How to mobilise young feminists for Climate Justice? - public launch of SPARK´s Toolkit

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DEAR project “SPARK” developed an interactive guide and workshop programme with tips and strategies for climate justice activism and advocacy to influence decision makers. At the public launch of the toolkit on 12 April 2023, feminist climate activists from the Philippines and Ukraine described the impact of climate crises on women and girls in their countries. 

Climate justice in war-torn Ukraine: 

Olena Kondratyuk, a climate activist and project coordinator of the Ukrainian NGO Ecoclub, described how a rapid energy transition and European independence from Russian gas and oil could reduce Russian aggression against civilians and energy infrastructure in Ukraine. Fossil fuel profits are funding Russia´s war. 

Olena noted that climate justice is not a priority topic in Ukraine, especially in current times of war. At the same time, areas affected by war are also impacted by climate change. In eastern and southern Ukraine, droughts and resulting crop losses, on top of war, have pushed people to migrate to cities or other countries to work. Heavy weaponry and explosions are destroying forests, contaminating air and soil. The destruction of critical infrastructures is compounding  water shortages and leading to an increase in waterborne diseases. Ecoclub is building solar power plants for hospitals and water utilities to enhance their resilience and pave the way to future green recovery. 

Foreign Policy and land exploitation in the Philippines:  

Lara Maestro from WoW (Women for Filipino Women and Children) described climate and land defence struggles in the Philippines, where foreign corporations extract natural resources, exploit land, displace people from their homes and cause massive environmental degradation. Indigenous communities have risen to defend their land, yet they face criminalization, harassment and even death. Lara called on people to join existing campaigns to defend the Lumad land and protect indigenous ancestral domains, as well as those of Youth Advocates for Climate Action in the Philippines. 

Speakers at the public online event also highlighted the advocacy success that has led to several European countries adopting Feminist Foreign Policies, including Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. 

The ‘Workshop Starter Guide for Young Activists’:

The workshop starter guide and programme include activities to help young people identify the activism role that best suits them, based on self-discovery, security concerns, personal values, relations to the world and identity. A key premise is that gender and other identities shape how especially young people understand and experience climate crises. 

The Guide for Young Activists provides concrete advice on how to assess risks for women´s rights organisation, checking up on partners and how to build partnerships with feminist and other organisations. It guides participants to assess monitoring and evaluation plans, as well as budgets. The toolkit also includes useful sources, with links to books, podcasts, organizations, and petition platforms.

The workshop manual consists of three workshops, which all include theory, interactive questions, exercises, individual thinking, group work, knowledge and tools for daily life. They can be held separately or as a programme.  The first workshop addresses past activism, as well as intersectionality, to guide today´s activism. The second workshop focuses on how to avoid disinformation, staying up to date with facts and evidence-based activism, as well as identifying and connecting with organisations and grassroots movements. The third is about “Starting Activism”: putting knowledge into practice, finding fellow activists and linking issues. It dives into understanding decision makers and processes to influence them, and how to concretely plan your own event. 

At the public launch of the toolkit, Jada Kennedy, black environmentalist and intersectional activist, self-identifying with overlapping social categories such as race, gender, socioeconomic status and sexual orientation, presented the Climate Justice toolkit. She introduced key climate justice terms and showed how the guide is accessible to all, catering to beginner activists with a “youth-friendly” and inclusive language. Providing very clear concrete action points and next steps is also important. She addressed safety and security, as well as class, social environment and financial constraints. Jada highlighted the importance of “regeneration” and mental health to avoid activism burn-outs. A lot of mental strength and resilience is required in the face of possibly negative public, media and/or government responses to climate actions. Jada concluded on a hopeful note: “activism should be fun!”

WECF web post: How to mobilise young feminists for climate justice! - WECF .

Video recording of the webinar.

Background: 

SPARK partner WECF (Women Engage for a Common Future) produced the toolkit and organised the public launch. WECF is a network of over 250 women’s and civil society organisations working in 50 countries for a gender just and healthy planet for all. WECF works on transformative gender equality and women’s human rights in interconnection with climate justice, sustainable energy & chemicals, less toxic waste, safe water & sanitation for all. WECF amplifies the voices of women and marginalized people, making them heard at the policy table and running local actions.

Illustration by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash