George Bernard Shaw, who once quipped that “youth is wasted on the young,” couldn’t be more wrong when it comes to climate activism. The world young people build today is the world they will inherit tomorrow.
In this episode we talk about climate and sustainability education for young activists and educators. Cassie Xu, the director of the office of education and outreach at the Earth Institute, speaks with high school students Lily Liu from Brooklyn, New York (15:34) and Sophia Kianni from McLean, Virgina (28:00). They talk about their passion for climate change activism in their communities and their hopes for the future.
We also hear from Cassie about the K-12 education program and the upcoming pre-college programs that might interest high school students about how to bring more climate change activism efforts into their schools and communities. In fall 2020, one of the pre-college offerings is “Let the Youth Lead,” which is an experiential workshop that will invite current and future youth leaders to enhance their existing practices, enthusiasm, motivation, and knowledge to support and further their roles as change agents in local and global community efforts. Joán Lopez, the lead instructor for this workshop and a researcher at AC4 joined us in the podcast to talk about the workshop and his own experiences working with youth leaders all over the world (2:30). The one common thread, he says? Young people are not too happy with the older folks.
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