COP17 did not finish with a globally binding climate treaty – but it did mark a new chapter in the international negotiations process.
The passion, determination and political savviness of youth groups from around the world made their presence felt at the heart of the summit – a development that made a deep impression on all the RTCC team in Durban.
Many politicans have called for an ‘insurgency of the youth’, bringing a new and fresh persepctive to the current debate. Durban may yet prove to be the catalyst for this revolution.
And with four months to go until the Rio+20 Earth Summit, the coming weeks will be a crucial time for campaiging groups, old and young.
Durban demonstrated that relying on international consensus to tackle the climate crisis is a high-risk strategy. Global decisions must be partnered with local, grassroots action tackling the problems directly.
As part of RTCC’s build-up to Rio+20 we are developing a project aimed at mapping and showcasing the the work being done by student groups up and down the United Kingdom.
RELATED VIDEO: In Durban we spoke to youth groups from around the world. Here Heather Hatzenbuhler from the US and Toby Davine from Canada explain why they attended the conference.
Our ambition it to use this as a basis to eventually expand the map to cover youth groups not only in the UK but across the world.
Whether your part of a university group, school or college group or a community group – whether big or small – we want to hear from you.
What are we doing?
We aim to build an ‘Action Map’ of grassroots local groups from across the UK, with a strong focus on what young people are up to.
The aim of the 'Action Map' it to track the work going on across the country
The Map will aim to offer a fun, interactive and vibrant platform, highlighting the growing movement of young people who are getting involved in climate action.
We also hope it will provide a great platform for the sharing of stories and information between groups from across the country.
AUDIO: RTCC’s editor Ed King spoke to Oxford Climate Forum organiser Luke Hughes and environmental policy expert Tom Burke from E3G on role of students in climate activism.
Why be involved?
The Map will offer a great space for your group to showcase what you are doing – including pictures, videos and as much information as we can squeeze on.
There will also be an opportunity for you to get involved with the wider website, providing blog posts and interviews, all linking back to your own space on the ‘Action Map’.
We will also be using the information we gather as the basis of a series of presentations we will be making at the Rio+20 conference in June.
What we need from you?
There are loads of ways you can get involved in the project big and small, and we are always up for hearing your ideas on where the project could go in the future.
To start off get in contact, we’ll send you a quick form to fill out so we can get an idea of what you are up to. From there the options are varied.
RTCC has already worked on a variety of multi-media projects with students and youth groups
We want all your great pictures and videos, as well as audio clips and blogs. We also want to hear about anything you may be doing – events and campaign.
The idea of the map is for it to be updated with all your latest information, campaigns and achievements as and when so it will always be a great place to show off your latest work.
Download our information pack here.
Get in touch at [email protected] or @rtcc_tierney, or call the office on 0207-340-2865.