Youth leadership for climate and solidarity in Lampedusa

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The small Mediterranean island of Lampedusa became the meeting point for 20 young people from 10 European border towns and islands. 

Thanks to the DEAR project SUBLIME SDGs, leaders-in-the-making from across Europe spent six days together combining perspective-learning, community initiatives, reflective dialogues, and creativity and strengthened their capacity to communicate climate messages in ways that inspire action, empathy and collaboration. Through art, storytelling, and action, they demonstrated that climate justice begins where youth is meaningfully engaged and inspired.

On one of Lampedusa’s beaches, they organised a flash mob to raise awareness about the environmental pressures facing the Mediterranean ecosystems. In the Garden of the Righteous, they reflected on the values of climate justice activism, sharing personal examples from their local communities. They also engaged with the Inner Development Goals, a framework that connects personal growth to collective transformation - building resilience and empathy that help reduce polarisation. 

The week concluded with the European Day of Memory and Welcome - a commemoration of the victims of the 2013 shipwreck, off Lampedusa’s coast, when at least 368 people died. The tragedy was one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean, and the ceremony was a moment that reminded everyone how deeply connected our crises are, and how caring for people and the planet are inseparable acts.

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Check out the SUBLIME Toolkit - Empowering Youth for Climate Justice is an interactive self-learning resource designed for young individuals committed to co-designing and driving community-led climate justice actions.