Mobilising communities for change, creating sustainable solutions and coalitions to address climate change.
Youth Climate Action Lab is a youth-led movement on addressing the issues of climate change in Urban Bengaluru. Climate change is one of the most pressing issues affecting young people. Young people’s vision of a just and sustainable world is threatened by the ongoing climate change and related systemic problems such as inequitable access to resources due to power imbalances and structural marginalisation.
Young people are likely to be impacted most by this uncertain future, including adverse effects on their physical and mental health. At the same time, even as they make up over half the world’s population, they are systematically excluded from conversations around climate change.
The 36-month-long phase of the movement commenced in November 2021. It envisions to train, mobilise and support 12 Young Climate Champions and 6 Youth Researchers to collect and share evidence, data and qualitative experience to inform youth-led solutions together with at least 120 young changemakers to collaborate and drive change in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.
The youth climate champions will work on identified problem areas and take lead in gauging challenges arising from the impacts of climate change. They will raise awareness to mobilise communities to take action on the barriers brought about by climate change especially affecting people in the informal settlement colonies. In the process, the young champions and researchers will engage their peers, communities and key decision makers to build a movement that drives progress toward the state climate action plan.
The youth climate champions will work on identified problem areas and take lead in gauging challenges arising from the impacts of climate change. They will raise awareness to mobilize communities to take action on the barriers brought about by climate change especially affecting people in the informal settlement colonies. In the process, the young champions and researchers will engage their peers, communities and key decision makers to build a movement that drives progress towards the state climate action plan.
This initiative to identify challenges and propose youth-led solutions related to climate change, act on real barriers as well as create a channel for sharing national-level findings and stories at key global and regional moments will help drive progress towards and ensure accountability of the state climate action plan in India and globally.
We also aim to amplify work on climate change by building a coalition of youth-led organizations. Restless Development works with young people on dynamic, data-driven accountability programs which have shown real policy outcomes and social change in their communities. This pilot project will take the best of that experience to design and pilot a replicable, scalable model in the community – all identified and driven by young people.
