ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — More than 100 colleges and community organizations across the country have lined up to join the Bard Center for Environmental Policy (Bard CEP) and C2C Fellows Network in leading a national conversation on democracy and climate change with a screening of The Island President—the 2011 documentary that chronicles Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed’s efforts to confront climate change and rising sea levels, which threaten to submerge the 1,200 islands that make up the low-lying nation. The film will be screened on Wednesday, April 17 at

7 p.m. in Olin Hall on the Bard College campus and at more than 100 locations across the country. It will be followed at 9 p.m. by a web discussion with the film’s director, Jon Shenk; Thilmeeza Hussain, former United Nations deputy permanent representative to the Maldives; May Boeve, 350.org executive director and cofounder; and Eban Goodstein, director of Bard CEP and the Bard MBA in Sustainability. (Hussain, Boeve, and Goodstein will be in attendance at Bard for the discussion.) For more information on this event, or to find or host a screening, visit http://blogs.bard.edu/theislandpresident.

“With rising seas threatening the very existence of the island nation of Maldives, this powerful film highlights the clear and urgent threats posed by climate change, and President Nasheed’s fight against seemingly insurmountable corruption and political challenges inspires us to act,” said Goodstein, emphasizing how important it is for people in the United States, especially young people, to recognize and seize the opportunities they have to become engaged. “Maybe, like this island president, we don’t win the first time, and maybe our victories are followed by setbacks, but it is only through sustained action that we can change the future.”

Stressing the urgency of action on climate change, the screening and discussion marks C2C Fellows’ inaugural National Day of Action, an event that Fellows are organizing in hundreds of locations nationwide as an opportunity to get leadership experience in their communities and on their campuses. Based at the Bard Center for Environmental Policy, C2C Fellows is a national network of undergraduate college students and recent graduates aspiring to sustainability leadership in politics and business. C2C stands for Campus to Congress, to Capitol, to City Hall, and also for Campus to Corporation. Through web-based lectures, discussions, and other events, as well as regional training workshops, C2C provides students with opportunities to develop and enhance the skills they need to become leaders in sustainability. Training more than 300 students each year, C2C’s regional workshops cover communication, entrepreneurship, environmental and climate science, media, fund-raising, and other critical topics. Upon graduation from the workshops, students join the C2C Fellows Network, which provides them with ongoing community: updates, web-based events, career counseling, a social network of like-minded leaders, and ongoing educational opportunities.