"Our Climate Quest" exhibit to finish its run in Whitehorse this weekend before heading to Dawson City and Watson Lake to finish the summer.
Science North’s Our Climate Quest is touring three Yukon communities this summer. The touring exhibit discusses sustainability, and has been travelling across the country since June 2022. Science communicator Kennedy Williamson has been touring with Our Climate Quest since the beginning, and she says that reaching remote, northern communities was a big part of the plan from the beginning.
"Traditionally, science exhibits are accessible for those in bigger city centres," said Williamson about the exhibit. "... When we went on tour, part of the goal of this project was to go further north, hit smaller communities, and even here in Whitehorse, it's quite a bit smaller than your average territorial or provincial capital."
Our Climate Quest takes inspiration from First Nations concepts of taking care of and working with the land when it comes to reducing human impact on the climate.
"Looking at traditional knowledge and teachings, we can add those into our own daily activities. So, connecting with the land, using the land in a way that is more natural and just kind of embracing history."
Williamson grew up in Sudbury, Ontario, where the interactive museum Science North has been educating visitors of all ages since 1984. She says that with almost five hundred visitors in Whitehorse alone, she’s excited to see that they’re walking away with plans for change.
"They all left kind of thinking about their impact, and I think it's really, really amazing to see people getting excited about changing their own lives and working towards the greater goal."
Our Climate Quest is at the Yukon Transportation Museum until July 23. The exhibit then heads to the Dawson City Museum from July 31 to August 25, and then Watson Lake from September 3 to 7.