Children and youth are amongst the largest stakeholders of civil society but, sadly, continue to be the least represented. Due to pre-conceived notions about our capabilities, we are often taken for granted and not allowed to have a say in determining our future. The youth of today are aghast at the escalating rate of environmental degradation and at the prospect of us, future generation, inheriting a barren planet that cannot sustain its inhabitants.
We cannot and should not remain mute observers at the increasing imbalance of the three pillars of sustainability. With the global population crossing 7 billion, the earth's finite natural resources are under tremendous strain. Economic progress is being achieved at the cost of the environment while, paradoxically, the polarization between the global north and south continues to increase. Vast tracts of forests are getting wiped out daily, fresh water bodies are being polluted by industrial effluents, millions of hectares of arable land are degrading into deserts and multitudes of species are being pushed towards extinction. The rapid increase in the global carbon footprint is having a hugely detrimental effect on our climate.
Performing climate justice song Tree planting is an integral part of all our academies as we feel that this is the simplest and most effective way of combatting climate change. It is also very relevant to the region we live in, since deserts surround us. Trees not only stop land degradation, they also reduce your carbon footprint, retain water and positively impact climate change. As an outcome of our academies, our members have planted thousands of trees not just in the UAE, but in other countries as well. Each academy is taught by a fresh group of members and during our preparations we train them on public speaking and presentation skills. Our academies are now much awaited events and not only schools, even corporates, have started to invite us to hold sessions for their employees. We have also begun conducting road shows so that we can reach out to a wider segment of civil society.
How can children and youth step in and make an impact?
The first step is creating awareness and this is the objective of Green Hope UAE's environmental academies. I founded Green Hope UAE on my return from Rio+20, when I was 12 years old, as I realized that young people of our region did not have a platform through which they could learn about the environmental challenges and take action on them. Our organization is run “by children – for children”, because we feel that the message is conveyed seamlessly when peers talk to each other.
We organize and hold environmental academies, tailor-made workshops, varying from two-hour sessions to full day events that targeting students from schools across the country. Participants learn to calculate their carbon footprint, means of stopping land degradation, understand the concepts of sustainable consumption, climate change impacts, biodiversity conservation and the need for future justice.
Interactive and informative
As opposed to formal classroom learning, which can be overly structured and intimidating, we use various innovative methods to convey our message. We hold an interactive “enviro-quiz” through which participants learn about current issues and facts about the environment. To promote the concept of sustainable consumption, we ask the participants to create clothes from a set of recycled materials, which they then model on a “catwalk” – we call this the “enviro-dressup”. For our full day sessions we have organized “one-act plays” that are written by us, and through role-play we convey the impacts of climate change.
Our academies are intensely participatory, we ask the attendees to form workgroups and choose a climate change topic of interest. They brainstorm on ways to mitigate the problem and convey the solution through art. Art and music are two of our most commonly used tools of engagement. I composed a song for Climate Justice, which we have performed at a couple of our academies. The lyrics are:
Do your bit for Climate Justice, Save our planet from doom Save water and plant more trees, Don't wait anymore, act soon. Chorus: It’s time for change now, Join us and act now, For a better tomorrow, For all. Earth Hour isn't just one day, Change habits and make them stay Spread the word and hold sway, For a clean, green future for all. Chorus: It’s time for change now, Join us and act now, For a better tomorrow, For all.
Tree planting is an integral part of all our academies as we feel that this is the simplest and most effective way of combatting climate change. It is also very relevant to the region we live in, since deserts surround us. Trees not only stop land degradation, they also reduce your carbon footprint, retain water and positively impact climate change. As an outcome of our academies, our members have planted thousands of trees not just in the UAE, but in other countries as well.
Each academy is taught by a fresh group of members and during our preparations we train them on public speaking and presentation skills. Our academies are now much awaited events and not only schools, even corporates, have started to invite us to hold sessions for their employees. We have also begun conducting road shows so that we can reach out to a wider segment of civil society.
"Tree of Hope"
At the conclusion of each academy, each participant writes down a “climate pledge” which is essentially the individual's personal plan of action, and posts these on a cutout of a tree. We have named this cutout the “Tree of Hope” as it reflects our aspirations towards achieving a sustainable world.
Our dream is to plant a million trees in every country of the planet. We believe that no dream is too big, we just have to take that first step. As Pearl S. Buck said “The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible … and achieve it, generation after generation.”
