PAUL GOLIAS, CORRESPONDENT / PUBLISHED: APRIL 22, 2016

 

WILKES-BARRE — Global issues can be local issues, affecting humanity as a whole or the people living in one defined region.

How such issues are tackled was the focus of Global Landscapes Conference 2016 held Wednesday and Thursday at King’s College.

Thirteen students majoring in economics or environmental sciences took on the environmental, economic and social issues related to the loss of the historic Huber Breaker in Ashley and the subsequent effort to create a miners’ memorial park in its stead.

The breaker may be gone and the dream of an education center focusing on the breaker has been dashed but the memorial park still can have an educational aspect and maybe some community-based facets too, said student Tara Westington, a sophomore environmental sciences major.

Ideas that came out of a survey conducted by the students included a community garden and a kids’ park made of natural materials, similar to an area at Nay Aug Park in Scranton.

“The park would let children get connected with the community,” she said. “The investment would pay off.”

Other students found that the miners’ park can have a positive impact on businesses in the community.

“Business spillover could be positive,” one of four posters created by the students noted.

Dr. Margarita M. Rose, professor of economics, joined with the students in presenting their findings. Representatives of the Huber Breaker Preservation Society, which is developing the park, and the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation were on hand.

More aggressive use of waste in recycling was advocated by Rita Lacey, president and founder of Close the Loop, a Kunkletown company that views waste as a valuable resource and aids in developing and marketing products.

One example was a park play set and such products might be used in the children’s parks envisioned at the Huber site, said Robert Hughes of the Eastern Pennsylvania Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation.

Rose said the interdisciplinary conference can lead to discussions that would help people to find “sustainable solutions amid a changing social, cultural, political, economic, financial and technological environment.”

Citizens really do care about local, regional and global topics, she said.

The students who did the Huber survey will follow up with a cleanup day at the park in May, she said, and citizens are welcome to assist.

Students, teachers and business people from the eastern United States are attending and many position papers are being presented.

State Rep. Aaron Kaufer, R-Kingston, spoke on contemporary political leadership issues and former Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton joined a panel discussion on governing.