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Agency, Access and Accountability: Local Learnings from a Global Youth Protest Movement By Jennifer Lauren and Valery Molay

Climate Activists, Scholars and Others in Ireland Publish 'Global Youth Protest, Climate and Education' Edited By Jennifer Lauren.

In 2020, a research project began, propelled by a tangle of questions: how were youth-serving entities responding to a political movement initiated by children and young people, in an era of unprecedented dissent and deteriorating trust in institutions? Youth activism in global media culture is a palpable force- yet how does this visibility impact young lives in transition and the communities in which they live?

Supported by the Media Discourse Centre, this inquiry expanded into co-creating participatory research with youth-led initiatives in regions affected or shaped by crisis or natural disaster, such as the Perifa Sustentável Institute, Youth Climate Leaders, the Living School of the Amazon, the Entre-Rios Network, Enable the Disable Action, La Escuela and Climate Tech Bootcamp. These emergent, visceral narratives are compiled in the recently published Global Youth Protest, Climate and Education (Routledge, 2025).

The Context of Ireland: Reconciling Care and Empowerment

How has this movement enabled a critical recalibration of youth work on the ground in regions such as Ireland? Youth work in Ireland is a comprehensive initiative aimed at all young people, with a specific emphasis on those aged 10 to 25, from all walks of life, regardless of social class, place of birth, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, political views.

Defined by the Youth Work Act of 2001¹, it is characterised as:

“a planned programme of education designed for the purpose of aiding and enhancing the personal and social development of young persons through their voluntary participation, and which is—

(a) complementary to their formal, academic, or vocational education and training; and
(b) provided primarily by voluntary youth work organisations.”

It is vital to understand the evolution of youth work in Ireland:

“Historically, youth work in Ireland was primarily led by non-governmental organisations, most notably the church. This structure of activities was guided by the Catholic teaching of the time, which believed that the “state should only have a secondary role in providing for people’s care, welfare and education” (Kavanagh, 1964: 57). However, state involvement began to increase in the 1970s due to what the literature describes as the “complex youth problem”; which refers to issues such as high unemployment, drug and alcohol abuse, poverty, early school leaving and so on. The identity of youth work in Ireland, much like in many other countries, has always been closely connected with the prevailing political and social context of the time. In the Irish context, the role of youth work in charitable care and social integration can be traced back to the influential position of the Catholic Church and its relationship with the state. Simultaneously, its firm commitment to empowering young people as agents of change aligns with Ireland's historical struggle for independence and self-determination(Devlin, 2010 ), Verschelden et al., 2009).

This historical legacy reveals that youth work in Ireland straddles a dual role as both the platform concerned with addressing the needs of vulnerable, destitute, and troublesome children and young people in a caring capacity (responsive to immediate needs) and a controlling role (as an instrument reinforcing social coherence), while also serving as a place for young people’s emancipation, disruptive political idealism and action.

This ongoing debate is crucial to the potential of youth work to adopt a liberatory education approach as a tool to support young people. If the underlying purpose of youth work is to enhance the role of young people as active citizens in their communities, incorporating a liberatory education approach to the youth work programme can support that goal. It aligns well with the youth sector’s belief that young people are not merely victims of societal problems of the time, but also as actors, and agents of change that can bring about a better socially just future (Jenkinson, 2013).

From Marginality to the Center
Valery Molay’s nuanced work in Global Youth Protest, Climate and Education charts how the moral questioning embedded in the global youth climate movement “marked a transformative shift in perspective” in Ireland, noting that “youth involved in the movement saw climate change “as a social justice issue rather than just an ecological crisis. In the discourse of many young Irish climate activists, climate change transcends the mere reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions; it is viewed as a systemic failure that perpetually marginalises specific groups and harms our ecosystem.” Her research mines lessons learned from both youth and practitioners involved in the Future Generations Climate Justice Project, a joint initiative led by the National Youth Council of Ireland in partnership with rural youth and young farmers’ organisations (Macra na Feirme, YMCA Cork), the Indigenous Travellers community of Ireland (Involve Meath), and youth services from low socioeconomic areas in Dublin's inner city (Sphere 17 & Swan Regional Youth Service). Molay articulates the balancing act of adapting youth work to the complex realities of populations on the periphery of power and politics, in rural and urban settings. “A Liberatory Education Approach to Climate Change: Youth Climate Justice in Ireland” situates youth work in Ireland and surfaces key questions that arose, among youth as well as practitioners. She reflects on the balancing act youth work has to do as both the platform addresses the immediate needs of marginalised young people through employment and leisure programs while also serving as a space where they can better comprehend their social conditions and emancipate themselves by challenging oppressive systems . This work, and others in Global Youth Protest, Climate and Education reflects on the lessons learned by both practitioners and youth participants.

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¹ What is youth work? National Youth Council of Ireland. https://www.youth.ie/articles/what-is-youth-work/

References
Devlin, M. (2010.). Youth work in Ireland - Some historical reflections.
https://pjp-eu.coe.int/documents/42128013/47262577/H2_Ireland.pdf/70ca48ce-f848-425b-9566-7
Devlin, M., & Tierney, H. (n.d.). Standpoints & Global Justice to Development Issues Attitudes & Youth Workers of Young People. Retrieved January 1, 2024, from https://www.youth.ie/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Standpoints_Global_Attitudes.pdf
Jenkinson, H. (1998). Published by Social Care Ireland Est. Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies Est, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.21427/D7XF02
Jenkinson, H. (2013). Youth Work in Ireland – A Decade On, Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 1. Available at: http://arrow.dit.ie/ijass/vol13/iss1/1
Verschelden, G., Cousée, F., Van de Walle, T. and Williamson, H. (eds.) (2009). The history of youth work in Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing

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