快播视频

快播视频鈥� most recent forecast, Imagining Liberatory Education Futures, considers how the climate crisis, accelerating technologies and the fight for just societies, are leading us into a new era characterized by shared, existential challenges.

Anxious youth fight the climate crisis

The climate crisis strikingly affects the , with 84% moderately worried about it, 59% extremely worried and 45% saying it negatively impacts their everyday life and functioning. They are experiencing , also referred to as 鈥渆co-anxiety鈥� and 鈥渟olastalgia.鈥�

鈥淎 lot of youth are experiencing a profound sense of loss due to climate change, and I think this will accelerate in the future,鈥� explained David N. Bengston, an environmental futurist for the United States Forest Service鈥檚 strategic foresight group. 鈥淭his could create challenges for education. Climate anxiety is part of what I call 鈥�,鈥� which could be devastating for youth and challenging for educational systems if it continues to grow.鈥�

Future estrangement, as Bengston defined it, is 鈥渁 profound sense of alienation toward the future. It is the deep-seated feeling that the future is a hostile and bewildering world that we may not have a place in 鈥� or may not want to have a place in.鈥� That鈥檚 not a healthy mental space for children to be in. But they are.

Leaders need to act and include youth voices in doing so. Of all age groups, youth (teens through twenties) are the because they are inheriting decades of environmental mismanagement by previous generations and will be left to deal with its dire consequences. , young people, some not even in their teens, are taking action. There鈥檚 a lot to learn from their advocacy efforts. They鈥檙e forming coalitions, , , and investing in green products and services and much more.

Many youth-led climate protests are collaborative and equitable, centering the voices of those most affected by climate change. For Indigenous communities, . Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe youth, having organized as , wanted to raise . The group quickly took action to block the pipeline construction. Their efforts drew international attention, and within months, came to support the One Mind Youth Movement in standing up against the pipeline. Despite violence against them, the group remained steadfast in their efforts and eventually the pipeline was halted, leading to a by the U.S. and Canada. Additionally, the movement sparked the formation of the , a coalition of Indigenous youth across the globe focused on environmental efforts.

Still, young people have little to no political influence. At the 2021 United Nations Climate Summit, global youth gathered daily as an informal coalition to protest but held no official seat nor voice. Luckily, Panama鈥檚 lead negotiator, Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, agreed to use his country鈥檚 platform at the summit . Two hours prior to the final plenary session, Gomez and his colleagues, including Mari Helena Castillo Mariscal, wrote a speech in collaboration with the young activists. The speech was posted on TikTok by activist asking for co-signatures. By the time Mariscal had finished reciting the speech, more than 11,500 signatures, representing 129 nations had been collected and the number was growing. As Panama was the last country to speak, the global youth had the final word.

Training young people with tools for change

It isn鈥檛 all that surprising that Panama gave their time to amplify the voice of the global youth. Panama, the youngest delegation of any country at the 2021 summit and one of only three nations to claim to be carbon negative, . The country trains youth leaders in the science and politics of climate change and puts them in position to lead and enact policy.

training youth for leadership positions also integrates climate education into its curriculum 鈥� not necessarily by choice but because it鈥檚 happening around them and directly impacting them. So the students are understanding it at a local 鈥� and global 鈥� level.

Young people, middle school through young adults, go through ‘s government-supported in Arviat, Canada, in which they learn traditional ways of knowing and use modern technology to understand the environment and how to live within it respectfully as it drastically聽 changes around them. They鈥檙e mapping a changing coastline, an important resource for people who make their living on that coast. The program is a part of the Canadian government鈥檚 Indigenous Guardians Pilot Program, which supports Indigenous leadership in preserving their ancestral lands and resources.

There are a few examples of communities training youth in climate leadership in the U.S., too. The University of Nevada, Reno, for a project in which students learned and practiced research and collection techniques. The students took photographs and gathered stories from community residents about their lived experiences with environmental hazards and natural disasters. They also learned key skills in civic engagement, legislative advocacy and public policy. The students used their research to form strategic plans for environmental changes in collaboration with the community, then worked to find legislative sponsorship for the bill.

Training in environmental stewardship also comes in the form of cultural traditions. The developed the , which serves as an intergenerational learning center and gathering space for native youth in Chicago, to reconnect food pathways. Here, youth learn to grow their own food and medicine. The Center for Native American Youth launched the , a program to empower Native youth to 鈥渁dvocate and mobilize across their communities to protect traditional lands, waterways, and sacred sites鈥� through 鈥渋ntergenerational learning spaces.鈥� The key in these learning programs are place-based, intergenerational systems.

Scaffolded strategies for anytime, anywhere learning

It can be easy to feel overwhelmed with climate anxiety, but we should feel . 鈥淚t鈥檚 vital to stave off future estrangement,鈥� said Bengston, a . 鈥淧essimism is paralyzing and won鈥檛 help in the kinds of transformational change needed to address the climate crisis.鈥� And there are things educators can do to promulgate a more positive climate outlook.

Providing while equipping them with the tools and opportunities for leadership and decision-making is key. Educators can also support and incentivize students in experiential learning pursuits that align with their interests, working alongside seasoned experts to create change, as happened in Panama and Reno.

Let鈥檚 take a look at a few strategies 鈥� big and small 鈥� that educators may consider employing in an effort to both personalize the learning experience and help future leaders address the climate crisis.

• Rethink current learning spaces:
  • Classroom educators: Educators need to rethink classroom layouts to offer flexible spaces for personalized, competency-based learning to thrive. This can include creating spaces for collaboration, small-group seating for coaching with peers or educators, or quiet nooks for reading and reflecting.
  • School leaders and educators: Leaders need to reconfigure school communal spaces. How might the hallway, library or media center, cafeteria, or other spaces encourage learning and collaboration? This might be white board walls, technology stations or huddle rooms.
  • District leaders: Districts can bring outdoor spaces to life throughout their campuses. Examples include wetland areas with pavilions, outdoor amphitheaters, classroom community gardens and courtyards with covered seating.
• Build community partnerships: Establish and build community partnerships where learners gain experience and learn alongside experts. Community partners might come to the school to offer a design challenge or provide guidance, support and feedback, or open their doors for shadowing, internships, field projects and more. Districts are beginning to offer flexible credits for such learning opportunities that count toward demonstrating competency.
• Take learning outside the school: . Educators should consider taking instruction outside the walls of a school building. Farms, community centers, urban gardens, parks, zoos, town halls and museums are just a few ideas educators may consider as we build toward more systemic change where the possibilities for learning locations are endless.
• Acknowledge and support cultural capital: Learners can bring their cultural knowledge and lived experiences to their learning journeys. Educators should support students that demonstrate mastery of competencies in ways that may not be available in the traditional classroom. For instance, organizing to support an interest, an idea, a cultural tradition or ancestral land often requires strategic planning, research, collaboration, communications and an understanding of rules, rights and policy regulations.

Youth are undeniably inheriting flawed systems and a climate crisis they didn鈥檛 initiate.聽As we work to establish more positive and sustainable futures, youth must be in creating that change. Let鈥檚 not just let them lead; let鈥檚 help them find their voice and lift them up.

Special thanks to Lori Phillips for contributing educator strategies for the article.