Making the Adirondack Park more attractive to youth of all backgrounds and preferences will be the focus of a second Adirondack diversity symposium, which is sponsored by the Adirondack Diversity Advisory Council (ADAC) in Newcomb on Saturday, August 15.

The organization’s second Towards a More Diverse Adirondacks symposium will be held at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) Newcomb Campus, near the park’s geographic center.

“Students, civil rights leaders, community activists, social scientists and organizations will get together in this wild central Adirondack Park community in mid-August to talk about the need to broaden diversity in race, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender-identity among this enormous park’s residents and visitors,” ADAC Coordinator Peter Nelson said in an announcement of the event.

Beginning at 8 am, the symposium will feature a day of discussion about challenges to, and opportunities for, widening the pool of people who use, enjoy and care about the future of the largest park in the contiguous United States.

“Our first symposium in August 2014 was a huge success,” Nelson said. “We’re excited to continue with a great program.”

“The goal of the symposium is to expand the depth and breadth of the discussion regarding diversity that has already begun in the Park,” said ADAC member William C. Janeway, Executive Director of the Adirondack Council. “This year’s summit will primarily focus on the Adirondacks being welcoming to all youth inside and outside the Park, including diversity within youth.”

Discussion points will include questions such as how millennials view diversity, their needs and aspirations, what their experiences in the Park have been, or why they have not experienced the Park, and how the Park can be more welcoming to all youth.

More information on the 2014 symposium can be found online along with registration information.

The ADAC was formed as an outcome of the first diversity symposium Towards a More Diverse Adirondacks in Newcomb in August 2014. ADAC affiliate organizations include: the Adirondack Almanack, Adirondack Council, Adirondack Common Ground Alliance, Adirondack Foundation, Adirondack Futures, the Adirondack Park Institute, the Adirondack Research Consortium, the Central Adirondack Partnership (CAP-21), Indian Lake Chamber of Commerce, John Brown Lives!, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST), the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) Northern Forest Institute, Paul Smith’s College, Adirondack Wild, Friends of the Forest Preserve, and The Wild Center.