Youth For Climate Justice
Climate-related fear, distress, and grief are creating an emergent mental health crisis among young people. Taking climate action and developing personal climate stories are proven methods of reducing youth eco-anxiety. Given that the mainstream environmental movement is often white-centric and exclusionary of marginalized groups, opportunities for inclusive climate action training, mentorship and support are needed.
Youth for Climate Justice (Y4CJ) aims to equip diverse youth with essential skills, tools, and knowledge to build the capacity of youth for lifelong climate justice and advocacy. Y4CJ will empower youth (ages 12-18) across Metro Vancouver to design and launch meaningful climate justice projects in their communities. The empowering experiences, transferable skills, and mental health strategies will serve youth long after the program’s completion.
Metro Vancouver youth vary widely in their experience, confidence, and skill sets related to taking climate action. Y4CJ will offer a flexible system of support so youth can self-identify their needs and select the most relevant supports and resources:
- Hands-on mentorship and guidance
- Training workshops
- Storytelling workshops
- Guidebooks
- Seed funding
If you are a teacher looking for more resources sign up for the SLC: Student Leadership for Change (SLC) program here!
Register now to join our Y4CJ Onboarding day and learn how to implement a climate justice project in your community.
Are you an individual, club, or group interested in learning how to lead meaningful climate justice projects in your community? Do you want to learn how to create strong teams that can have an impact on your community?
Join us on October 24th at Trout Lake Community Center*, from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm to explore climate justice, how to build strong teams, and how to lead impactful projects in your community!
Fill out the Y4CJ Participant Form
*this event is NOT SACTIONED by the Trout Lake Community Centre, Trout Lake Community Centre Association and the City of Vancouver.
Free Resources
Over the past 3 years, BTCEA staff have created resources designed for our Youth for Climate Action (now Youth for Climate Justice) program. We developed these resources based on our previous experience with climate action, organizing, and education, as well as through consultations with diverse youth to identify their needs and the barriers they face. These resources aim to address complex environmental and climate issues through a justice lens.
We wanted to share them publicly so youth teams, teachers and individuals could use them to take climate action in their communities.