May 11, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Young playwrights shine at Canadian sustainability playwriting competition

Youth voice their concerns and ideas about sustainability with a splash of creativity through the 2009-2010 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition

Vancouver, BC, Canada – Two young people passionate about raising awareness and taking action on sustainability, Deborah Vogt and Samantha Landa, have won the second annual Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition. In addition to each receiving $500 in cash prizes, Vogt and Samantha will see their plays aired on Sustainability Television and performed across Canada by local troupes.

The annual Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition challenges Canadian youth ages 14-26 to holistically evaluate issues in sustainability and devise interdisciplinary solutions. The competition is organized by the NOW! Organization, a youth-run non-profit based in Vancouver, in collaboration with numerous local and national groups including the Playwrights Guild of Canada, the Engineers without Borders, and Let’s Talk Science.

“The competition is dedicated to engaging and empowering youth by establishing a platform to sharing innovative solutions toward social, environmental, and economic sustainability,” says Vivian Xudan Pan, Vice President of Media Relations.

“Sustainability can be such a nuanced concept that it’s always a good idea to look at it from a variety of perspectives,” comments Dr. Dave Ng, Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory at the Michael Smith Biology Lab at the University of British Columbia. “It’s great to have avenues such as Act NOW!, where youth have a chance to take in these different perspectives as well as creatively share their own.”

Samantha Landa, winner of the senior category, is a 23-year-old geography student at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, BC. Her short play Lights Out innovatively weaves sustainability and imagination into an accidental black out.

Deborah Vogt, a 17-year-old student at the University Hill Secondary school in Vancouver, BC, is the winner of the junior category with her memorable entry Fallen Heads.

The competition and the performance of the winning plays have attracted significant interest from organizations, theatre groups, educators, and students across Canada. The participants from this year’s competition come from over 10 urban and rural communities in Canada as well as Nigeria. The winning plays from last year’s Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition have been performed to more than 1500 students by local youth groups. Judges include prominent community leaders from diverse walks of life.

About the NOW! Organization

NOW! inspires and empowers synergistic solutions toward social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Founded in 2006, NOW! is a grassroots non-profit organization run entirely by dedicated youth volunteers. Please visit us at http://www.now-org.com for more information.

Competition judges, partners, and sponsors

Judges

Julia Ainsworth
Special Projects and Workshop Coordinator, Quebec Drama Federation
Artistic Director, Zeitgeist Theatre Collective

Wendy Avis
Project Manager, BC Hydro Environment & Sustainability

Samantha Charlton
Urban Agriculture Coordinator, Environmental Youth Alliance

Jennifer Corriero
Co-founder, TakingITGlobal
“Social Entprereneur, Advisor & Consultant, Speaker & Facilitator, Learner & Researcher, Thought Leader, Traveller & Artist”

David Diamond
Artistic and Managing Director, Headlines Theatre

Carolyn Fe
Artistic Director, Altera Vitae Productions

Nicole Gordon
Dramaturge Intern, Solo Collective Theatre
Writer, actor, and instructor

Kevin Kerr
The Electric Company Theatre
Award winning playwright

Vanessa LeBourdais
Artistic Producer
DreamRider Theatre

Shawn Macdonald
Award-winning playwright, instructor and actor, Vancouver Arts Club

Mark Masongsong
Board of Directors, Global Agents for Change
Director of Partnerships and Planning, Spirit Bear Youth Coalition

Bill McKibben
Co-founder, 350.org
Environmentalist and award-winning author

Kevin Millsip
Vancouver School Board Sustainability Coordinator
Executive Director, Check Your Head

Parker Mitchell
Co-CEO, Engineers Without Borders

Professor Janet Moore
Provincial Leader, Walking the Talk
Undergraduate Semester in Dialogue, Simon Fraser University

Dr. David Ng
Faculty, The University of British Columbia
Michael Smith Laboratories
Terry*

Sean Peters
Chair, Global Agents for Change Board of Directors
Consultant, Friuch Consulting

Lars Rose
Researcher and Ph.D candidate, National Research Council Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation

George Roter
Co-CEO, Engineers Without Borders

Dr. Bonnie Schmidt
Founder and President, Let’s Talk Science

Marisa Victor
Lawyer, playwright, actress, director and producer

Partners

International

Sustainability Television
Bicycles for Humanity

National

Playwrights Guild of Canada
Shad Valley
Student Biotechnology Network
National Let’s Talk Science Partnership Program
Changing Climates Education Society
Green Kids
Youth Canada
Campus Climate Network
UNICEF Canada
Engineers Without Borders

Provincial and Regional
Quebec Drama Federation
Quebec Writers’ Federation
Theatre BC
The Environmental Youth Alliance
The University of British Columbia (UBC) Sustainability Office
The Terry Project
World Changing Careers Conference
Otesha
Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal
International Business Club
Walking the Talk
UBC Neglected Global Diseases Initiative
Beaty Biodiversity Museum
UBC Commerce Undergraduate Society Sustainability Initiative

Sponsors

• University of British Columbia Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory
• Sustainability Television
• Personal donations
• Aer Marketing (website)

Media Contact:
Janny Ke
janny.ke@now-org.com
(c) 604-339-1251

Vivian Pan
vivian.pan@now-org.com
(c) 604-351-1505

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I have been a university Student Recruiter for about 13 years and everything I know about innovation I’ve learned from the stories of students like Janny.  The story of a student I met when I recruited for the University of Calgary who is now a professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC), taught me that the best way to do “pre-law” may be to start an NGO, and change the world.  From other stories I learned how a high school teacher can ignite a process that transforms a student into a scientist and how an idea stimulated in a visual arts class works its way into the imagination of a computer science student.  I’ve learned that a single classroom assignment can change a life and that a “spare” may be the most innovative university class of all.

Now I habitually connect students with innovation, which is helping me see that behind many of today’s greatest innovations are students’ stories:

Teach for America – Wendy Koop’s undergraduate thesis launched an organization that is transforming teaching world-wide while proving that a great purpose can attract the best and brightest.

Facebook — Mark Zuckerberg and his friends did what students do best: they found a new way to communicate with each other.

Research in Motion’s founder and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis proved that you don’t have to graduate from a university to become its most valued alumnus.

Dean Kamen who first made it big by helping solve a problem faced by his brother, a medical student, continues to connect education and invention.

Ashoka  – inspired on a summer off from Harvard, Bill Drayton started a student club, Ashoka Table, sowing the seed for the Ashoka  Foundation which is now showing the world that if you focus on youth, you can imagine a world where  everyone is a Changemaker.

More and more stories are developing every day as people and organizations around the world realize the possibilities of students as agents of Innovation.  Companies are re-defining what co-op students can do , foundations are using students to tackle Grand Challenges and professors are nurturing student innovators to help bring their ideas to the world.

This blog will explore stories and invite conversations that reveal the possibilities of Student Innovation. And hopefully we’ll launch some stories as well, maybe by inspiring a high school student in Mumbai to see that her own university experience means new possibilities for her country and the world.  So if she ends up at UBC and is transformed by a class designed by a Noble Physicist she’ll be well prepared to connect with a student from Toronto who’ll invite her to spend a summer solving the world’s problems.

Sincerely,

Philip Varghese

philip.varghese@now-org.com

Thank you again for your support of the NOW! creative education programs. Here’s an update from us!

1) NOW! play performances (February 2010)

NOW! partnered with Katimavik (www.katimavik.org) Vancouver to bring creative sustainability education to elementary schools and Katimavik program volunteers. Under the mentorship of Shawn MacDonald, a playwright and director at the Vancouver Arts Club, the Katimavik Vancouver troupe brought engaging performances of the 2008-2009 Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition junior category winning play “The Essay” to ~400 kids in Richmond, BC: Errington Elementary, W.D. Ferris Elementary, and McKinley Elementary. Thank you Beau Llewellyn and Marco Adamovic from Katimavik for an amazing opportunity to connect with dedicated youth volunteers from across Canada. We look forward to further collaboration with Katimavik!

2) Upcoming NOW What? conferences (May 2010):

• NOW What? Conference – Cochrane Edition

• Resourceful Thinking

3) 2nd annual Act NOW! Playwriting Competition (September 2009 – March 2010)

Entry submission was closed on March 31st, 2010. Decision from our judging panel will be announced on Earth Day, 22 April 2010. Outstanding entries will be posted on our website.  Here are the stats:

23 participants
Average age: 19
Average number of pages: 14

12 communities
Toronto, ON (3)
Markham, ON (1)
Mississauga, ON (1)
Anmore, BC (1)
Richmond, BC (1)
Surrey, BC (2)
Coquitlam, BC (1)
Burnaby, BC (2)
Vancouver, BC (8)
Lanley, BC (1)
Odejaye, Nigeria (1)
Hampstead, QC (1)

19 entries
Senior entries (age 19-26): 8
Junior entries (age 14-18): 11

——

Next Steps:

- putting together the 2010-2011 NOW! team (Join our team)
- exciting collaboration opportunities with educators, students, community leaders, organizations, and institutions to take the impact of NOW! creative sustainability programs to the next level

Thank you again for your time, and happy holidays! :]

Sincerely,

The NOW! Team

The international community mobilized and collaborated  immediately during H1N1. But why are countries pointing fingers and delaying action when it comes to climate change? The impact of climate change on public health can be deadlier. After all, a vibrant economy is fueled by a healthy society.

Curious to learn more? A few resources to get started:
Human Development Reports (HDR) – United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
WHO | Climate change and human health
Climate change: The biggest global-health threat of the 21st century
Climate change diagnosed as biggest global health threat

If the project that you are working on (your company, non-profit, etc.) were a guy, what would he be like? Is he charming? Is he cute? Is he erudite? Is he caring? Is he someone who every girl would fall in love with? How clean is his room? What are his relationships like?

People often treat projects as inanimate objects or concepts. (They are inanimate after all, no?) But something today made me realize that to take each project to the next level, we need to think of it as a person – a person with dreams, strengths, weaknesses, personality, emotions, etc.  A friend of mine showed me what he envisioned himself to feel like in two years about everything from health, relationships, mindset, to success. It suddenly occurred to me that too often in project planning, people over-emphasize the inorganic and brief over the organic.

When planning projects people often set goals such as reaching abcd number of people, $xxxx in revenue, and yyyy% in annual growth. But how about thinking more about how the project will make people feel and the relationships that it develops? We often hear that that people might forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel. You buy a dress not necessarily because it is 0.6m wide. You buy it because it makes you feel gorgeous and special: you want it because you’ve developed a connection with that dress. If that store always sells dresses that make you feel gorgeous, you will keep going back. The store is as though a cute guy who makes you feel gorgeous and special. You’ve developed a relationship with that store.

By putting yourself into the shoes of your “project person”, you will discover how you could turn your inanimate project into an unforgettable person that engages the heart and soul of the participant/customer/etc – and develop strong relationships with them.

Musings: turning your project into Prince Charming in three simple steps?

1. What does your project need?

What does a person need?
- a loving family [is your project nurtured by a loving team?]
- knowledge [does your project have good content?]
- personality [how does your project make people feel? how does it channel its positive energy and love?]
- appearance [what impression does your project leave?]
- relationships [what's your project's relationship with its audience?]
- opportunities [is your project surrounded by opportunities that can take it to the next level?]
- mentorship [does your project have access to the guidance and advice it requires?]

etc.

2. Paint a picture of your project in ___ [insert time]

An example (answering questions in step 1) could be:

NOW! is a caring, smart and charismatic guy growing up in a loving environment that encourages creativity and holistic thinking. NOW! loves to learn and adventure. NOW! loves to play guitar. Erudite, simple, honest, and elegant, NOW! charms everyone he sees and develops meaningful long-term relationships. People remember NOW!’s passion, dedication, and energy in community service, empowering young people, and building interdisciplinary solutions. NOW! make people feel powerful, loving, caring, and happy. NOW! has big dreams and cherishes the mentorships and opportunities that will help turn his dream come true.

3. Determine what kind of person your project is currently, and what kind of personal development can help your project become the best person it could be.

An example could be:

1. NOW! could be a more approachable guy [find ways to make NOW! more accessible]
2. NOW! needs more long-term relationships [find ways to help NOW! participants etc. develop emotional connections with NOW! sustainability programs]
3. NOW! is a little lost about where to head. [get the NOW! team together to figure out NOW!'s focus]
… etc.

—–

Thoughts?

Cheers,

Janny

1500+
number of people participating in NOW! programs, in particular the Act NOW! Play Performances (2008: 200)

50+
size of the NOW! Team (2008: 15)

20
number of Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition Judges (2008: 11)

20+
number of Advisors who have been instrumental in the learning and growth of the NOW! Team.
(2008: 3)

22
number of Act NOW! sponsors and partners for a truly grassroots initiative across Canada. (2008: 6)

2100+
number of NOW! program participants (2006 – present). Learn more about our story.

Unquantifiable
The passion, dreams, inspirations, and energy felt at the NOW! team and beyond! Team adventures in the BC mountains and waterfalls. Bustling discussions at coffee shops. Recognizing our personal weaknesses and growing as people amidst leadership and teamwork. Splashing into things that we have no idea about and bumping into things that we believe in and love to do…. We will continue to work our butts off doing what we love to do while making a difference. We will lay a strong foundation to fashion NOW! into a platform for aspiring change-makers to realize their dreams. Visit our New Direction. Let’s dream sustainability.

Team motto: We dream, we do.

Organizational challenges that we are seeking to solve:
(Have any advice for us? Please give us a shout at info@now-org.com. Thanks in advance!)

• Better harness the power of internet and social networks to spread the word and engage youth across Canada
• A more financially independent and sustainability NOW!
• Building a strong national yet grassroots team
• Fashioning a vibrant platform to support youth dreamers and change-makers to turn sustainability innovations into reality

A Sneak Peek of Current Projects

>> Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition

>> Performances of Act NOW! winning plays

>> The [currently untitled] NOW What? Project

>> NOW What? Conference

>> Wanders: bits of insight

>> Workshops

2009 Press Releases

• Winning play debuts in Vancouver
• Two Teenage Playwrights Win Canada’s First Ever National Youth Sustainability Playwriting Competition

In the Media

• 24 hours
• The Vancouver Sun
• Terry*
• Sustainability Television
• Walking the Talk
• Youth in 57 Minutes Radio
• The Next Stage
• Summerworks Theatre Festival

Global Health, Sustainability, and Leadership

Come to learn more about cutting edge ideas and ways to take action in sustainability and global health. This panel discussion is presented by the UBC Neglected Global Diseases Initiative (NGDI) (www.ngdi-ubc.com) and NOW! (now-org.com). Dr. Kishor Wasan, prominent professor and researcher at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and a leader in the UBC NGDI, will facilitate a panel of distinguished professors and community leaders to explore sustainability and global health in the context of leadership. The panel includes Dr. James Tansey (Executive Director, Centre for Sustainability and Social Innovation) and Jason Robinson (Founder and CEO, Sustainability Television).

About the Student Leadership Conference

The Student Leadership Conference (SLC) brings together more than 1000 student delegates to learn, discover, connect, and take action. Please visit http://slc.ubc.ca/ for more information. Hope to see you there!

Please visit here for more information about the Act NOW! National Playwriting Competition.

Related links:

Results of the 2008-2009 Act NOW! Playwriting Competition!

Winning play debuts in Vancouver [debut of Olivia's play by a youth troupe]

Write away!

Sustainability Television