Celebrating 25 Years.
Creating a cadre of young people who care about sustainability and act upon it.
Today the climate crisis requires collective action on a scale that humanity has never before accomplished, and in the face of those seemingly impossible odds-a sense of hopelessness can often descend. It needs an antidote-and its very clear to those young people who approach Change Agents -the antidote is to do something. But what?
Over the past 25 years thousands of students- many from prestigious universities and colleges have engaged in training and development programmes run by the charity- to give them the tools to act as sustainability change agents in a wide range of career and professional contexts. Some in universities and colleges, others in local authorities’ others in charities and the professions.
Have they made a difference? Clearly, the answer is a resounding yes!
Here are a few examples:
Jamie Agombar – CEO of SOS the charitable arm of the NUS
The key to the effectiveness of this work is leadership. This led to the manager of the programme winning the Inspiring Leader award in the Guardian newspaper’s 2014 University Awards scheme. The citation for his nomination said:
“His energetic, focused, and incisive leadership has had a significant impact on the involvement of students in university efforts to address sustainability. … he champions a vision of students leaving tertiary education committed to resolving social and environmental issues through what they do in their lives.”
Charlie Farndon – a recent recruit on the government Kickstarter Programme for unemployed young people
“I graduated from the University of York with a degree in Law in 2020, a less than ideal time in a global pandemic. Following my graduation, I was feeling downhearted at the lack of opportunities to find paid employment and develop my skills. Navigating the jobs market is tough in regular years let alone in a pandemic, however, after seeing the effects of lockdowns and changes in human behaviour on the environment, I became optimistic about opportunities relating to sustainability. After months of searching, this role came at the right time. When the opportunity came to administrate sustainability projects for Change Agents UK via the Kickstart Scheme, I was excited to take it. Throughout my placement, I have held the position of Sustainability Projects Administrator. My tasks and duties have consisted of assisting with the coordination of projects, helping colleagues organize their workload and booking in appointments with clients, database management on office IT applications, and being a point of contact for communications.
Being a Kickstarter at Change Agents UK has equipped me with the necessary knowledge and tools to approach and succeed in a variety of sectors. Through one-to-one advice, workshops, online learning resources and practical job experience, I have developed an outline of my long-term career goals in the legal sector and a checklist for attributes that employers look for. My next steps are to complete a master’s in law and the Bar vocational course to apply for volunteering, internships, mini-pupillages, and pupillages.“
David Willis – a young student in Milton Keynes
He was on a GNVQ course at one of the largest schools in Milton Keynes in 1996 and featured in the Times Higher Education Supplement
Climate Change and the Youth Movement
With the growing challenges of sustainability and climate change people need to be able and at scale to engage in more democratic and participative processes of learning. Change Agents has pioneered the idea that the youth generation is key to this engagement. With the short timescales now involved it is a key generation on which to focus attention.
Half of the world’s population is under 20 years old[1]. Many of these young people will be faced with the growing challenge of tolerating and adapting to global conflicts induced by the scarce resources of fertile land, drinkable water, fossil fuel or habitable, peaceful space. They could be the new immigrants that are excluded or the rescuers in mounting disasters. Many in the more industrialised countries will increasingly be pressurised and forced to change their behaviour, career paths or consumption habits in the face of the rapidly changing global economy that we are facing in the current “buy now-pay later” global recession. But what is increasingly certain is that this “excluded” youth generation will be ill-prepared to face this challenge which has been facilitated by the current adult generation of decision-makers, local community leaders and educators.
[1] UNESCO education portal, section on responsible youth consumption.
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