Youth Imagine the Future

This community project brings free workshops into any classroom in a wide chunk of Eastern Ontario covered by two school boards. Students are presented with a slideshow featuring a variety of inspiring initiatives being used around the world to combat climate change. Then, students are invited to imagine a better future with improved social justice and no fossil fuels. They have the option to either write a solarpunk story or design a visual art piece to illustrate their vision. Later, we host a two-week exhibition in an art gallery and honour them by giving out 32 awards. 

We hope to turn students away from climate anxiety and climate depression and toward solutions and activism. The workshop shows, for example: regenerative farming, rewilding cities, farming seaweed and crickets, planting Miyawaki forests, planting sponge parks, small river and wave turbines, green and solar roofs, alternatives to concrete and parking lots, using old buildings to grow food locally, redesigning streets, etc. 

The breadth of the slideshow and discussions introduce students to the plight of refugees, food insecurity and the need to protect and restore biodiversity as we say goodbye to fossil fuels.   

Anyone could run a similar sort of initiative in their school or area! We’re happy to help.  Please see our website:  YouthImagineTheFuture.com

SDGs addressed through this project: