GENERA(C)TION: Gender and Climate Education for Youth

Today we still have a historic opportunity to do things well, to promote sustainability that meets with the climate objectives of the Paris Agreement and that puts people, and youth who will suffer most from the climate change consequences already to be perceived even across Europe, at the centre of the decision-making decisions. A process that, to be successful, must be socially equal and well-known to all.

Climate change especially affects the most vulnerable, and within these, women and girls as they suffer greater risks and burdens associated with disasters due to situations of poverty, but also to the roles culturally associated with gender.

And this is not all. Apart from being affected in different ways by climate change:

• • Girls and women and boys and men contribute differently to originating the causes of climate change. Male ecological footprints are much higher than the female ones as a result of a distribution of gender responsibilities and identities (UN WOMAN, 2018).
  • Girls and women and boys and men have different attitudes and participation regarding responses to climate change.

Researches show that boys are less likely to take climate change related action than girls and they even find proenvironmental attitudes as „unmanly” (Brough and Wilkie, 2017). This reality must be taken into account carefully, implementing climate actions that integrate the gender variable and that respond to the specific needs of girls and women and their vulnerabilities, and also trying to engage young men better.

Investing in gender equality and the young female empowerment and new masculinities equals improving environmental conservation, reducing poverty and ensuring that international agreements can be met. When actions are put in place considering a gender approach, we are not only providing a better response to climate change, but we are also taking into account female human rights and reducing social inequalities.

The response to the great challenge posed by climate change requires the active and inclusive participation of all.

We actually need to create new masculinities to combat the perpetuation of gender roles in the face of this problem (Men Engage Alliance, 2017), especially when it comes to young boys’ education and empower and make girls and young women aware of the inequalities they are suffering and actions available (UN WOMAN, 2018).

Therefore, the main aim of this partnership is to empower NGOs’ staff with new tools and methods to tackle climate change action from a gender-sensitive approach while creating and testing an interactive guide tailored to the non-formal education sector.

To this end, we have established the following project objectives:

• • To improve our NGOs’ expertise by exchanging best practices to tackle different aspects of climate change action in the non-formal education sector.
  • To elaborate gender-sensitive methods of working on climate change in the non-formal education sector.
  • To enhance NGOs’ and communities’ awareness of climate change and gender perspective, both inside and outside of our partnership.

To reach these objectives we will carry out these main activities:

• • 8-days-long course in Spain for 10 youth workers from each country with the best practices exchange.
  • Internal transfer workshops for the rest of our staff who did not participate in the course.
  • Writing of an interactive guide for youth workers on climate change from a gender perspective.
  • 8-days-long youth exchange in Hungary for 8 young people and 2 youth workers/leaders from each country.
  • 1 multiplier event in each country for at least 30 relevant stakeholders from youth work, climate change and gender equality sectors.
  • 1 consultation period in each country for the multiplier events’ attendees who wish to implement our guide in their own youth work context.
  • Follow up workshops for youth from our local communities led by youth workers trained in the project.
  • Internal transfer workshops: they will consist of a practical transfer of skills and knowledge gained during the course in Spain for the staff not participating in the project.

Duration of the project:  23 months (1st May, 2022 – 31st March, 2024)