More young people are involved in actions and activism for nature recovery and climate resilience than ever before. Our research found a wide range of ways in which they provide brilliant inspiration for all of us. It’s worth listening to young people to learn how to take action in ways that are collaborative and inclusive and guard against eco-anxiety. We have published this resource for ideas and inspiration, and you can order free print copies from here.
In this project we searched out examples of innovation and youth leadership from across the UK and involved in a wide range of projects from place-based conservation to national climate change advocacy. We prioritised inclusion of organisations where there was a clear ongoing commitment to recruiting and sustaining involvement of participants from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds, and those that connected social and environmental action.
We interviewed leaders and facilitators from twenty-four of these during 2022. Following these (late 2022 – early 2023) we undertook more extensive fieldwork with four of these organisations: an inner-city community garden, a national park youth board, a climate change protest group, and an environmental training course designed to skill up and network young people from minoritized groups. We observed sessions and interviewed young people in groups or individually.
Our primary output is a digital and printed resource for youth and environmental organisations. This will focus on opportunities and strategies to meaningfully embed equality and diversity into climate activism and nature engagement projects. This summarises what we have learnt from the experience of young people who already make this work.
Full list of organisations we interviewed:
- Action for Conservation
- Black2Nature
- Bright Green Future
- Cairngorms Youth Action Team
- Field Studies Council
- Global Generation
- Green Futures (Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust)
- Groundwork Greater Manchester
- Learning through Landscapes
- Leeds Youth4Climate
- Manchester Climate Change Youth Board
- Natural History Consortium
- New Shoots (Chiltern AONB)
- North Wales Wildlife Trust
- ReRoute (Young Scot)
- RSPB Youth Council
- Students for Trees
- The Green Team
- UK Youth 4 Nature
- UK Youth Climate Coalition
- Ulster Wildlife
- Uprising
- Wilderness Foundation
- Young Somerset