Blog
- 2022
- April
- March
- February
- January
- 2021
- December
- November
- October
- September
- August
- July
- June
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- 2020
- December
- November
- October
- September
- August
- June
- April
- March
- February
- January
- 2019
- December
- November
- October
- September
- August
- April
- March
- January
- 2018
- September
- August
- July
- May
- March
- February
- January
- 2017
- December
- November
- September
- August
- July
- June
- May
- April
- March
- February
- January
- 2016
- December
- November
- October
- March
- February
- January
- ABC Park (1)
- access to nature (1)
- adolescence (1)
- adolescent recreation (1)
- adolescent wellbeing (1)
- agricultural education (1)
- agricultural literacy (2)
- Air Alliance Houston (1)
- antiracism in the outdoors (1)
- arts education (1)
- Asheville (1)
- athletic surfaces (1)
- Atlanta (1)
- Atlanta Track Club (1)
- Atlanta Youth Rugby (1)
- Atlanta Youth Tennis (1)
- audubon texas (2)
- Bakeyah Nelson (1)
- Bearings Bike Shop (1)
- benefits of recreation (1)
- Beyond the Game (1)
- biological anthropologist (1)
- Black outdoor recreation (1)
- black outside (1)
- Blue Sky Funders Forum (1)
- Bob Crawford (1)
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico (1)
- Caitlin Reilly (1)
- camp counselors (1)
- camper education (1)
- center for native american youth (1)
- CETA Foundation (1)
- challenge (1)
- challenge course (1)
- Charles E. Hartsoe Fellow (1)
- Chicago CRED (1)
- Children & Nature Network (3)
- children & nature network (2)
- children and nature network (1)
- children's forest of central oregon (1)
- children's screen time action network (1)
- citizen science (2)
- City Kids Wilderness Project (1)
- civic engagement (1)
- Climate Change (1)
- climate change (2)
- coach training (2)
- cold weather fun (1)
- College of Natural Resources (1)
- communication (1)
- community nature connection (1)
- community programming (1)
- competitive jump rope (1)
- connection to nature (3)
- cooking with kids (1)
- cool learning experience (1)
- coronavirus (4)
- CourtBuilders (1)
- COVID safety (1)
- COVID-19 (6)
- covid-19 (1)
- Cranbrook (1)
- Crawford Prize (4)
- crawford prize (1)
- cultivating community (1)
- Darryl Taylor (2)
- Davidson College (1)
- Day of Sport (1)
- deficit thinking (1)
- Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management (1)
- Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism Management (1)
- Detroit (1)
- digital tools (1)
- disabled hikers (1)
- diversity equity and inclusion (1)
- diversity in nature (1)
- diversity in the outdoors (1)
- drowning (1)
- early adulthood (1)
- Eco-Health (1)
- eden place nature center (1)
- Elliott Donnelley Youth Center (1)
- Elsie McCabe Thompson (1)
- Emerson Collective (1)
- empathy (1)
- English Avenue (1)
- EnviroAtlas (1)
- environment (1)
- Environmental Activism (1)
- environmental activism (1)
- environmental education (4)
- environmental justice (1)
- environmental learning for kids (1)
- environmental literacy (1)
- EPA (1)
- equity (2)
- equity in the outdoors (1)
- every kid outdoors (1)
- experiential education (1)
- explore fund (1)
- family fun (1)
- family holidays (1)
- family recreation (1)
- family relationships (1)
- Family Time (1)
- Fernando Lloveras (1)
- Finding Nature (1)
- food literacy (1)
- food systems (1)
- Gang Rescue and Refinement Passages (1)
- Gary Hall (1)
- Georgia FIRST Robotics (1)
- get into nature (1)
- get outside (1)
- girl scouts (1)
- girls in STEM (1)
- girls on the run (1)
- girlventures (1)
- Grantee Highlight (1)
- grantee spotlight (1)
- grants (1)
- greater newark conservancy (2)
- green camps (1)
- green infrastructure (1)
- green schoolyards (1)
- greening youth foundation (1)
- greenspace (2)
- greenspace access (4)
- group cohesion (1)
- Hartsoe Fellow (1)
- health (1)
- health benefits of nature (1)
- healthy families (1)
- healthy kids (2)
- healthy living (1)
- Horizons-Upward Bound (1)
- Howard University (1)
- IMC Charities (1)
- inclusivity in recreation (1)
- Indigenous Leaders (1)
- IPCC report (1)
- John McCarter (1)
- Jose Gonzalez (2)
- josé gonzález (1)
- jose gonzalez (1)
- jubilee consortium (1)
- jubilee jump (1)
- Julia Lankford (1)
- justice outside (1)
- k-12 education (1)
- Karen Stewart-Ramos (1)
- kids health (1)
- kids in nature (2)
- kids in summer (1)
- Kids Outside (1)
- kids outside (6)
- Kim Moore Bailey (1)
- Last Child in the Woods (1)
- Latino Outdoors (1)
- latino outdoors (2)
- Laureus (2)
- Laureus Sport for Good Foundation (1)
- Lawrence Hall of Science (1)
- LBC Action (1)
- leadership at camp (1)
- leadership development (1)
- Lee Storey (1)
- LGBTQ+ outdoor summit (1)
- LGBTQ+ youth (1)
- Lila Leff (2)
- los angeles (1)
- Mandela (1)
- marine debris (1)
- Martin LeBlanc (1)
- mental health support (1)
- Mercedes Benz (1)
- million coaches challenge (1)
- Montreat College (1)
- mountain sports (1)
- move mountains (1)
- Muddy Sneakers (1)
- music in schools (1)
- music teachers (1)
- Myron Floyd (2)
- myron floyd (1)
- Nadja West (3)
- National Recreation and Park Association (1)
- National Recreation and Park Association Forecasts (1)
- National Recreation Foundation (7)
- national recreation foundation (2)
- Native American Heritage Month (1)
- nature (5)
- Nature Books (1)
- nature deficit disorder (1)
- nature deprivation (1)
- nature education (1)
- nature observation (1)
- Nature, Culture and Human Health Network (1)
- NC State University (1)
- nc state university (1)
- nearby nature (2)
- Nike (1)
- non-profit organizations (1)
- North Carolina (1)
- North Carolina State University (3)
- north carolina state university (1)
- Northwestern University (1)
- NRF (4)
- NRPA (2)
- Our Wild Calling (1)
- out there adventures (1)
- outdoor access (1)
- outdoor activity (1)
- outdoor adventure (1)
- outdoor alliance for kids (1)
- outdoor education (2)
- outdoor equity (1)
- outdoor grants (1)
- outdoor industry (1)
- outdoor learning (1)
- outdoor play (3)
- outdoor recreation (5)
- outdoor recreation grants (1)
- outdoor science education (1)
- outdoors (2)
- outdoors empowered network (2)
- Outdoors for All (1)
- outward bound adventures (1)
- Pace Center for Girls (1)
- pandemic (4)
- pandemic kids (1)
- pandemic mental health (1)
- pandemic wellbeing (1)
- pandemic with kids (1)
- Para La Naturaleza (1)
- paradox climbing (1)
- park access (1)
- park activities (1)
- participatory evaluation (1)
- physical activity (4)
- player development (2)
- positive coaching alliance (2)
- positive youth development (3)
- Power Game+ (1)
- pride outside (1)
- Pritzker (1)
- program evaluation (1)
- public lands (1)
- queer mountain quest (1)
- queer nature (1)
- Reading with Kids (1)
- recreation (3)
- recreation research (3)
- recreation safety (1)
- recreational programming (1)
- Rethink Outside (1)
- Rethink Outside Fellowship (1)
- Richard Louv (2)
- richard louv (1)
- rippleffect (2)
- risk and resilience (1)
- risk management (2)
- rocking the boat (1)
- rosario dawson (1)
- Ryan Zwart (1)
- Sarah Milligan-Toffler (2)
- school budget cuts (1)
- science learning (1)
- science literacy (1)
- scistarter (1)
- screen time (2)
- shannon danks (1)
- shelter-in-place (1)
- Siebert Williams Shank (1)
- sierra club (1)
- skin protection (1)
- Soccer in the Streets (1)
- social emotional learning (3)
- social-emotional learning (1)
- Sophie Twichell (5)
- sos outreach (1)
- soul trak (1)
- Soul Trak Outdoors (1)
- sport based youth development (1)
- Sport Court (1)
- Sport for Good (1)
- STEM gender gap (1)
- summer camp (2)
- summer camps (1)
- summer fun (1)
- summer jobs (1)
- summer recreation (1)
- summer with kids (1)
- summertime (1)
- sun safety (1)
- sunscreen (1)
- sustainability (1)
- swim lessons (1)
- swimming (1)
- Teach-A-Child to Fish (1)
- technology (1)
- Teresa H Horton (1)
- thanksgiving (1)
- the north face (1)
- Tim Richardson (2)
- time in nature (1)
- time outside (4)
- tom's of maine (1)
- toms of maine (1)
- Tony Mobley (1)
- tree street youth (1)
- trekkers (1)
- Trust for public lands (1)
- trustee (1)
- TSL Law Group (1)
- Tyrhee Moore (1)
- tyrhee moore (1)
- Umoja (1)
- Umoja Student Development Corporation (1)
- usa swimming (1)
- venture out project (1)
- Vine City (1)
- Virtual Training Camp (1)
- Washington Park (1)
- water safety (1)
- Westside (1)
- wild diversity (1)
- wilderness inquiry (1)
- winter outdoor activities (1)
- Winter Reading (1)
- working with kids (1)
- yes nature to neighborhoods (1)
- youth (2)
- youth activism (1)
- youth athletes (1)
- youth climate action (1)
- youth coaches (2)
- youth coaching (1)
- youth development (9)
- youth engagement (1)
- youth mental health (3)
- youth mentors (1)
- youth opportunities unlimited (1)
- youth outdoor recreation (1)
- youth outdoors (2)
- Youth Outside (1)
- youth outside (1)
- youth recreation (16)
- youth resilience (1)
- youth sports (5)
- youth voices (1)
Youth Voices Are Needed to Spark Environmental Action

The recent UN report on climate change received a lot of media coverage for the alarming data it presented and for the emphasis its authors placed on the need for dramatic action to combat the devastating effects of a changing global climate. The report comes from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and highlights both current impacts of climate change like extreme heat, ocean warming, and changes to rainfall patterns as well as the potential for those issues to grow exponentially worse without “immediate, rapid, and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.”

It’s easy for this kind of news to leave us feeling hopeless, perhaps even to the point of deciding that attempts at collective action to create change are futile. While there’s certainly a bumpy road ahead when it comes to large-scale environmental problems, this summer also brought us some more inspiring news about young people leaving a positive impact on their local environment. A recently published study from North Carolina State University shows the power of youth to take action for themselves and to inspire concern about environmental issues among voters and policy makers in their communities.
In the study, researchers focused on the issue of marine debris and measured concern about related environmental issues among adults who participated in youth-led civic engagement events. The results show that engaging with youth led to a boost in concern among voters and policy makers for marine debris issues and created an increase in local support for policy initiatives aimed at improving ocean health. This was true for adults who identified as both liberal and conservative and for adults who previously knew the student organizers as well as for those who were strangers.

These findings suggest that youth participation in political action around environmental issues may be key to sparking immediate change. While discussions of youth environmental activism often focus on cultivating a new generation of environmentally engaged voters and policy makers, this study suggests that young people are also able to create urgently needed change in their communities without waiting to become old enough to vote or run for office themselves. Environmental education efforts that encourage action and provide opportunities to share authentic youth voices on issues like marine debris and climate change may be key to harnessing the power of young people moving forward.

Our youngest generations have inherited an earth that is fairly far down the road to environmental destruction. They had no choice in past environmental management decisions, but many young people are eager to be engaged in protecting what we have left and restoring balance in broken ecological systems. The 2021 IPCC report outlines some of the worst possible outcomes of environmental inaction, and those consequences cannot be ignored, but we cannot let the fear of them paralyze us either. The many students involved in the North Carolina marine debris study are evidence that taking action is worthwhile and that lifting up the voices of youth who are often shouted over is an important step in any climate mitigation plan.