Intergenerational Climate Microgrants

The Forest of Hope created by Colectiva Zurciendo el Planeta in Mexico is an installation consisting of a tapestry of hundreds of embroidered trees sewn by the collective’s members. The message of the embroidered forest is that, like a forest, we all are part of a community and like trees, are connected to each other. It is a call for decisions on climate to be made for the greater good. The forest was first installed at COP26 in Glasgow. The microgrant enabled the installation to travel to Argentina where it was shown in multiple locations, including museums, rural and indigenous schools and communities in Patagonia. The events always include workshops and community discussions on environmental issues.

In 2022, The Lancaster Chapter of Citizens’ Climate Lobby declared Earth Day Is Every Day! Leading up to the midterm election, the Earth Day October Project was all about engaging citizens to be advocates for climate while having fun doing it. It included an online Candidate Climate Questionnaire to empower citizens by getting candidates to declare their climate agendas prior to the midterm. It culminated in an Earth Day celebration in October with music, dance, art, local food, as well as opportunities for citizens to meet the candidates and discuss implementing climate change solutions in Lancaster PA. Watch a video here – Earth Day: Election Edition is October 22 (citizensclimatelobby.org)

Rodzice dla Klimatu (Parents For Future, Poland) used their microgrant to facilitate media and campaigning training for parent climate activists. Their workshops focused on  energy efficiency in practice and designing better media messages on energy efficiency, so the parents could act as more effective media spokespeople.  These workshops not only assisted in media performance but also in combating anti-climate propaganda during a particularly challenging election year. Additionally, they aided in integrating energy efficiency into projects such as “Green Schools for Climate,” which the group is currently striving to promote at the local level in Poland.

The Parents’ Climate Community from Austin in the USA used their microgrant to create a documentary – The Future Of I-35 – highlighting youth and caregiver concerns about a freeway expansion through the city of Austin. The film is a powerful tool in spotlighting the children’s public health and climate impacts of expanding the highway through the center of Austin. The film had two public screenings and was also shared via YouTube with community groups and PTAs along the highway corridor. The project also collected student testimonials and encouraged students to send postcards to city leaders on this topic.

Thư Viện Nhỏ Trên Núi (Little Libraries on the Mountain) brought together students in the North of Vietnam along with climate activists, parents, teachers and academics to work on activities related to climate change. The project created cultural and art events that focused on climate change, workshops on recycling and storytelling, hikes, summer camps as well as a mentor-mentee program, where teachers and climate experts mentored children. This ambitious project reached out to thousands of students while collaborating with other organizations and parent groups. Books and other materials were given to students who participated in the events.

The Grandparents Day project, created by the Llikchary Institute in Ecuador, documents the traditional knowledge of the forest and its resources, from the elders of the indigenous community of Sani Isla. The grant supported an event, where the Sani Isla elders told their stories to children. It also enabled field researchers who are part of the community, to visit remote settlements in the Amazon to document indigenous knowledge. The funding also supported art supplies for the party, reading glasses for the elders as well as a participating fee for each family. The project hopes to raise funds to produce a volume of indigenous stories, histories and wisdom.

Swedish parent group Vara barns Klimat created a climate compass, a tool to guide parents through the choices they make relating to food, transportation, our homes, the stuff we own, money, and health. The aim is to inspire families to make better choices for the environment and climate, and move from taking individual level actions to participating in collective action.The microgrant helped hire a project leader and develop a website. The project was also launched on national television and will continue to be developed in the future.