Scientists gather all the time at conferences and meetings to share ideas, research, and discoveries. But how often do high school students get to actively participate in these meetings – especially ones with global consequences? This week, scientists and world leaders met at the Rio+20 Summit in Rio de Janiero, Brazil, to discuss environmental protection and sustainable development. And youth from around the world were there too, through a global videoconference that was the culmination of the SCEnaRioS (Science Centers Engagement and the Rio Summit) project. During the Summit, youth from TechnoMuses (Canada), Museo Interactivo de Economia (Mexico), Museu da Vida (Brazil), Madatech (Israel), and of course the Miami Science Museum, gave presentations to the world about their concerns for their respective environments.

Each presentation was the result of a team project between science centers around the world, so in addition to those science centers that presented live, lots of others were involved in this global collaboration – including Chabot Space and Science Center (California), SciPort (Louisiana), Experimentarium (Denmark), Museo Nazionale della Scienza (Italy), Kankhomba Secondary School (Mozambique), Questacon (Australia), Macau Science Center (Macau, China), and Science Centre Singapore, and of course the Miami Science Museum’s partner, Maloka Interactive Center (Colombia). The SCEnaRioS project is based on the convictions that youth will be an essential part of the solution to global problems, and that global partnerships and collaboration between youth is a big part of ensuring a better future for the Earth.

Partnerships? Check. Informed youth? Check. Solutions to environmental problems? In progress.