“Every type of school, and all types of students will be coming together,” Cayo Cotter said. “Young people are at the forefront of pushing for a solution to the climate crises.”

A major portion of the conference will be devoted to teaching students how to combat global warming on their own campus, Cayo Cotter said.

For sociology junior Skye Black, that means pushing the university to reduce the amount of cars on campus.

That can be done through increasing public transportation and encouraging more students to walk, bike or Rollerblade to class, said Black, who is a member of ECO, an MSU student environmental group.

“Anything we can do to reduce our carbon footprint is important,” Black said. “In order to solve the crises that is going on now, we’ve got to change our lifestyle.”

Black, who will ride a bus to the conference along with 59 other MSU students, said she has attended other environmental gatherings but none as large as this weekend’s.

“To go from small gatherings to being surrounded by thousands of other students will be very inspirational,” Black said.

With a goal of showing lawmakers that climate change is an important issue, students will meet with politicians and urge them to adopt renewable energy policies, Cayo Cotter said.

“If you want the youth vote, you will have to show us you’re serious about our future,” Cayo Cotter said.

That’s what Brandon Knight, founder of the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition, said he hopes to accomplish.

He will meet with the staff of Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., and Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.

Knight said he will push the lawmakers to adopt several environmentally-friendly polices, including cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020 and banning the construction of coal-fired power plants.

“This is the culmination of years of work,” Knight said. “We’re very excited to bring our message from the state level to the national level.”