UKY4N Youth Catalysing Movements Webinar
- UK Youth for Nature
- Aug 13
- 5 min read
Inspire & Create Action
We recently ran a webinar chaired by team member Robson Peisley with three amazing speakers all about the importance that young people can play in the environment sector. Young people can bring fresh perspectives and innovative ideas that are now more important than ever. As UK Youth 4 Nature is also a youth-led movement we understand the importance of highlighting the other amazing work of young people.
You can watch the webinar recording here
Our Speakers:
Nuriya from Earth Minutes
Earth Minutes is on a mission to reconnect more people to the planet by highlighting important, sustainable and inclusive stories.
Josh from GYBN UK
GYBN UK is uniting young people across the UK to influence policy and decision-making in the biodiversity space.
Katie from Ancient Woodlands UK
Ancient Woodlands UK is educating and campaigning for the legal protection of ancient woodlands.
Answers to Questions:
1. It can feel overwhelming working in the nature space and it feels like we need to solve everything. How do you define success in your work and make it feel more manageable?
Josh
● Breaking up projects into various steps and larger goals into smaller ones.
● Find a team with like-minded people.
● Work towards something and then focus on working towards the next thing.
● You won’t be able to engage every single person but every person you do engage is a success.
Katie
● Celebrate successes and the importance of community.
● Having an impact on just one person can have a huge impact.
● As it can lead to the butterfly effect - if you inspire one person they then might share with their friends and people around them and your movement will gradually grow.
Nuriya
● Reflecting and celebrating with community can lead to a ripple effect.
● It is what can keep motivation going for you individually as well as your team members.
2. What has been one of your favourite moments working with young people specifically?
Nuriya
Standout moments where we were connecting with the community and bringing the energy and vibes. Young people coming together with so many thoughts, ideas and care for one another can feel very special. Often in these spaces young people are all mobilised around one goal or action and it is so special to meet other young people and feed off each other's energy.
Josh
Working with young people in general! It's amazing to hear the ideas that young people can bring to the table as well as different perspectives.
Katie
Giving young people an opportunity to engage with different stakeholders has been great to give young people a chance to be taken seriously and give them a sense of empowerment. It has also led to us being invited to new places and events. It just took us inviting them and it went more positively than we could have ever anticipated. It has been really positive and impactful to see older people holding space for us.
3. Have there been any challenging moments of being a part of a youth-led movement?
Nuriya
When you are young people, it can feel very hard to be taken seriously even if you challenge that and question that. It can sometimes be very intimidating and daunting as a young person when entering spaces with stakeholders but pushing for inter-generational change is very important.
Josh
Time and financial barriers are a big thing for young people. A lot of youth-led movements are volunteer led making it difficult to push for change. Not being able to go to events and represent the campaign can be another barrier.
4. Top Tips for Others Wanting to Start Their Own Youth-Led Movement
1) Just get started - not having a clear idea on where the movement will go is fine as long as you know the area you want to work in, it will then develop over time.
2) Work step by step- break up a goal into smaller steps.
3) Make sure to check in with yourself, reflect and take breaks.
4) Don’t be disappointed if you don’t reach the “end” goal as quickly as you thought you would.
5) Start building on social media and connect with other communities that already exist.
6) Find and join communities for inspiration - there is hope and optimism in these spaces.
7) Reconnect with the reasons as to why you do the work that you do as it will help you when experiencing difficult moments.
8) Value your role in everything, the connections with others you can make and hone in on your skills.
9) Open doors and allow collaboration. You do not have to do it all, there may be others that can help you along the way.
10)Don’t be afraid to ask- ask for free attendance, financial support or collaboration
opportunities. If you don’t ask you will never get.
11)Surround yourself with a good team.
5. What Can Youth Movements Do to Better Support Each Other’s Work?
Nuriya
How can we learn from other organisations and open doors and tap into the network when we don’t know things? It’s all about working together rather than keeping things to ourselves.
Keep doors open, it is not a competition, we are all trying to do the same things. Tap into networks when we do not know what to do. If we all work together, there will be greater power in what we all do.
Josh
Definitely take a page out of larger organisations' books like the Wildlife and Countryside Link. Where younger people can form a coalition to provide larger statements instead of smaller individual statements.representing more young people, as well as different perspectives from across a range of sectors within the environment.
6. What is next for your youth movements?
Nuriya
We are currently planning the road for CoP30 that is happening in November in Brazil. We are thinking around environmental communications, the role young people have in the lead up to it and beyond it. We ran the youth summit at London Climate Action week and we are now thinking of next steps for next year.
Josh
The UK youth’s priorities for nature is a big upcoming project and will be advertised on all our social media and website when it goes live.
Katie
We have another stakeholder meeting coming up, and we are looking for potential funding. We are also currently planning some potential online and public-facing events focused on ancient woodland restoration and recognition.
Thank you to all our amazing speakers. Please go and check out everyone’s organisations and we hope this webinar and blog has inspired you to either start your own youth-movement or support and join others.
Lastly, GYBN UK is launching a survey to find out what young people across the UK want for biodiversity from healthy ecosystems to education.
Please submit your views to help shape the 'UK Youths’ Priorities for Nature', a document we will take directly to decision-makers to ensure youth perspectives are heard.
Fill in the survey here
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