Young Voices on Climate Change is a film series created by the non-profit 501 organization of the same name. The films present youth solutions to the climate crisis, showing environmental initiatives planned and implemented by children in America, Europe, India, Africa and Siberia.
Films
The Young Voices on Climate Change series comprises eight short films, 3-6 minutes each, shot in high definition. They were produced and directed by the organization's founder, Lynne Cherry, an award-winning environmental author and educator. Cherry is best known for her rainforest book The Great Kapok Tree and her children's book, co-authored with Gary Braasch, How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming. This book has won 15 major awards including the 2009 Science Book and Film prize for the best middle grades science book awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. The films introduce young citizen-scientists and also illustrate how young people can use science and data to inform themselves and their communities about ways to reduce negative human impacts on the environment, including the carbon footprint of their homes, schools and neighborhoods. One of the films, Plant for the Planet, documents eleven-year-old Felix's campaign to plant a million trees in Germany. The film Girl Scouts follows a Girl Scout troop in Northern California distributing 5000 compact fluorescent light bulbs in collaboration with the Sierra Club. Team Marine documents Santa Monica High School students, addressing the serious issue of plastic bags in our marine environment. They skillfully use humor to convince the City Council to ban the use of plastic bags.
Reception
Kevin Coyle, the Vice President for Education at the National Wildlife Federation, says the films "include success stories in a way that allows young people to be heard in their own voice and through their own special perspectives." Many institutions have endorsed the films, including the National Science Foundation, the National Geographic Society,the National Wildlife Federation, and the Jane Goodall Institute. The films have received extensive media coverage on BBC World News, The New York Times, and The Herald Tribune. The North American Association for Environmental Education wrote on their EElink: "The Young Voices on Climate Change short films feature inspiring young people age 9-19 taking action and finding solutions to the global warming crisis by reducing the carbon footprint of their homes, schools, communities and states." According to the Colorado coordinator for Project Learning Tree, which provides training for teachers about how to deliver science-based environmental education: "the films are hopeful and positive, they don't scare kids or leave them all gloomy and doomy... they leave people with ideas for making a change, instead of being afraid and doing nothing." The Young Voices on Climate Change films are a resource for youth, schools, community groups, parents, and teachers, programs on energy audits and energy saving, tree planting, civic engagement, and other groups or individuals interested in the environment and global warming. The projects in the films are all replicable. A "How-to" replicate section can be found on the website Young Voices on Climate Change, which encourages others to recreate these youth strategies for reducing CO2 emissions.
