The Emerging Environmental Leaders (EELs) is a cohort-based program that connects young adults in Minnesota with state agency leaders on Minnesota's most pressing environmental issues. EELs members learn about environmental issues and change-making in Minnesota and convene youth and state leaders to share ideas. Past EELs cohorts planned and facilitated Environmental Quality Board meetings and served in leadership roles at Environmental Congress events.
EELs is an ongoing collaboration between the Environmental Quality Board, University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment, partner organizations serving young people, and young leaders in Minnesota.
In 2021, EELs worked together with the Environmental Quality Board and Governor Walz's Climate Change Subcabinet to bring youth voices forward to state environmental leaders.
View the May 19th, 2021 interactive event that explored young people’s perspectives on climate change – how it is impacting their current realities and how our actions today will shape their futures.
Young leaders shared their stories and engaged with the Climate Change Subcabinet and Environmental Quality Board to discuss the challenges they face, their approaches to climate action, and their priorities for a healthy climate future. Young Minnesotans and those interested in youth perspectives on climate were encouraged to join and interact virtually using the online platform Slido (https://www.sli.do/.
The conversation was led by members of the Emerging Environmental Leaders program, which is an ongoing collaboration between the Environmental Quality Board and the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment.