By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

LOCAL environmental advocacy group Save the Bays is committed to creating strong environmental leaders and ambassadors on Grand Bahama, hosting a three-day leadership development conference for young people at the Pelican Bay Resort last Friday.

Dr Laura Weber, who has a PhD in creative leadership development, was one of the conference facilitators from the Centre of Creative Leadership in Greensborough, North Carolina.

She said that the research based leadership models used mostly by government, corporate, and military institutions, will equip the young participants to be more effective environmental leaders and ambassadors.

“Save the Bays has a very active youth environmental ambassador programme, and the young people are very passionate about saving the environment and working towards a cleaner, healthier Bahamas,” Ms Weber said.

“We were asked to come in and do a programme called ‘Train the Trainer,’ where persons were trained in leadership development models created by the Centre of Creative Leadership.”

The aim, she said, is for the 16 participants to impart what they have learned in any context to other young people.

Ms Weber said what is happening in the environment today affects not only this generation, but future generations as well.

“When you look around and see what is happening in our environment, Mother Nature is not happy with us,” she said.

She stressed that people have a right to clean air and water, the latter of which is very scarce.

“It is 2015 and water rights are still a very important issue for us, and in the Bahamas water is critically important to sustain life here.

“I think not paying attention to environmental concerns for all generations, we are seeing impact on this generation, and for future generations the impact will get more and more severe.”

Ms Weber said that the Centre for Creative Leadership has offices around the world.

“In the past five years we honed our focus on how we take the models and provide them to young people because most adults who attend our conferences say they wished they had done it sooner. We did a research survey asking people what age they think leadership development should start, and 90 per cent said before age 10.”

Ms Weber has worked with young people for the past 10 years in leadership development and advocacy, helping them develop skills to advocate for themselves.

Sharon Glover, of Change by Design, was also a conference facilitator.