When we talk about climate change, the challenge is not lost on future generations. As CBU's Dr. Carrie Karsgaard points out, young people around the world are speaking up about the climate crisis. While they are eager to be heard, she says they are afforded little agency to affect change.
"Youth are construed as future citizens," says Dr. Karsgaard. "Instead of this being a reason to empower youth to engage in conversations about their future, it's a dismissal that removes them from current decision-making about issues that will profoundly affect them."
Dr. Karsgaard is an Assistant Professor of Education and co-editor of the Journal of Contemporary Issues in Education. She has worked across the education sector as a secondary school teacher, international higher education professional, and UNESCO policy consultant. She is now working with co-investigators Drs. Lynette Shultz and Sheena Wilson from the University of Alberta to support youth who are eager to be the catalysts for change when it comes to a just and healthy future. The partnership also includes scholars from Western University, Arizona State University and University Mohammed VI Polytechnic in Morocco.
The research team will work with high school teachers and students to put context to fossil fuel-dependency, advance energy literacy, energy transition and climate change. Their project, Learning Collective Worldmaking: Youth Activism for Climate Futures, was awarded funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, with more than $215,000 to support the initiative for the next three years.
"Youth are demanding action on climate. In countries economically reliant on oil and coal industries, young people are taking to the streets to protest the environmental racism of oil developments, drafting cease-and-desist letters to the CEOs of fossil fuel companies, and occupying the offices of insurers," says Dr. Karsgaard. "Learning Collective Worldmaking aims to help youth formulate interventions as youth policy makers, climate activists, and engaged citizens, moving beyond the streets and into decision- making rooms, mobilizing their right to a healthy environment," says Dr. Karsgaard.
The outcomes of the project include curriculum content and creative teaching materials, and creation of a global network focused on educating high school students on climate change and energy transition.
"Learning Collective Worldmaking will rely on a team of teachers, including those in the Nova Scotia schools, to co-design and run curriculum in schools, supporting climate education on a global level," explains Dr. Karsgaard.
The project builds on the International Youth Deliberation on Energy Futures, initiated by the University of Alberta in 2019. Dr. Karsgaard, a doctoral student at the time, was among the team of teachers, researchers, and expert mentors that united hundreds of high school students from 18 countries in an online research exchange. Students engaged through critical dialogues, inter-school collaborations and ongoing discussions using platforms like blogs and videoconferencing.
"The vision for the project is to see climate curriculum in schools across the planet, with high school teachers and youth connecting through networks across multiple countries," says Dr. Karsgaard.
Congratulations to Dr. Karsgaard for building this important project and working to validate youth and their place in the climate conversation!
