"Our Shared Futures": the Youth Climate Action Club presents wall hanging at City Hall

On June 20th 2024, five members of the Youth Climate Action Club (YCAC) presented Peterborough Mayor Jeff Leal and Councilor Joy Lachica with a wall hanging that they created in collaboration with Aging Activisms. The piece is now displayed in the Doris Room at City Hall. Read their presentation below!

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"We are the Youth Climate Action Club (YCAC), a group of elementary and high school students based in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough, on Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe territory, who want to raise awareness and educate others about climate change and work towards saving the planet in creative and fun ways. We understand that climate justice is connected to social justice and we are committed to resisting oppression in all its forms.

Baz: "I would like to make it clear that, although we are young, we will grow up to be in the future that you will create. The future of our lives is in many ways in your hands, and it is not our responsibility to fix the world the past generation has left us. We deserve to be taken seriously, although we may have not lived in this world as long as you. I hope that you can see that throughout this presentation, and I hope it will change your view on things in some way.

"We believe that in order to create the world we want, we have to be able to imagine it. This imagining began with our open letter about our dreams for housing justice in this community and it has continued through our collaborations with Aging Activisms, an intergenerational activist-research collective led by May Chazan at Trent University. Together with Aging Activisms, we have been gathering in intergenerational groups to dream the beautiful futures that we want to see, which is the inspiration for the art piece we are presenting today.

"Along with activists 7+ decades older than us, we reflected on questions like “What do you hope to see in this community in the future?” and “What do you imagine you will need to make this community a happy/healthy/good place to grow old(er)?”. We created collages, collective art pieces, and creative writing to explore these questions together. It felt powerful and important to have older activists treat us as equals, asking us about our insights and sharing their own.

"This past fall, the pieces that we created were displayed at the Peterborough Public Library as part of an installation, Aging Activisms: Ripples, Reverberations, Reworldings. We loved seeing our thoughts, dreams, and visions for the future showcased, and to see how many people were inspired to share their own feelings, hopes, and dreams for the future.

"We created this wall hanging to mark Earth Day this year and to express “Our Shared Futures”: the visions that we dream of and that we are working towards. These dreams are rooted around a textile representation, made by Alex, of Odenabe, the river that runs through our community and sustains life here. We all created buttons that share what feels important to us as young people looking towards our futures in this place, and these dreams surround the river.

"We present this piece to City Hall to invite you to dream with us about what could be possible when we take care of one another, and to stand as a reminder that our actions today ripple and reverberate into the future for the generations to come. We hope this piece helps you, the decision makers of this city, to think about the responsibilities you hold, and to dream more beautiful, more sustainable, and more just futures with us."

The Youth Climate Action Club (YCAC) is a group of elementary and high school students based in Nogojiwanong/Peterborough, on Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe territory, who want to raise awareness and educate others about climate change and work towards saving the planet in creative and fun ways. The YCAC understands that climate justice is connected to social justice and they are committed to resisting oppression in all its forms. In 2023, the YCAC recorded their own stories of resistance as part of the Youth Stories of Reworlding workshop: watch them here.