Waves of change: inspiring youth climate action in Cornish coastal communities

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AIMS1) To explore young people's perceptions of climate change through participatory methods, engaging them actively as climate scientists; 2) to think creatively with them about strategies to take climate action, specifically by raising public awareness through dissemination of co-designed outputs; and 3) to amplify youth voices by reaching other generations, broadcasters and policymakers.RESEARCH BACKGROUNDAs a world-leading climate scientist, Schmidt (Co-I) argues that the importance of hearing young voices and local knowledge is increasingly recognised by climate science, but this often takes a macro-approach that overlooks people's own views and experiences. The youth-centred ethnographic approach developed by Morelli (PI)-where young participants are involved as collaborators rather than objects of study-can crucially help to bring these young voices and perspectives to the fore, especially when combined with the visual participatory methods proposed here. Accordingly, this project brings our different expertise together to develop a collaborative approach that will bridge climate science and young local knowledge in a mutually beneficial manner: i.e. by empowering young people to recognise that their actions matter and can make a difference, and by expanding the paradigm of climate science by integrating youth voices in the research. Marsh will contribute through her professional expertise in animation production and by facilitating links with the animation industry in the output dissemination phase; and Larbalestier will bring in her applied knowledge in marine conservation and her local network of contacts. Our partner, Young People Cornwall are the largest charity working with youth in the region; they are extremely keen to take part in this project and will play a key role in facilitating our work with local youth.ACTIVITIES1) Six workshops (the whole team will take part in all). W1: we will outline the project and discuss aims and outputs with the participants. The PI will conduct ethnographic interviews to begin a conversation centred on young people's voices, exploring their ideas of climate change and asking how they perceive their future in times of climate emergency. W2-3: the Co-I will engage the participants as climate scientists. She will take them to the beach to compile species abundance data, and ask them to compare this to nearby historical records to examine the effects of ongoing climate change. She will also engage them in the MarClim project's findings from the two Newquay sites, by giving them a species list and a simplified version of the survey protocols which they will compare to historical data. W4: Larbalestier will take the participants to the beach for a plastic clean-up day, discussing the effects of plastic pollution on site and showing the threats it poses to marine life and especially sea mammals. W5-6: Marsh will teach how to produce animated films (scriptwriting, storyboarding, illustrating and using stop-motion and 2D digital animation), using equipment that we will provide. We will co-produce four illustrated stories, several animated clips and a two-minute animation (with final edits by Marsh) based on our discussions on climate change.2) Digital outreach. We will hire an outreach assistant to coordinate media engagement and dissemination. They will set up a website and social media profiles, disseminating the outputs on these platforms and presenting them to journalists/broadcasters.3) A showcase event at Newquay Youth Club. The team and participants will project the animation and showcase the work. Larbalestier will draw on her connections to invite community members, local councillors, NGO workers and policymakers.OUTPUTSFour illustrated stories, an animated film, social media profiles and a website. The PI and Co-I will submit an article to interdisciplinary journal Climatic Change and an AHRC Standard Research Grant application.