Parsons Students Show Their Support of the Global Youth #ClimateStrike
Friday, March 15th marks an important milestone on climate change with a global youth school strike that calls for urgent action against climate change. In support of these efforts Parsons students worked to create posters reflecting their thoughts on the climate crisis. These posters are showcased today on one of the New School buildings to demonstrate our solidarity with the young protesters.
On Friday, March 15th students in more than 100 countries are striking and marching to bring attention to the urgency of climate change and the failure of policymakers and society as a whole to address it as a crisis. In a letter published earlier today on the Guardian, school climate strikers from the UK articulated their case for the strike:“The climate is in crisis. We will be facing ecological catastrophe and climate breakdown in the very near future if those in power don’t act urgently and radically to change our trajectory. Scientists have been giving increasingly dire warnings about the state of our planet for years, with the urgency and severity of their message escalating in recent times. It’s abundantly clear: change is needed, and it’s needed now!”This letter reflects growing sentiments of disappointment from young people, who feel betrayed by the inaction of decision-makers worldwide. This sentiment was best articulated by Swedish school strike activist Greta Thunberg, who told the world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January: “Adults keep saying: “We owe it to the young people to give them hope.” But I don’t want your hope. I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act. I want you to act as you would in a crisis. I want you to act as if our house is on fire. Because it is.” Thunberg, whose commitment and ability to challenge the dominant paradigm on climate action has been an inspiration to many young people around the world and was just nominated for Nobel peace prize.
Greta Thunberg
We at the New School are also inspired by Thunberg and the many other courageous young people who are not afraid to speak up and strike in demand of clear and urgent action. To show our solidarity with the young protesters we worked with the instructors of “Sustainable Systems”, a first-year course at Parsons School of Design, asking them to engage students in making posters about climate action to support the March 15th global climate strike. Below you can see the work produced by the students, who were very excited to get involved in this effort and to take a creative approach to addressing the different aspects of climate action.
Sustainable Systems Posters
Sustainable Systems Posters
This student work is showcased now on the windows of one of the New School buildings at 2 W. 13th St. We want to thank Arta Yazdanseta, the course coordinator, course instructors and everyone else who helped us to take part in this important demonstration, and of course the students who provide us with great hope that we can still tackle the climate crisis!
Sustainable Systems Posters
Sustainable Systems Posters
Sustainable Systems Posters
Resources that were shared with the students:
1) Greta Thunberg
- the brave 16-year old Swedish girl who started and inspired this movement - the New York Times did a profile piece on her -
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/18/climate/greta-thunburg.html
and her 6-minute speech at Davos is also remarkable and gives a clear understanding what is at stake and why young people revolt now -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrF1THd4bUM
2) A Huge Climate Change Movement Led By Teenage Girls Is Sweeping Europe. And It’s Coming To The US Next
- a report on BuzzFeed on the movement in Europe -
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/lesterfeder/europe-climate-change-protests-teens
3) A video segment on CBS news, showing how this protest has evolved, including an interesting interview with 13-year old Alexandria Villasenor from NYC, who is demonstrating every Friday in front of the U.N.
and is one of the organizers of the strike in NY -
. Here's also the story on Alexandra on the Washington Post -
(saved and attached it also as a PDF as it requires subscription).
4) #SchoolStrike4Climate Is Coming to a City Near You
: Kids across the United States join Europe in schooling adults on climate change -
https://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/schoolstrike4climate-coming-city-near-you
5) “60 Minutes features the 'Climate Kids' Lawsuit that could transform US policy on Global Warming:
6) Some of the youth organizations involved in the effort:
This is Zero Hour -
Youth Climate Strike -
https://www.youthclimatestrikeus.org/
Blog Post by Parsons faculty members
Raz Godelnik and Jean Gardner, all photos except from the Guardian post courtesy of Isaac Diebboll