Climate Action Projects Connect Youth to Communities
摘要
Climate education programs prepare people to understand and address climate challenges with knowledge, commitment, and skills. While some school-based K–12 programs can provide a strong foundation of awareness, knowledge, and pro-environmental attitudes in conjunction with state curriculum standards, non-formal and out-of-school programs are more likely to engage youth in gaining problem-solving skills by addressing a current community issue over time. This chapter highlights a new program, Community Action Projects for the Environment (CAPE), that can be used to facilitate youth-led civic action projects to address issues related to climate change. CAPE encourages youth groups (ages 11–18 years) to select an environmental issue in their community, explore the root causes, and then ask a decision maker to make a change to address the issue. Groups often supplement this request with educational products or community events. This chapter outlines the process and describes the result from the initial evaluation of seven club projects. Empowering youth to take action in their communities will ideally lead to a new generation of individuals who understand the civic engagement process and have the agency to take action. Their projects can help address the feelings of climate anxiety that youth experience and help them pursue climate justice in their communities.