International Climate Day

World Climate Day: Madrid, March 26th 2021. We live in a complex world in which we have built an efficient system for some, productive for others, insufficient for many, and with little respect for our natural environment. Covid-19 and Filomena have opened our eyes to this in a way that we cannot avoid.

It is precisely the ecosystems which we created that are revealing themselves as health, environmental and climate change crises. This results in a situation of constant change and instability, in which we see how small biological particles put the economy in jeopardy, as well as the consumption, education and social relations of all humanity—at the same time a snowfall can paralyze cities and capitals, shut down schools, and cause disasters in our environment.

After years of pursuing comfort and stability, leaving aside the state of our planet, we have realized that the path we have taken is the wrong one. Like any systemic approach, if not all members are considered, dysfunctionalities may appear and the system stops working. With it, so does our economic and social strength, and our future.

On the other hand, every crisis is an opportunity and after events like the ones we are experiencing, we reach a setting that makes changing habits necessary. Mainly in line with leaving unbridled consumption behind and ceasing to ignore our ecological footprint. This March 26 is precisely the World Climate Day and from AIPC Pandora, an NGO for global education, we propose to look through this window that is opening and take advantage of the difficulties we are going through to start doing things differently.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on society, especially amongst younger people. The global international study “Beyond 2020: Global Youth – Voices & Futures” by Viacom CBS measures the impact of the coronavirus on the lives of young people between the ages of 16 and 24, showing that 89% of the world’s youth have been affected by the crisis and 81% have had to interrupt their plans.

Despite this, young Spaniards have responded to the events of 2020 in various ways. We finally see the results now, months after these movements started being promoted by people like you and me. It is difficult to find people, children or adults, who do not measure their daily environmental impact and the discriminatory treatment of women and minorities. Today, we can say that it is socially condemned. 64% of the youth have participated in social issues. 79% say they will travel internationally at least once a year.

The world’s youth say their lives have drastically changed affected by the events of 2020: the COVID-19 crisis (90%), anti-racist and anti-police brutality movements such as Black Lives Matter (52%), protests over climate change (42%) and political crises (30%).

However, the most exciting thing about all this is that it has not been the institutions that have articulated these responses. The citizens, moved by their awareness of injustice and concern, have raised their voices, and cried out for justice to these causes, especially environmental care.

The climate situation and the results of the aforementioned reports encourage organizations such as AIPC Pandora to continue their work, verifying the transformation of the almost 10,300 young people who have participated in their educational, solidarity and exchange projects to expand this community of people who want to change things and fight to take care of our natural environment while extending rights to all humanity.

The experiences, both national and international, that transform young people such as the ACTÚA Program: Volunteering and citizenship, and the VIS Program – International Solidarity Summer, are based on exchange and group volunteering. They promote experimentation and direct participation of young women in a local setting.

In the COVID era, teenagers and young adults, heroes with backpacks loaded with expectations for the summer season, cry out for new plans. AIPC Pandora offers the

ACTÚA program in Spain, or the VIS Program in Costa Rica, Tanzania, or Morocco, as an inspiration after this scholar year full of changes, confinements, scarce social life, online classes, and frequently boring spaces to break the routine, and little to no space to breathe fresh air and feel free.

The ACTÚA Program is aimed at young people from 13 to 18 years old and will take place during the month of July. There are 3 modes available: sustainability and rural development, seas and plastics, and urban planning and technology.

Outside our borders, AIPC Pandora proposes an International Solidarity Summer, a group program of experiential education for young people from 13 to 18 years old, lasting 3 weeks. This program offers total immersion in different cultures through a complete program of international volunteering with communities in different areas and with international language practice.

The options available in 2021, complying with the security measures of COVID-19, are: “Global Sustainability, Technology, and Indigenism in Costa Rica” in which they will discover how to innovate to save the planet, “Global Education in Tanzania” collaborating in a school local and in a reception center for children in need and “Education and rehabilitation in Morocco”, discovering the Berber culture and volunteering in the local school with the community and its young people.

Young people now need more than ever to join group challenges, socialize again, develop skills they need for their future as professionals and individuals, and become citizens of the world. In conclusion, they need to grow helping and learning to help by creating a better and more sustainable world.

If you want more information, you can contact Diana Martínez Carracedo through the email address comunicacion@aipc-pandora.org or by calling the phone number +34 722 83 03 40.

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