Blogs & News

Rural youth lead on climate action

6 August 2020

Members of the Rural Youth Project community have rallied to have their voices heard on the climate crisis, partnering with YouthLink Scotland to co-host a webinar on 12 August at 11:00 am (BST).

The webinar, ‘How YOU(th) can be a leader for change’, will empower and encourage young people to find their voice, influence policy and give practical tips on how they can create grassroots movements.

The event, held on International Youth Day, will be facilitated by Ffion Storer Jones and Russ Carrington who both sit as youth representatives on the Rural Youth Project’s Steering Committee and will include young people from across Scotland facilitating discussion.

Ffion said: “Young people are taking action to tackle the climate crisis in many different ways, from raising their voices to innovating solutions. This webinar provides an exciting opportunity to bring lots of young people together from across the urban-rural divide to learn and share, and hopefully grow and catalyse further action.”

Russ said: "Really looking forward to co-hosting this upcoming webinar to showcase the good things young people are already doing in rural areas to address the climate emergency, and furthermore discuss how we can all do more!"

The webinar is part of a series of Climate Action Policy Seminars by YouthLlink Scotland for young people, youth work practitioners and other interested stakeholders to come together to share practice.

Policy and Research Manager at YouthLink Scotland, Kevin Kane, said:

“YouthLink Scotland is delighted to be working alongside the Rural Youth Project and young people in preparation for a climate emergency webinar on International Youth Day (12/08/20) as part of a youth-led series of online climate action sessions.

“As Scotland transitions out of lockdown, it is more important than ever that young people have their voices heard on climate policy if we are to stand any chance of a green/blue recovery becoming a reality.

“I would urge anyone interested in climate activism, policy, and youth work, to join us on August 12 for what is set to be a passionate and informed webinar on how to make an impact and build a grassroots movement.”

This webinar is part of the longer-term programme of the Rural Youth Project to reach out to all areas of Scotland and enable all young people to participate and become the next generation of rural leaders by developing their leadership, activism, enterprise and communication skills. The Rural Youth Project is funded as a cooperation project by five LEADER Local Action Groups (LAGs); Angus, Lanarkshire, Outer Hebrides, Rural Perth and Kinross and the Scottish Borders, under the LEADER Programme 2014-2020: The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas.

Those who wish to attend can register via YouthLink Scotland’s website here and a promotional video about the event featuring young people across Scotland and the wider UK can be found here.