Connecting youth to nature

Youth are losing a necessary connection to nature because their life is rapidly shifting from mostly outdoors to indoors. But a deep connection to nature leads to a healthier life and helps to develop important life skills. It also inspires youth to take care of nature, which makes them more likely to be environmental advocates in the long run. That's why we want to encourage youth to go out in local nature more often and to look at it with a new eye, giving them an opportunity to create and reinforce their connection to nature.

Connecting youth to each other

Traveling between Arctic countries is not always easy. Because of their geography and climate, it almost always requires to fly, which can be very expensive and difficult. This leads to a lack of connections between different arctic regions. Still, Arctic people can have a lot in common, so we would like to give opportunities for youth living in these communities to get to know each other better. They could make friends who share their interest in nature, exchange what they have been discovering, discuss differences in ways of life or biosphere, and much more.

Fighting climate anxiety

Climate change is happening faster on the poles than anywhere else, with important consequences for the region and its people. This can be scary for youth wondering about their future and feeling powerless to change things, especially when climate news can be so overwhelming. To combat this anxiety, we want to show youth that it is easy to make a change at their own level, simply starting by going outside. Then, they can take action by starting a nature club, monitoring a vulnerable or invasive species, or simply becoming more aware of the biosphere around them.

Training young scientists

The Arctic is subject to and will be subject to deep social, demographic, and environmental change in the next decades. These changes are caused by governments, corporations and people outside of the Arctic, and it is above all important that Arctic communities are empowered to understand and plan for these changes in their own way. With Youth for Arctic Nature, we give youth some tools to study their own changing environment, and we hope that igniting a new interest in local nature may inspire some young people in their personal path. Arctic youth pursuing a career in natural sciences, resource management, planning, or any other professions relating to the healthy relationship between people and nature will prove crucial to plan for Arctic futures.

PARTNERS

Project collaborators in Iceland

Made possible with support from

The Icelandic Climate Fund (2020-2021)

The North Atlantic Cooperation (2021-2023)