Youth X Urban Climate Action
Canadian cities are increasingly bearing the brunt of climate change, as seen with the 2013 floods in Calgary, the 2017 floods in Quebec, and the overall soaring summer temperatures that have put people at risk of heat stroke. The sad reality is that many of these cities have not been built to withstand climate change, putting urban inhabitants at risk when disaster does strike.
Some cities are starting to take climate change into consideration when it comes to urban planning, whether by reimagining green spaces in urban areas or innovating green infrastructure. Urban youth are playing an important role in these conversations, whether by sitting on youth councils and advisory boards where they speak to elected officials, or by arranging city-wide clean up events and climate awareness activities amongst each other. Whatever shape or form urban youth involvement takes, one thing is for sure: young people will always care about the future of the cities that they call home.
Need a real-life example? Look no further. Below, we’ve featured two youth-run groups that are tackling climate change in Canadian cities.
Meet the Toronto Youth Environmental Council
The Toronto Youth Environmental Council (TYEC) is a youth-led nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging and empowering the youth of Toronto to take meaningful action for environmental sustainability.
In doing so, TYEC aims to positively impact the climate by voicing their concerns to key decision-makers such as city councillors, school administrations, and Toronto’s Mayor, pushing for change in the city’s environmental policies.
Launching various campaigns and programs, TYEC aims to make a lasting impact on how young people are perceived in the realm of environmental activism. Specifically, TYEC Carries out two initiatives, the eco-ambassador program and the thrift-swap project.
TYEC’s Eco Ambassadors Program encourages a group of bright and passionate students from all across the GTA to strive for the betterment of the city’s environment. Not only do they discuss the importance of various pressing environmental issues, they also make an effort to do as much as they possibly can to eliminate such matters by making eco-friendly dream projects come to life.
Through the engagement of the Eco-Ambassador team, TYEC’s Thrift Swap event educated participants about the negative effects of the fast fashion industry on the climate crisis. Participants were able to trade their used clothing as well as other secondhand items with one another, which in turn reduced the amount of waste each individual produced. Through this event, TYEC encouraged young people to become more conscious of their choices as consumers and to recognize that despite how small some actions may appear to be, a small ripple today can eventually become a wave tomorrow.
TYEC believes that with every successful project implemented, they are one step closer to building a greener Toronto. To stay up to date with TYEC, check out their website: torontoyec.org or find them on social media at: facebook.com/torontoyec
Meet Human Nature Projects Canada
Human Nature Projects is an international non-profit organization that is dedicated to conservationism and protecting the environment. The national team in Canada is run almost entirely by youth, and although they are newly established, they have made tremendous progress all over the world.
Human Nature Projects’ international teams are focused on communicating the importance of wildlife conservation. Specifically, the teams aim to shift people’s mindsets so that they see wildlife preservation as valuable as the preservation of human life.
The group’s 2019 progress report outlines a number of ways that teams across the globe have been working on these goals, including involvement in the September 2019 Climate Strikes. In addition, the Canadian chapter recently hosted an urban clean-up in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
To follow their work check out their website: https://humannatureprojects.org/ or find them on social media at: https://www.facebook.com/HumanNatureProjects/ and across other platforms.
Photos by Toronto Youth Environmental Council and Human Nature Projects Canada
