More than 300 students from Humboldt to San Diego with a passion for sustainability will come together for camping, yoga and learning at this month’s California Student Sustainability Coalition’s 2012 Spring Convergence.
The three-day student-run event, themed “Building A ResoNATION,” will take place April 27 to 29. Participants are asked to bring something that resonates with them to build a greener future. The event is free for all Cal Poly students and is hosted by the local chapter of the non-profit sustainability coalition, the Empower Poly Coalition. Empower Poly sponsors environmentally-minded clubs such as the Cal Poly Surfriders and TOMS Club.
Convergence coordinator and anthropology and geography senior Jordan Lambert said the event will begin with dinner and camping at SLO Creek Farms, near Avila Beach. Participants will wake up with sunrise yoga in the nearby apple orchards, and then the event will move to the Cal Poly campus. Students will lead workshops on such topics as agriculture and local jurisdictional politics.
Lambert said students can play a crucial role in sustainability activism.
“Students are at that point where we’re learning and connecting with one another,” Lambert said. “We’re going to be organizers in a few years, and we’re going to be around for a long time. We can influence people both younger and older to make a change.”
There will also be a keynote speech by Emmy-winning documentarian Larry Lansburgh. Lansburgh will discuss the Achuar people of Ecuador, who successfully maintained autonomy against the influences of big oil companies.
Empower Poly Coalition president and natural resources management senior Victoria Carranza said success stories such as that of the Achuar people are good for the image of sustainability.
“There’s a doomsday effect that the environmental movement sometimes has, but we want the success stories,” Carranza said.
This is the second time Cal Poly will host the event — the first was in Spring 2009.
“We hope to get President Armstrong there, and to get students excited about getting out of their elements,” Carranza said. “We’re in a college setting getting degrees in critical thinking, approaching a problem and really digesting it before you act. Not accepting what is, but really questioning.”
Carranza also stressed that the event is about passion and sharing knowledge, and everyone is welcome.
Recent San Francisco State University alumna Tia Tyler has attended multiple Convergences, including the one Cal Poly hosted in 2009.
“There were a lot of people,” Tyler said of the event. “I remember being overwhelmed, but a good overwhelmed.”
Fellow Convergence Coordinator and city and regional planning junior Tessa Salzman said particpiants should think of themselves as responsible for causing significant change.
“We’re responsible to take action because we’re capable,” Salzman said. “We’re in the best space to be able to make change.”
She stressed that responsibility means “the ability to respond,” and shouldn’t be considered an obligation, but an opportunity.
According to Salzman, there will be an auction dinner held to raise money for the event. The fundraiser will be April 13 at the Ludwick Community Center.
More information about the Empower Poly Coalition can be found at empowerpoly.org. Register for the Spring Convergence 2012 at sustainability coalition’s website. The fee is waived for Cal Poly students.