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Wednesday November 25 2015 15 OP-ED AGRICULTURE 6.8103 in x 6.3125 in By KIM RAPATI This is not the article I expected to write but recent events have lit up lightbulbs that I have to share. Something really stood out while I was listening to a CBC interview the other day the interviewee said that there is one thing that is similar about all the people who attacked Paris and it is not their race religion or nationality it is their youth. They were all young people. This realization shocked and horried ... what has happened that there are so many unattached and hope- less young people who have turned to such extremism Well that brought to mind the presentation our Savory Hub leader from Turkey gave at a recent conference which was titled Best Time for a Youthful Revolution. Durukan Dudu is one of the most energetic and inspiring young men I have ever met. He lives in a highly di- verse fractured and vibrant context. I believe we have assumptions about what young people want he said. I asked this young person who was curious about my life what is it that you want from your life And she told me these ve things she wants to work hard and towards something that she can see is making things better she wants all her efforts to be recognized she wants to have a joyful social life where she can connect with others and she wants compensation for what she does. Thats it. She didnt even say money just compensation. What separates us from what people think of us is that what we seek is to have a meaningful life. A little note the she Durukan mentioned in his speech was actually my good friend from Edmonton Denika Piggott. She works for ALUS Alberta Alternative Land Use Sys- tems which is a program that communities administer in which they pay farmers in their areaforecosystemservicesthattheyprovide aslargelandowners.Thismeansfarmershave anincentivetoprotectwetlandsconservespe- cialwildlife habitatregenerate soilandpeople near them are recognizing that their work is important. Check it out at alus.ca. Durukan talked about how his farm edu- cation centres aim is to capture and fulll that youthful need that is going unfullled to work for something bigger than ourselves to be acknowledged for our skills and to live a life connected with others. I wonder if could have grabbed the attention of those other young people who turned to extremism Desertication all over the world is causing poverty and war. Young people all over the world are disengaged and feeling their life is without purpose. Farmers everywhere are ap- proaching retirement and the next generation to work their farm is not there. Something that can tie all of these things together young people learning about regenerative farming that creates enduring returns and ts into their social context. This is something we can do here in Hay River and through the Savory Network all over the world. On that note there are over 190 nations meeting in a few weeks at the Paris climate change negotiations leaders who are work- ing for a solution to our collective world problems. What if we all worked to put car- bon back in the soil while growing food and employing young people to rejuvenate their landscapes Daniela Ibarra-Howell who is the CEO of the Savory Institute is heading there to represent the Savory Network and is bringing a Soil Manifesto signed by our network and our friends all over which urges leaders to consider soil and the hopeful po- tential it has. Please join us in celebrating this and signing the Soil Manifesto. You can do it online at httpsavory.globalsoilforclimate or come to the Soil for Climate event in Hay River Dec. 4 at the Library at 7 p.m. Is it crazy that we can do something from our homes here in the Northwest Territories that will be brought to international leader- ship and potentially have a great impact on our beautiful complex and intimately con- nected earth We can do it Kim Rapati is the operations manager at the Northern Farm Training Institute in Hay River. Time for a Revolution on Paris soil and young farmers Participants in the youth leadership summit at the Northern Farm Training Institute in Hay River take in the sights on a break from programming. PhotocourtesyofKimRapati