Newsletters
August Newsletter
This newsletter was first sent by email to the members of our Research Network. If you would like to be part of it, sign up here.
Hello and welcome to the August edition of our Youth Climate Justice Research Network newsletter!
This network is supported by the Youth Climate Justice project at University College Cork. The project is led by Prof. Aoife Daly and funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The network thrives thanks to your active participation and collaboration. This month's newsletter has been prepared by Lucy Walsh. For more about the project and our team, feel free to visit our website. You can also watch the recordings of all of our online research forums here!
If you have any events, publications, or opportunities you’d like featured in the September edition, please email youthclimatejustice@ucc.ie by September 15th with ‘Research Network Newsletter’ in the subject line.
Project News
Litigation Interviews Ongoing: As part of our work researching how to make climate justice more child/youth friendly, we are conducting interviews with lawyers, young litigants, and judges in Asia and Oceania. If you would like to participate — or know someone who would like to — please contact Aoife at aoife.daly@ucc.ie
Young Advisory Team - View Art from our Online Workshops! Over the past couple of months, we had a series of online research workshops with the Young Advisory Team (YAT), led by our PhD researcher Emily Murray, along with Katie Reid and Aoife Daly. The purpose was to gather the views of our 11 young advisors about their work on the environment in their own communities. They expressed through artwork and photovoice what it is like to take action on the environment. The research concluded with an online art exhibition where the young advisors presented their artwork to adult rights leaders, including a member of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, for a fruitful intergenerational discussion. See some of the artwork here and learn more about the fieldwork in this blogpost prepared by Emily Murray.
Canada Fieldwork Preparation: The Youth Climate Justice Project is collaborating with Nepal diasopra NGO Canadian Newa Guthi as a local partner for our Canada case study. Art workshops will be held in Canada win the Autumn, with 36 children/youth aged 8-17 years. The study aims to explore their experiences as climate leaders, and to examine the significance of their climate action for children's rights. Workshops will include children’s rights training, creative techniques such as photovoice, as well as intergenerational dialogue. The project will end with an art exhibition showcasing the creative works of these children/youth.
Youth Climate Applications/Litigation
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has issued an advisory opinion affirming that countries are legally bound under international law to safeguard the climate for both present and future generations. The Court also warned that failing to act on climate change could violate human rights. This opinion emphasises the need for ambitious climate commitments and urges states not to turn away migrants displaced by climate impacts. The initiative for an advisory opinion was youth-led. Read the advisory opinion here and our blogpost on the case here.
Climate facts!
Have you ever thought about the relationship you have with nature? In recent years, the human-nature relationship has become a prominent topic of research in trying to better understand how to protect the planet and its ecosystems from further degradation. In a recent study, it was found that between 1960 and 2020, there has been more than a 60% decline in people's connection to nature (Richardson, 2025). This decline is largely attributed to urbanisation and land-use changes which have altered how and when people can interact with natural spaces. Interacting with nature is very beneficial to our physical, mental and social well-being, and is especially important during childhood (Jimenez et al., 2021). Our relationship with the natural world is also indicative of how we care for and protect nature (Hatty et al., 2022)!
Depending where we live, it can be difficult to access natural, wild spaces. However, even filling your balcony with plants or walking by the river that flows through your city still counts as spending time in and with nature. Or on your walk to school/work, unplug and listen for the bird tweeting and the leaves rustling in the breeze 🍃
This section is curated by PhD Researcher Emily Murray.
Open Calls and Events
One World Week Training: National Youth Council of Ireland is offering a free training workshop, based on their resource: 'From the Ground Up! Youth Power Challenging Inequality through the SDGs!'. Sign up here.
Publications
Article: Full article: Climate coloniality and the burden of tree planting among youth in Tanzania, by Maria Gamlem Njau.
Article: The Emergence of Ecological Consciousness: A Transformative Journey, by McKenna Corvello, Cerine Benomar and Stefania Maggi.
Article: Influence of Principals’Incorporation of Climate Change Education into Curriculum on Climate Change Awareness amongst Students in Public Secondary Schools in Westland Subcounty, Kenya, by Jashon Mege Debe and Prof. Susan Chepkonga.
Article: Bringing Child Climate Migrants Out of the Shadows: The Power of Mutually Reinforcing Human Rights Narratives in International Law, by Carla Arbelaez.
Blog: The ICJ Advisory Opinion: A Historical Moment for the Climate and Children's Rights, by Liesl Muller and Emily Margaret Murray.
Blog: One Year Later: Hawaiʻi's Climate Settlement Achieves Significant Progress — Our Children's Trust, by Joanna Ziegler.
Blog: 'We Live It': How Climate Change is Stealing Girls' Futures in Balochistan, by Aitzaz Roonjha.