Young People at a Crossroads: Stories of climate education, action and adaptation from around the world

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Catherine Walker has published her creative project book as part of the Young People at a Crossroads project. Entitled Young People at a Crossroads: Stories of climate education, action and adaptation from around the world, the book collates the voices of 40 migrant-background 14-18-year-olds in Manchester and Melbourne who took part in the research project Young People at a Crossroads.

It includes eleven young researcher reflections, each illustrated by the Manchester-based artist Maisy Summer, and a set of thematic summaries from across the project. Designed as a teaching resource, it also includes a teacher and student guide and maps depicting families’ migration journeys.

Catherine also co-published the journal article ‘In it together! Cultivating space for intergenerational dialogue, empathy and hope in a climate of uncertainty’ in Children’s Geographies. Her co-authors are Tracy Hayes, Katie Parsons, Dena Arya, Benjamin Bowman, Chloé Germaine, Raichael Lock, Stephen Langford, Sean Peacock and Harriet Thew.

The article argues that the urgent and interlocking social, economic, and ecological crises faced by societies around the world require dialogue, empathy and above all, hope that transcends social divides. At a time of uncertainty and crisis, many societies are divided, with distrust and divides exacerbated by media representations pitting different groups against one another. Acknowledging intersectional interrelationships, this collaborative paper considers one type of social distinction – generation – and focuses on how trust can be rebuilt across generations.

To do this, they collate key insights from eight projects that shared space within a conference session foregrounding creative, intergenerational responses to the climate and related crises. Prompted by a set of reflective questions, presenters commented on the methodological resources that were co-developed in intergenerational research and action spaces. Reflecting across the projects, the authors suggest fostering ongoing, empathetic dialogues across generations as key to addressing these challenges of the future, securing communities that are grounded as collaborative and culturally responsive, and resilient societies able to adapt to and mitigate the impacts of change