Young people are highly aware of the threat to their futures from climate change yet are rarely able to influence the ‘gatekeepers’ of climate emissions – those decision makers in Cumbria whose strategies and plans can most affect our carbon emissions. To help address this we worked with Cumbria Action for Sustainability (CAfS) to fund a series of interactive sessions with youth groups in Copeland. We drew on the expertise of youth workers from the Shackles Off Youth and Community Project and the South Whitehaven Youth Partnership to design sessions that enabled local youth groups to explore young people’s views on climate change and to share their ideas with people and organisations across Cumbria.

In total 62 young people aged from 11 to 19 years took part in the workshop sessions which were co-designed and led by youth workers in Seascale, Millom, Frizington, Cleator Moor, Distington and Mirehouse and Woodhouse in Whitehaven during summer 2021. The participants focused initially on identifying their vision for their local area and then explored the issue of climate change and carbon emissions.

A joint peoples’ panel was also conducted, you can find the subsequent report here.