follow their own agendas and go after what they want, too,” Forster said. “It’s about networking youth at the national and international level … bridging the gap between student society and government at all levels.”
The group will attend the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-14) in New York City May 1 through 12. Seven members of SDSD will attend sessions that review four issues: pollution and atmosphere, climate change, energy for sustainable development and industrial development. The conference, with representatives from myriad organizations, will review a sustainable development plan that works with both government and civil society, Forster said.
The group will hand out information and raise money for its trip to New York today by selling raffle tickets in front of the University Bookstore. Raffle prizes were donated by local businesses.
Future funding for the group will come from the student incidental fee, if the group is certified as an ASUO group. The University Survival Center played a big role in jump-starting that process after Forster attended one of the center’s meetings. The center told him where to go and what to do to become an official ASUO group, helped the group fund basic things like stamps, and put the group in contact with other groups around campus, said Karen Pettinelli, co-director of the Survival Center.
“We’re connected to a lot of groups around the community so we can network well and help others network,” Pettinelli said.
“It’s a testament to what we’re doing, what we’re trying to accomplish,” Forster said.
Forster said SDSD is trying to share knowledge, heighten awareness and introduce tools and experience to be involved or become involved with sustainable development.
“We all share the fact that the world can be better through more communication at all levels,” he said.
SDSD hopes to hold an event in late May to report what happened at CSD-14 to the University community and let students know how to become involved with the issues discussed at the conference, Forster said. The group is also aiming to attend the World Urban Forum and World Youth Forum in mid-June in Vancouver, B.C.. Those forums are coupled with a hip-hop festival and the Children and Youth Major Group Conference in Trinidad and Tobago in the fall.
“It all depends on our success as a group,” Forster said. “Just by being (at the University) I feel like the potential is there for something really good to come out of this.”

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