GenEarth's Young Ambassadors went up to Manchester in July 2024, to attend the Future Forum event, which is an initiative run by SOS UKÂ that brings together youth representatives from leading climate and wildlife charities in the UK, to discuss how the sector can better engage and empower young people.
GenEarth's four young ambassadors travelled to Manchester with Laura Dempsey (Founder and Director of GenEarth) and Chloe (Programme Lead for the Young Ambassadors) to attend the Forum’s first sitting, which brought young representatives from across the country, and from many different environmental organisations, together with their CEOs, to discuss youth priorities within the environmental movement.Â
In this blog Sia, Dylan, Zaara, Dev, and Chloe their reflections on attending the event over the summer…
SiaÂ
The Future Forum was an exciting opportunity for young people, as we all got together to share our ideas. We participated in ice breakers and I was introduced to many people with similar interests to me, which was intriguing as they were not people I would usually have a chance to speak to. I enjoyed this a lot as it built up my confidence levels, as well as my social skills. Not only did I connect with people from other groups, but I also had a chance to engage with my fellow young ambassadors from GenEarth. I am grateful for Future Forum allowing myself and other young people from multiple different backgrounds to have open conversations, as it was a chance to make diverse friendships, as well as being a learning experience. My favourite thing about the event was how included and welcome I was made to feel, as even though I hadn’t met most people there, my voice was heard and I was able to gain feedback on my ideas. I have learned the difficulties of getting involved in organisations whilst being under 18, due to obstacles such as education and lack of work experience. The Future Forum allowed me to express myself freely and has inspired me to work with them towards a world where every young person can have a chance to speak up.
Dylan
It was a real privilege to attend the youth voice conference in Manchester this summer. The entire process was highly enjoyable, allowing me to network with like-minded young people as well as participating in an engaging and useful series of activities throughout the day. I had never attended any kind of conference before and there was a real sense of everyone working towards a similar goal and vision, creating a warm and productive atmosphere which I really appreciated. Half way through the event we were joined by the CEOs of several major charities in the environmental sector, with whom we were able to share ideas about how to increase youth presence and voice in their respective charities, an incredible opportunity that felt as if it had the potential to result in real change and action. Ultimately, what struck me most about this event was the amount of control and opportunity it gave the young people that attended, whether that was by the ability to talk to senior professionals or other people our age or by providing a space where everyone’s ideas would be listened to and appreciated, and this was what made this conference such a great experience.Â
Zaara
My favourite part of the day was the lunch - not because of the food but because it was a great opportunity to talk and network with the other Future Forum members and the CEOs. I learnt how their organisations are run and everyone’s roles and ambitions. Many of us had similar views on youth representation - that this needs to increase in environmental non-profits. Although GenEarth's young ambassadors are all under 18 years old, most of the other companies have young ambassadors older than 18 and are looking to get a greater age range to represent the youth voice. I look forward to helping Future Forum with this in the future.
Dev
The Future Forum event was an experience, the viewpoints on our future and how we can tackle climate change. Overall, the event was fantastic and the opportunity of being a youth representative is especially better due to me being able to experience an event like this at 15. For example, being able to talk with peers about what is important for young people, like compensation for travel, time, etc. Participating in ice breakers like the human bingo game really made me engage with other people socially and made me learn some interesting facts. The event made me feel included in the discussion on climate change and I felt like I was being treated as a colleague with a valuable view. It really makes me appreciate the event and I feel like it could also help me further down the line.
Chloe
It was inspiring to see a truly youth-led initiative come to life at the in person meeting, with the aim of creating opportunities for promoting youth voice in the environmental movement.
Conversations focused on how the sector can better engage and empower young people, including a focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. Youth empowerment is at the heart of GenEarth and the event was an inspiration that got us to start talking together about the importance of our ambassador programme, how to bring our young ambassador work into other areas of GenEarth, how to make sure all of our activities are accessible, and what other opportunities we can offer.