About 50 people attended For Our Grandchildren’s first public meeting in Peterborough, “Waking Up to Catastrophe” in May 2013. During discussion after the event we talked with the Executive Director at Kawartha World Issues Centre, Julie Cosgrove, about how to generate cross generational collaboration taking advantage of the energy of local youth, especially from Trent University. We have worked a lot with KWIC over the next ten years, partnering with them on quite a few events.
4RG has always made a strong point of ensuring that young people take the lead in public events, especially when Fridays for Future was being led by students. We did our best to support their efforts while offering support from behind. We collaborate closely with Youth Sustainabilty Leadership however we can. And we have included young people on our Board of Directors to ensure that their viewpoint is always front and centre in our plans.
In Ottawa in 2015 I delivered this speech on the topic of collaboration that included these words:
When we started at For Our Grandchildren, we were working For Our Grandchildren, but now, the time has come to shift gears and to work With Our Grandchildren, and to be ready to pass the torch to our children so that the war can be won By Our Grandchildren.
We talked about it but we never did establish specific programs to implement our ideas.
That has changed this year, and we are now proud to partner with the Kawartha World Issues Center in a program that will cultivate intergenerational solidarity to address Climate Change in our local community! The program is being called Climate Kinship.
The program will engage a diverse group comprised of 10 seniors (aged 55+ ) and 10 youth (aged 15-30) in one-to-one connections and workshops to empower and cultivate intergenerational solidarity for collective action in addressing climate change. The program will run once from September to December and again from January to March. If it goes well we hope to run the program again next year.
At KWIC and 4RG, our work in the community depends on the skills and enthusiasm of a dedicated group of people, like you! Joining the Climate Kinship mentorship program allows you to engage with your passions, enhance your learning, while contributing in a meaningful way to our community.
This is your opportunity to participate directly in collaborating with young people and sharing your experience and your fears with them. We have a lot to learn from each other. Together we can be a force to be reckoned with and we can get ready to pass the torch to the next generation.
Read more about the program and apply to participate on the KWIC website.
