This website was created through the Young People’s Climate Change Superpowers project, which aimed to support children and young people to share their wisdom and creativity in dealing with climate change.
It was created with and for young people who are concerned about climate change, along with researchers from the University of Melbourne. It highlights the strengths and assets that young people have, and how these can be drawn upon and developed to help young people navigate the climate crisis.
The project also established an agenda for future work on this topic and connected young people, supporting them to develop their skills and contribute to research.
Young People’s Climate Superpowers project
Read about the project in The Conversation
CLIMATE SUPERPOWERS IS EVOLVING!
Since the launch of this website in late 2022, Climate Superpowers has evolved into a growing body of resources and research.
This includes the Climate Superpowers in the Classroom project and Teacher Climate Superpowers projects.
Through these projects, new elements will be added to this website, including classroom activity ideas and lesson plans, resources showing how the site aligns with the Australian school curriculum, and resources focusing on teacher wellbeing.
If you would like to hear more or be involved in these new developments, we’d love to hear from you – please get in touch!
Climate Superpowers in the Classroom
WHO WERE THE YOUNG PEOPLE THAT HELPED DESIGN THIS RESOURCE?
Thirty one children and young people aged 12-25 in Victoria, Australia participated in a series of 5 workshops to co-design a resource along with researchers. They helped create the content and established the principles that guided the process of creating this resource: empowerment, inclusiveness, sustainability, participation, transparency, clarity and youth-focus.
The young co-designers included Harriet Berman, Luna Bianchi, Billie Coghlan, Zara Fox, Mia Garcia, April Harrison, Scarlett Harrison, Keely Howe, Sophie Nikolarakos, Malaya Oehlers, Meleuc Lear, Lucy Ryan, Liah Solomon and many more.
Additionally, about 50 young people had the opportunity to contribute with their ideas through a forum event and online.
Special thanks to April Harrison, from the Kinglake Ranges, who was the youth representative and co-designer within the core project team.
WHO WERE THE ADULT RESEARCHERS IN THIS PROJECT?
Our team from the University of Melbourne was led by Phoebe Quinn and Dr Katitza Marinkovic Chavez, with advisory support from Professor Dianne Vella-Brodrick, Associate Professor Janet Stanley, Professor Lisa Gibbs, Dr Karen Block and Dr Claire Leppold.
Thanks also to the teachers who played an important role in the early phases of the project – including Amy Prendergast, Amelia Bonghetti and Fiona Tassone – and the many others involved in the development of classroom resources and teacher wellbeing resources.
WHO CREATED THE ARTWORK?
The artwork was created by Thu Huong Nguyen.
WHO FUNDED THIS PROJECT?
This project was funded by a Climate Research Accelerator Grant from Melbourne Climate Futures at the University of Melbourne.