ezine
A New Generation Shifts into Gear
By by Sean Dagan Wood
Nov 30, 2009, 16:00

"I think we live in a really exciting moment. We have the opportunity to do fantastic things. Because we have to. How often do we see people flourish in such a way because there's a need for it to happen?" – Emma Biermann

There is a shift taking place. Against the odds, climate change is being treated by an increasing amount of people, as something that can be turned into a positive opportunity.

This became visible when hundreds of young adults and teenagers from across the country, converged in London this autumn for Power Shift '09. The aim was: "To connect young people and inspire and equip them to organise in their local communities, raising the youth voice on climate change,"explained Amy Mount, the event's media officer.

Located at the Institute of Education, workshops took place over four days, alongside motivational talks from speakers, such as Ian Katz, deputy editor of The Guardian, Daniel Vockins, manager of the 10:10 campaign, actor Jason Isaacs and Shilpa Shah, the founder of an interfaith carbon-cutting scheme, The Akashi Project.

The event culminated with a 'flash-mob dance' next to the London Eye and then outside Parliament. Waves of young people suddenly appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, to perform a co-ordinated routine. With a public display of solidarity and celebration, they injected a note of creativity and passion into the climate change debate.

"Doing the dances was amazing," said participant, 24 year-old Rosie Sullivan. "You've got to have fun together and celebrate the fact that we are alive and live in a beautiful world, right now. It's not completely dysfunctional."

The Power Shift weekend was run by UKYCC – UK Youth Climate Coalition, which was set up by co-directors Emma Biermann and Casper ter Kuile. Emma, age 23, is concerned about the emerging impacts of climate change, such as  potential mass displacements of people. She learned of the effects of forced migration through her mother, a war refugee from Cambodia: "She came over as a result of conflict in 1975. She couldn't speak English, her medical qualifications were not recognised and she lost all her family. If we create that type of situation for many more people, through man-made climate change, that's just not cool."

Emma attended the UN climate change negotiations in Poland last year. "It was the most disempowering experience  I've ever had," she remembers. "Politicians in their 50s and 60s were discussing inadequate targets for 2050, when actually, they won't be around to see the worst consequences of climate change. This is not acceptable, because they're negotiating our lives."

In response, Power Shift was set up to mobilise young people and empowerment was its foundation. "We're the moral reminder," said Emma. "We're prepared, co-ordinated, have all the technology we need and hold a vision for a world that is going to be much healthier."

The central tool put forward was the power of stories. Based on the techniques of Marshall Ganz – who designed the grassroots campaign that led Barack Obama to victory – workshops helped participants share their 'Stories of Self': personal accounts of how they came to be concerned about climate change.

"You can look at the subject from so many angles: policy, trade agreements, energy..."says Emma, "but the 'Story of Self' starts from your own experience and that's how you engage with people."

Diversity was vital to the Power Shift agenda. "UKYCC is centred on being inclusive," explains Emma. "I think that, as the defining issue of our generation, climate change is very much over-arching. You don't have to be a 'greenie' to care, because it's about our jobs and future income and the welfare of our families and friends."

Speaking to the event's audience, Kofi Hope, founder of Black Youth Coalition Against Violence, put it eloquently: "We are all connected to one struggle; to build proper relationships between human beings and proper relationships between us and our environment."

A strong feeling of hope arose as the weekend progressed. "Climate change is a challenge for people to see their potential," stated one of the 'Power Shifters', Claire Prizeman. The event highlighted, that due to the urgency of the climate crisis, now is a time of tremendous possibility. As Ashok Sinha from the Stop Climate Chaos Coalition told the conference: "We can be the generation that grasps the opportunity that no generation has had before – to create a better future."

When the four days came to an end, the UK's new youth climate movement dispersed from the capital, energised and confident. "I feel positive about what we can achieve in the world," Rosie Sullivan said. "I'm filled with this great feeling of joy, that we have an opportunity to make changes happen, which we've all been waiting for." Power Shifter, Muyiwa Olufon agreed: "In 2050, we won't be toast. We will survive."

Contact: www.ukycc.org
www.think2050.org

Performing a flash-mob dance
Photo: © Robert vanWaarden
www.vanwaardenphoto.com


© Copyright by www.positivenews.org.uk