UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review

UK Youth Climate Coalition | 2010 Annual Review

1
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review

Contents:
The Co-Founders 3 350 9

The Co-Directors 4 Power Shift 10

The Coordinating Team 5 Youth Delegation to Copenhagen 12

UK Youth Delegation to Poznan 6 Global Day of Action 14

Adopt a Negotiator  7 Communications & Outreach 16

UN Inter Sessionals 8 Coalition  18

Foreword
Emma Biermann Casper ter Kuile
The UK Youth Climate Coalition was born out of
inspirational stories of other young people from
all over the world who were taking the issue of
climate change by the horns, and with their energy,
creativity and passion, making it into an opportunity
you couldn't resist. Of course we were won over
and we wanted to do the same here in the UK.
With climate change being the defining issue of
our generation, we ourselves were feeling the
adrenaline of its urgency and were wondering how
we could help develop and add value to some of
the fantastic hard-work already being undertaken
by young people in the UK.
Our vision was to kick-start the next chapter in an
ever growing youth climate movement, by unifying
this work to make it stronger, making it more
inclusive to all young people, inspiring them to take
their own action, but most of all, empowering us all
to create our vision of a future we can look forward
to.
By working with some other like-minded young
people who were also itching for something new
and exciting, we started to build a committed and
passionate team.
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
Through our extremely positive approach to what
has often been a turn-off issue, and with the help of
people experienced in the field of communications
and campaigning, we began to develop projects
that would let us make our mark (and which you
can read about further in this report).
That's not to say there haven't been some incredible
mountains to climb - we are all volunteers; we have
no constant stream of income; and our work is
predominantly coordinated over Skype (to mention
but a few), but we have taken it in our stride and,
if anything, have mastered things we sometimes
thought we couldn't.
More than anything, the young people who have
come to be involved in UKYCC and who have been
such a big part of shaping its personality, have
shown that their relentless drive, commitment and 3
team work can achieve amazing things together.
As we move on into new roles with UKYCC, we want
to say what a privilege it has been to work with you
all, and thank you for how much you have all shared
and taught us.
Emma Biermann &
Casper ter Kuile
UkYCC Co-Founders,
Co-Directors 2008-2009
 Co-Directors
Alex Farrow and Ellie Hopkins were appointed as the new
Co-Directors in 2010. Here they explain a little about their
ambitions and hopes for the coming year.
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
Ellie Hopkins Alex Farrow
The UKYCC was set up just over a year ago, and
since then has grown and achieved more than
anyone could have imagined. From the first success
of the delegation to Poznan, through to Power
Shift – where we both joined the team – and the
delegation to Copenhagen, the UKYCC has always
surpassed expectations in terms of size, tenacity
and success.
Whilst last year was about big events to build the
energy and drive as the world headed towards
Copenhagen, 2010 must be about making the
connection to climate chaos real, local and
changeable.
4 to young people in the UK.
We want to ensure that climate change is not the
issue of the few and the problem of the many,
but the opportunity for all and a problem for no
one. Through art, music, film and stories in local
communities we want to build the movement of
young people from all across the UK from all walks
of life and to do it in a way that is inspiring, engaging
and positive.
We plan to send delegations and representatives
to the inter-sessional meetings of the UNFCCC, as
well as to COP16 in Mexico and celebrate what
young people have achieved in the UK and across
the globe on the UN International Day of Youth in
August.
UKYCC is also a big part of the International Youth
Movement and we are all vital in reminding our
governments that it will be us, the youth, that will
be here in 2050 and our job as UKYCC is to make
everyone feel part of something bigger whilst
keeping things local and ensuring what’s going on
around the world is understandable and meaningful
We have been drawn in to the UKYCC by its
overwhelming positivity, vibrance and new
approach, and these are things which we
wholeheartedly wish to see carried on into 2010
and beyond. We are hugely excited about this year
and look forward to achieving all of our collective
hopes and aims.
Alex Farrow & Ellie Hopkins
UKYCC Co-Directors 2010
The Coordinating Team
The first time we all met was at the Youth Delegation
debrief session in January 2009 – when the team
who had returned from Poznan were reflecting on
the conference; its outcomes, the process, how
they had managed to participate – so it was a very
interesting time for us to all come together.
It was here that Kate and Casper first explained
Power Shift, that Ben spoke of the importance
of communicating positively and effectively, and
Anna shared her experience of being the 'outreach
coordinator' on the ground in the UK during the
conference. And in that room, the atmosphere was
electric. Just fewer than 20 young and bright minds
were planning exciting campaigns, dreaming up
creative ways of engaging with young people and
inspiring them to be involved in the movement.
It was an eclectic meeting of minds and we all felt
charged with energy and ideas as we left. From
then, many Skype calls followed – planning how
Power Shift would transform from an idea into a
reality; mapping the journey to Copenhagen and
finding people to join us on that journey; as well
as working out how we wanted to engage with
the Department of Energy and Climate Change –
indeed, deciding if we even wanted to engage at
all.
And so gradually the different project ideas began
to take shape. We managed to be as creative as
we possibly could be and learned the fine art of
Ben West (communications), Craig Ferriman (outreach), Kate
Shayler (Power Shift), Guppi Bola (coalition development),
Emily Cousins (350 day of action), Anna Collins, Lizzie Gawen,
and Kirsty Schneeberger (Copenhagen coordinators).
bargaining; we also were incredibly grateful to
receive tremendous support from donors and
sponsors, all of which helped us achieve what we
had set out to achieve back at that first meeting.
We are also exceptionally grateful to all the hard
work that UKYCC volunteers have put into the
projects with us and recognise that without all
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
the help from all of those who gave their time,
skills and knowledge, we would not have had as
successful a year as we did!
And in that room, the
atmosphere was electric.
Just fewer than 20 young and
bright minds were planning exciting
campaigns, dreaming up creative
ways of engaging with young
people and inspiring them to be
involved in the movement.
We wish the new coordinating team all the best
in their endeavours and we are confident that
the projects that they have planned build on the 5
success and momentum of 2009 to make 2010 an
even more inspiring, empowering and mobilising
year!
 UK Youth Delegation to
the UN climate change
conference, Poznan
September – December 2008
In collaboration with the Otesha Project, the
first UKYCC project was the UK Youth Delegation
taking 10 young people from around the UK to
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
Conference in Poznan. This was the 14th, two week
Conference of Parties (COP14) and all the countries
of the UN attended.
The UK Youth Delegation were:
Adam Weymouth, Jamie
Andrews, Guppi Bola, Dan
Vockins, Malachi Chadwick,
Katie Roberts, Isabel Bottoms,
Amy Mount, Lizzie Gawen &
Kirsty Schneeberger
After recruiting the team of youth climate advocates
for this project, Casper opened up his family home
for the first of the training sessions. The weekend
was filled with presentations on climate change
policy, the ‘role’ of the UN and the position of
the UK in negotiating an international agreement.
6 The group also learned about running successful
campaigns, had training on public speaking, as
well as how to organise ‘actions’ that would help
translate the technical UN jargon into meaningful
pictures for audiences in the UK.
We were a part of the 500 strong international youth
presence and joined forces with all the European
Youth to send letters to all the EU Environment
Ministers who met in the first week, and agreed
to form the EU Youth Climate Movement. We had
two youth interventions and a speech during the
negotiations making sure the youth voice was loud
and prominent with the Youth Pledge being included
in the official outcome report of the COP14.
It was with the support and help of many people
that we were able to have such a presence at
Poznan, and we’d particularly like to thank:
The Otesha girls: Jo Clarke (the delegation
coordinator), Liz McDowell and Hanna Thomas
(who helped bring the delegation together and
worked so hard on the complicated finances
and paperwork!), Emily Cantrell from People &
Planet and Emily Lewis-Brown from WWF who ran
workshops on ‘effective campaigning' and 'climate
science and policy' respectively.
This was our first major project as the UKYCC and
the energy and enthusiasm created from it kick-
started not just our involvement in the UN process
but the journey every project and volunteer would
embark on over the next 12 months.

Yesterday people
from around the world
including many friends
of mine joined together to try
and reclaim power. Thousands
tried to get into the conference
centre area from the outside and
hundreds left the conference
centre to join them half way.
Here they held a people’s forum.
They took politics and money off
the table and instead brought
rights and respect. They made
a statement about who and
what these negotiations
should really be about.
Excerpts from Anna’s blog from Copenhagen
Adopt-a-
Negotiator
Anna Collins
UK Tracker & Youth
Delegation to
Copenhagen Coordinator
One of the main aims for UKYCC surrounding
the UN process was to make sure that young
people in the UK knew what was going on and
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Report
understood the decisions and implications of
what was being talked about and decided. It
was out there on the table, so they had a right
to know how they were going to be affected
by the lines of text of the negotiators page.
Throughout the year Anna joined the Tck Tck
Tck 'Adopt a negotiator' project and travelled
to Bonn, Barcelona, Bangkok and Copenhagen
to keep us all updated on what was going on
at the UN as she tracked the UK team through
the UN process.
Anna joined a team of 13 young people,
speaking 9 different languages and with one
Review
clear mission: to change the way that young
people from around the world engage with
the UN process.
Her blogs formed a massive part of the 7
delegation to Copenhagen website which
attracted 2000 readers a day with over 20,000
hits over the two week negotiations.
The tracker team will be back in 2010 to follow
the UN negotiations in Bonn and hopefully
through to COP16 in Mexico this December.
 UN Intersessional meetings
Kirsty Schneeberger

In February a group of 20 young people from across
Europe met in Brussels to formalise the European
Youth Climate Movement initiative that was
developed during the UN talks in Poznan. It was
here that the idea for the 'How old will you be in
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
The team wrote a great speech that enabled me
to offer a youth perspective on the progress of
the negotiations, as well as to submit a positive
vision of the future, and to implore the negotiators
to ensure that inter generational equity would

2050?' campaign was born. be at the heart of the talks, and any subsequent
decisions made. The campaign saw much support
Whilst I was chatting with a couple of the guys from
over the two weeks, culminating in at least half of
the meeting we thought it'd be a great idea to ask
the UN delegates, including the Chair of the session,
delegates how old they would be, every time we
wearing our blue 'think2050' t-shirts, all as a sign
met them. It’s us and our generation who will be
of 'solidarity' with the youth movement, all asking
alive in the year 2050 to not just see but live the
‘How old will you be in 2050?’
effects of climate change and every line of text,
every sentence negotiated, is part of our future. Since then this message has picked up momentum
across the world, and is used by many of the Youth
For the two week inter-sessional in Bonn in June a
Delegations and organisations who are advocating
small team of about 25 dedicated youth advocates
fairness between those who make the decisions,
worked together to meet with country delegations,
and those who will implement the decisions.
develop the relationship between the Youth and the
UN secretariat, blog about the conference activities My thanks to the dedicated team 'speech-writers'
(or inactivities), and generally work with the other who helped with the intervention and helped
NGOs to advocate for policies that would safeguard launch the campaign:
our clean, safe and bright futures.
Anna Keenan (International
The Youth contingent were also fortunate enough youth advocate), Will Bates
to secure an opportunity to speak to the floor and Jeremy Osborne (350.org),
8 Nic Seton (Australian and UK
of the UN in the plenary session of the second
youth advocate) and Thomas
day conference, which presented the perfect
Spencer (German Watch)
opportunity to launch the 'How old will you be in
2050?' campaign. I was very grateful to have been
nominated to make the intervention.
350 Day of action
October 2008 | Emily Cousins

The 350 Day of Action was one of the largest global took this and ran with it sending in loads of pictures
climate action days in history – and UKYCC helped and forming part of the global response that we,
bring young people from all over the country to citizens of the world, helped create.
organise their own positive, creative and exciting
actions to celebrate the youth climate movement
and to ensure that nobody can ignore the most
important number out there: 350! 350 is the
number we must recognise as the safe level of
carbon in our atmosphere.

As part of the day we collaborated with young

people and organisations from across the UK to join
more than 600 people to form the ‘5‘ from 350 on
Jubilee Gardens in London. With the London Eye
and the Houses of Parliament in the background
it formed part of a 3 image picture showing the
number 350 with the ‘3‘ coming from Sydney, the
‘5‘ from London and the ‘0‘ from Copenhagen. It
was a truly international effort and we were very
proud to be part of it.

Our very own Youth Delegation to Copenhagen

were up in Newcastle at a training weekend over
the 24th October and found some time to fit in an
action.

The Angel of the North is the symbol of the

industrial past of the North of England. We chose it
as a symbol that although the North may have led
the charge into the industrial revolution, into the
fossil fuel age, we are also ready to lead the charge
into a cleaner, brighter future. We are ready to lead
the charge for 350.

And on a cold and rainy morning in Newcastle, we

unrolled our banner and told the world!

Building on the energy and excitement we created

two weeks before the day at Power Shift we asked
all our Powershift-ers to go back to their local
community and run a 350 action. Young people
 Power Shift UK
October 2009 | Kate Shayler
Between the 9-12 October 2009 UKYCC put on the As well as support from all the Coordinating Team.
UK’s most ambitious youth climate change summit.
The first three days saw a series of interactive
Bringing together people from all over the UK, from
workshops and plenary sessions taking place in
different backgrounds, with different interests and
the amazing setting of the Institute of Education,
with varying levels of previous engagement, Power
designed to enable the participants to communicate
Shift ’09 aimed to equip and empower young people
climate change in a new way – one based on the
to act on climate change in their local area.
power of stories, a concept created by Marshall
10
Our fantastic team were: Ganz in the US. We created a programme of speakers
which took the 350 young people on a journey
Kate Shayler, Emma Brett,
Amy Mount, Ellie Hopkins, through anger and fear to hope and excitement,
Eloise Lewis, Alex Farrow, engaging them on an emotional level.
Matt Williams, Dan Brooks,
We mixed the plenary sessions and workshops with
Jeremy Dresner, Tom Smith,
opportunities for the participants to network and
Rob Clews, Sophie Barnes, Femi
Fagunwa, Joe Blakesley, Andy get to know each other, including offering communal
Tonner, Owen Everett, Sarah crashpad accommodation and entertainments on
Johnson, Sean Rose Sophie the Saturday evening, including live bands and DJs
Newman, Darran Martin, Joss and a film screening of the ‘Age of Stupid’.
Petrie, Issy Cooke, Amber
Donebauer, Hannah Smith, On the Monday we wanted to lead by example and
Sam Cash, Sarah Irwin, Chris really put the participants' excitement and hope
Walker. into something practical so that they left inspired
 Photo credits: Robert vanWaarden | vanwaardenphoto.com
to do something for the 350 international day of
action taking place 10 days later. Taking our lead
from the Australian Power Shift that had happened
earlier in the summer, we organised a ‘flash dance’
to take place under the London Eye in Jubilee
Gardens. The dance really emphasized that taking
action on climate change can be fun – it's not all
doom and gloom!
People were having so much fun that the decision
was taken to walk over Westminster Bridge and
perform the dance again on Parliament Square, in
the shadow of Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and
the Greenpeace activists also making a stand about
climate change by occupying the roof of the Houses
of Parliament. The media loved the dance, and so
We created a
programme of speakers
which took the 350
young people on a journey
through anger and fear
to hope and excitement,
engaging them on an
emotional level.
did the dancers and everyone left with an immense
feeling of positivity and hope.
Power Shift ’09 cost £30,000. This money came
partly from ticket sales, but we aimed to keep the
cost of tickets low so that the event was accessible
to everyone (including the use of scholarships).
The vast majority of funds came from donations,
sponsorship and in-kind donations. To all those
people and companies, including the Funding
Network, Oxfam UK, Endsleigh, NatraCare, National
Express and the British Council, we offer our sincere
11
thanks.
Power Shift was the first major project that
UKYCC took on outside of the delegations to
UN conferences. We’re really proud of what we
managed to organise in 6 months, both in terms
of the people we inspired, but also the team and
friendships we created. Power Shift marked the
real launch of UKYCC into the public and media
spotlights, and we’ve barely had time to look back
since!
 Youth Delegation
to Copenhagen
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
Anna Collins, Lizzie Gawen & Kirsty Schneeberger
In January 2009 Anna Collins, Lizzie Gawen and Kirsty
Schneeberger stepped up to 'help bring together
the delegation to Copenhagen.' In the 11 months
that ensued these three young women recruited 20
of the brightest, most enthusiastic, dedicated and
knowledgeable young leaders, campaigners and
advocates of the present and future.
The team came from all across the UK, from all
different backgrounds to ensure that we could
effectively communicate what was going on in
Copenhagen to the young people back home. They
were:
Josh Sonick, Vicky Barron,
Aashak Naik, Kirsty
Schneeberger, Emma Biermann,
Niel Bowerman, Lizzie Gawen,
12 Isabelle Ellis-Cockcroft,
Guy Shrubsole, Anna Collins,
Gemma Bone, Will Bugler,
Hanna Thomas, Emilia
Melville, Darran Martin,
Tom Smith, Adam Tyler, Lewis
Merdler, Sarah Irwin, Jerri
Butler, Rob Clews, Nic Seton &
Dave Grimwood.
Through four weekend residentials in London,
Newcastle and Wales, the group started by getting
to know each other and learning about the process,
building an action plan and strategy development,
how to run actions and finally how to effectively
communicate the story of what was going on.
Before leaving for Copenhagen the delegation
built solid relationships in their individual local
communities and established networks through
which to feed all their thoughts and feelings of the
process in Copenhagen back to the people at home.
They met with the UK’s core of the UN negotiators,
the Department of Energy and Climate Change,
where they reminded key decision makers that this
is not just another conference to get through before
Christmas, or a stepping-stone in their career, but
that the lives and livelihoods of billions of peoples
hang on these decisions.
On 2nd December 2009 the team travelled by bus,
train, ferry and some even mostly by bike (!) to
Copenhagen for the Conference of Youth ahead of
the opening ceremony on 7th December.
Over the course of the two week negotiations the
delegation got involved in most of the civil society
campaigns going! They called Gordon to shut down
the No10 switchboard, met, supported, learnt from,
became friends and partied with the Kenyan Youth
Delegation, gave Yvo (The Executive Secretary of
the talks) a hug, sat in the plenary sessions with
Constituent status until the civil society was thrown
out to which they responded with a sit-in at the
Bella Centre. They supported the international
youth intervention and joined over 100,000 people
marching through Copenhagen and held their
candles high at the vigil for survival. Throughout
it all they blogged, tweeted, took photos, recorded
film, gave interviews, and spoke with friends about
what they were doing and what was going on inside
the negotiations to the young people in the UK.
In January the total hits for delegation.ukycc.org
was 3663 individual visitors, and almost 9000 total
page views. The all time high for delegation was
the 16th of December, with 2,180 visitors in a single
day and averaging 1800 per day over the course of
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
that week! It was clear that young people from
around the world were connecting with what was
going on and through this we achieved one of our
principle goals.
One of the highlights of the delegation were the films
created by Adam, a member of the delegation. His
7 films told the real stories behind the delegation
members and the UN process so that people could
feel what it was like, not just read about it. The films
have so far been watched by over 10,000 people
and have been included in many news reports and
blogs around the world.
The delegation was a massive project last year but
the power and impact we were able to have right
at the Bella Centre in Copenhagen and back home
in local communities in the UK was unparalleled.
We didn’t come away from inside the Bella Centre 13
with a fair, ambitious and legally binding deal, but
we were part of creating the youth movement and
outside of the negotiations we helped awake the
energy, enthusiasm and passion needed to create
the clean, just future that we all want.
We, 23 young people
from across the UK,
have descended on UN
climate talks in Copenhagen.
We are here to urge negotiators
and World leaders to
push for a deal which
guarantees our futures.
 “The World Wants A Real Deal”
International Day of
Action – The UK
12th December 2009

On December 12th 2009 GCCA and the global our politicians and press that young people wanted
coalition ‘TckTckTck’ organised an international day a deal that would protect our future.
of action calling for a ‘Real Deal in Copenhagen’.
Finally, we used the last of our funds to project
Taking place half-way through the COP15 event in
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review

the logo of the day onto the Houses of Parliament.

Copenhagen, the day of action was designed to call
Providing some really great shots, we managed
in leaders to create and agree on a fair, ambitious
to keep the projection up for a full 15 minutes, in
and legally binding deal. UKYCC was approached
which time members of the public and press saw
to be the ‘hub’ for the UK – the group which took
our message displayed on one of the most iconic
responsibility for the main UK action.
buildings in the world.
The organising team were:
This was the first time we had been approached
Ellie Hopkins, Alex Farrow by an external organisation to create an event, and
(Coordinators), Kate Shayler, we are really proud of achieving so much in so little
Amy Mount, Ben West, Craig time, and on such a small budget. We really proved
Ferriman, Hannah Smith &
to ourselves that we can pull off some pretty
Amber Donebauer
spectacular events and really get our message
across to a wide range of people, be that in passing
Just 10 days before the event was due to happen
or by stopping and fully engaging with them. It was
UKYCC was asked to take this on and after a number
a huge honour to be approached to lead the UK’s
of setbacks the whole event was organised in just
actions, and we really feel that we did ourselves
four days.
proud.
The team worked tirelessly to pull the day off, and it
14 was a huge success. During the first part of the day
we engaged with members of the general public to
ask them what they wanted us, as global citizens, to
protect from climate change, and we took pictures
of them with their messages to send to Copenhagen.
We also asked them ‘How old will you be in 2050?’
to emphasise that it will be our generation who live
to see the effects of the decisions made today.

During the late afternoon we performed one

of UKYCC’s signature ‘flash-dances’ outside the
Houses of Parliament. As the light faded we
brought out our rechargeable torches and showed
 UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
15

members of
the public and
press saw our
message displayed on
one of the most
iconic buildings
in the world.
 Communications
Ben West

From the outset, the UKYCC had the ambition

of reaching and involving people that nobody We didn’t want to just be
else could; looking beyond the activist and another band of ‘crusties’,
environmentalist communities and seeking to scaring people off with
inspire ordinary, mainstream young people, many negative and disempowering
messages, bad design, and doom-
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review

of whom we knew would never have been involved

in anything like this before. laden images of imminent
death and destruction.
Key to that was the image we projected of ourselves,
and the messages we carried. We didn’t want to individual hits a day on our website and 1,800 fans
just be another band of ‘crusties’, scaring people on our Facebook Page.
off with negative and disempowering messages,
Rhiannon Jones, who joined us as our blog editor
bad design, and doom-laden images of imminent
from July-January this year deserves a massive
death and destruction. From the very beginning,
amount of credit for working to develop our blog as
the whole team knew we needed to communicate
a centre of commentary and debate for the youth
differently if we wanted to be successful. We had to
climate movement in the UK. There’s still a way to
be cool, we had to be original, and most importantly,
go with it, but she’s got us off to a fantastic start.
we had to be positive and inspirational.
In many respects, however, the Communications
One of the most visible aspects of the
Team’s role this year has been a behind-the-scenes
Communication Team’s work has been in overseeing
one: Late-night meetings to re-draft speeches for the
the UKYCCs online presence and visual identity.
UN and letters to newspaper editors. ‘Prettifying’
Starting with no more than a logo idea and a colour
documents to be sent out, administering email
scheme, the team have worked to develop a look and
accounts and providing tech support when
feel for the UKYCC which break with environmental
things go wrong. We’ve done a fair bit of reading
16 stereotypes and show us as what we are: young
and research too, drawing on the work of people
and creative, but with a professional edge. Having
like George Lakoff and Marshall Ganz, and being
developed this identity, we’ve worked hard to give
inspired by the always stimulating resources and
the rest of the team the skills and support to ensure
support provided by Futerra.
that nearly everything we produce demonstrates
good design principles and is consistently branded. At every step of the way though, it has been
amazingly rewarding to see the impact the UKYCC’s
The graphic design work has been accompanied by
communications have had in inspiring far larger
the development of our network of websites over
coalition partners and Government departments
the past year. From the beginning we were keen to
such as DECC to think about their own messaging,
avoid a bland, static ‘online brochure’ of ourselves
and in making the UKYCC itself such an attractive,
and instead create a much more flexible, dynamic
innovative and accessible organisation. We’ve
platform which could be used for all of our projects
learned a lot, and there’s a long way to go, but
and by the wider youth climate movement. All in
there’s a strong feeling that we’re on the right
all the stats are good so far- an average of over 1000
track.
outreach & diversity
Alex Farrow & Craig Ferriman
An area which has really developed over the past
year is in our Outreach work, which, in 2010 has
become a separate team in its own right.
In the height of the summer sun, the team and
a group of 40 young people from around the UK
headed to St Davids in Wales for a weekend of
strategy development which really kickstarted our
Outreach work.
Outreach is a core element of the work UKYCC
does as we’re only going to seriously tackle climate
change if we get loads of people involved and in
a way that is not just local and real but inspiring
and empowering to them. We’ve developed a
way of doing this called ‘Builders, Networkers &
Communicators.’
Builders raise cash, communicators talk and
networkers connect - but together they are the heart
of what UKYCC aims to do: inspire young people in
the UK around the issue of climate change.
This was a late bloomer in our 2009 plans but will
play a massive part in 2010 as we focus a lot of
our energy on the grassroots where change really
happens.
We also know that climate change is going to affect
us all, but how it affects us is going to be different
depending on where you live, what you do, what
you believe and what life is like for you.
Throughout the year we’ve built relationships
with many faith organisations, young people from
ethnic minorities, disabled groups, and the Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community. We
waved the UKYCC banner at the London Gay Pride
march last August and handed out 1000 flyers the
thousands lining the streets of the city.
Our diversity work has seen us create some fantastic
partnerships and helped us to connect people to
the issue of climate change in a way that’s unique
to them and their identity community.
 Coalition
Guppi Bola

The Coalition is one of the most exciting areas of
the work that we have undertaken in the past year.
When we started 18 months ago we saw many
organisations running campaigns on climate change
with young people and we felt that if we could
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review
They have offered a level of support unprecedented
for a new youth-led organisation on projects and
campaigns as well as offering advice and guidance
as we have developed as an organisation. Support
from partners has included financial help, project

bring these together we could be more effective opportunities, advice and guidance, in kind services,
and inspiring and have a real chance of creating the access to networks and outreach, accreditation for
vision we all share. volunteers, and event space.

Throughout the year we have built relationships
with over 15 national organisations who have
supported our work and who we have collaborated
with on projects and campaigns through 2009.
Our partners represent the diversity on which
UKYCC is built with some very active already in the
area of climate change campaigning, some focusing
on youth, religion, health or human rights. We are
proud that they have shown us an overwhelming
amount of support and belief in the work we
are doing but also that we are moving climate
change campaigning away from the traditional
‘environmental’ sector.
For our partners we have delivered Ganz training,
promoted their activities, offered opportunities
and ways to collaborate with young people, offered
support and a vision that we share for the future and
been a change from the traditional NGO world.
We would like to especially thank the Otesha Project
for helping the organisation in the very early stages
of development and for their continued support
and Oxfam for their financial assistance for Power
Shift and the ongoing belief in us from all of our
partners.

The success of the coalition has been in developing

18 very personal relationships with our partners and
ensuring that the coalition works for young people
in the UK. We held quarterly meetings with all our
partners as an opportunity to share the work of
UKYCC and ensure they were a built in part of our
process by being a two way dialogue and a forum
for ideas and suggestions for the UK’s national
climate campaigning.

The success of the coalition has been in developing very

personal relationships with our partners and ensuring
that the coalition works for young people in the UK.
the coalition

National Union of Students Woodcraft Folk Envision British Youth Council

The Diana Award You, Me & The Climate Amnesty International UNICEF UK

Medsin The Otesha Project UK MADE in Europe Oxfam

Royal Society for the Stop Climate

Protection of Birds People & Planet Chaos Coalition ActionAid
 Our Mission:
To Inspire, empower,
mobilse and unite
young people and youth
UK Youth Climate Coalition 2010 Annual Review

organisations to take
positive action around
climate change, building
the movement for a
clean, just future.

20

uk youth climate
coalition
uk youth united for
a clean, just future

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