New Delhi/Washington, Feb 23 (IANS): Earthday.org, the world's largest environmental movement, on Tuesday announced its partnership with ClimateScience for the ClimateScience Olympiad 2022.
This Olympiad is one of ClimateScience's initiatives for youth aged 25 years and below. It provides an opportunity for youth to ask questions and stand in the shoes of world leaders.
"Education is not just about providing information. It can start by asking questions," said Eric Steinberger, EARTHDAY.ORG's Youth Ambassador in Austria, who is also the brainchild of this initiative.
In its inaugural year, the 2021 Olympiad engaged more than 12,000 youth from 149 countries. The award ceremony was held at COP26 in Glasgow.
Both EARTHDAY.ORG and ClimateScience emphasise helping youth develop from a young age into stewards for the environment. The partnership for the ClimateScience Olympiad makes for a meeting of minds toward a common aim that underlies the need to ensure climate education is an integral component of all school curriculums worldwide.
Listening to Greta Thunberg speak about the planet's environmental problems got Steinberger thinking about what youth could do to harness their power and work to combat climate change. Following some online research, the latter was disappointed about the little amount of accessible, accurate and understandable climate information.
The inadequacy led him, along with one of his friends, to start publishing science-based information in digestible and attractive formats on Instagram and in a couple of months, the account gained more than 40,000 followers. It also received requests from teachers for permission to utilise the material while teaching and therefore, ClimateScience was born.
The organisation provides free science-based and expert-reviewed resources on climate change and its solutions in engaging and easy-to-understand formats such as short courses, children books, videos and edu-Instagram posts. It also offers a mentorship program for youth who aspire to pursue climate careers. Today, communities and volunteers in more than 40 countries are part of ClimateScience.
Meanwhile, Earthday.org's mission is to diversify, educate and activate the environmental movement worldwide. Growing out of the first Earth Day (1970), it is the world's largest recruiter to the environmental movement, working with more than 1,50,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy.