YEA! 2025 Updates– Environment Generation

Hey there! My Name is Athena Geer, and I am the Youth Climate Justice Organizer here at Climate Generation.

I obtain the honor and enormous advantage of co-facilitating our Young people Environmental Activist Program (YEA)! YEA! is a network for and by youths. From regular programs to our yearly Youth Climate Justice Top (YCJS), the leaders in our program are acting upon systems bolstering the climate dilemma. We gather every Wednesday, and each meeting is a space for students to co-collaborate, strategy, and lead. Each member runs a meeting, practicing in this area, so they can arrange and lead in their very own communities and schools. This year contained co-mentorship and discovering. We checked out exactly how environment justice connects with our individual lives and our communities, dove deep into plan, and discovered with and from community leaders. YCJS brings all of this power together in one place, a conclusion of arranging by students to bring a network of youths from throughout the state to advocate for environment justice policies they respect. It has been extraordinary to collaborate with these changemakers. Their creative thinking, insight, and interest are aiding move this motion forward.

This has been a transformative year, and I welcome you to adhere to along as I share a few highlights for each arc and stay tuned towards completion to witness some pieces from our trainees!

Climate Justice 101

We first began the shows year with our Climate Justice 101 Arc, where pupils reached recognize and re-establish the existing status of the environment movement in Minnesota, and likewise got to find out subjects like Capitalism vs. The Climate Crisis, Intersectionality in Environment organizing, and The Source, Tree Task. The Origin Tree task is educated at the start of the year to enable students to highlight the effects of capitalism and its diverse levels of frameworks to understand its more harm on the climate situation. In this task, trainees make use of a metaphorical tree to highlight exactly how the Roots of the tree (commercialism, manifest destiny) then hold up the trunk (class structure) to then hold the branches (institutions), to after that hold the fallen leaves (social acts) that perpetuate the climate crisis. This tree associates to our cumulative modification initiatives; the additionally down the tree we go, the extra efficient and long-lasting that adjustment can be, yet likewise the tougher it can be, and vice versa. Students then discover in the end that, in order to create the most resilient change, we require big and bold climate solutions that attend to the source of the problem.

Pupils the following week, after that reached watch that in action! Trainees saw “Young people v Gov,” a powerful tale regarding 21 plaintiffs in between the ages of 13 and 24 who sued the US Government for hazardous living problems and bolstering the climate dilemma.

Rapid Fashion

We then started our 2nd arc: Quick Style. Students had the possibility to explore how the present state of textile waste and economical fast style is and are impacting the environment dilemma. Pupils reached learn about greenwashing in the clothing sector, Learn about communities who are affected by fast fashion, and pupils likewise got to discover exactly how to repair the clothing to last much longer from our close friends at Recycle MN In addition to finding out how to fix, Students then held an area clothing swap for pals and peers to join and share already existing clothing to assist slow down the spread of consumerism in quick style!

Human Movement

In spring, we transitioned to our third arc: Human Migration! Trainees dove into worldwide conversations around human movement. We were signed up with by our close friends at COPAL to have a discussion regarding the existing narratives on human migration and its junction with the climate dilemma through on-the-ground work, neighborhood conversation, and comprehend what demands are genuinely needed when speaking about movements of people. Students also learnt more about environment variation and movement job happening in the continent of Africa from our good friends at the Mortensen Household Structure Margretta spoke about exactly how “Migration is not a NEW subject of discussion, yet that environment is changing and it’s compeling individuals to move” and reviewed with students regarding how this affected the social effects, the economic impacts, and likewise the cultural and psychological effects of people having to relocate. Students also throughout this arc obtained the opportunity to participate in a play on how the migration of people and the climate crisis are deeply connected, making use of styles like water, sacredness, and liberation.

Narration

Our last arc of the programs year was storytelling. Narration is an essential and pivotal tool used to explain, conjure up feelings, and give information. Trainees spent a few weeks working on individual items that they showcased these items at our end-of-year narration bang! Students got to put all their understanding and ideas throughout the year together in a selection of art items to showcase to loved ones! Some trainees wrote personal environment narratives, while others attracted and painted art items, some created rhymes, while others composed environment stories. In the long run, students were able to review the year and commemorate the incredible discovering space developed with each other.

Beneath, still branches
the device grinds via silence,
faces damp with pain.
Haiku, written by Spencer Snyder

After an impressive time during summer programming, we will be starting YEA! setting this loss. Learn more concerning our program and email [email protected] , OR [email protected] , OR [email protected] for additional information.