Inter.generationality?
A newsletter on the need for cooperation and empathetic dialogues across generations as a crucial tool in tackling the climate crisis: It will take every generation to do what is needed to turn the tide on the duel crises of biodiversity loss and climate change.
Why subscribe?
‘Intergenerational dialogue’ has become a trendy phrase within discussions on the intersectionality of the climate crisis, yet truly intentional intergenerational dialogue is rare and the inclusion of marginalised age groups is often tokenistic at best. When I first started working in the climate space a few years ago it struck me how often young people would be welcome in photo shoots or on panels but would rarely be welcome in decision making spaces. I also found the fetishisation of young climate activists - many of them children - bizarre (and frankly, creepy!). Equally ‘elders/older people’ are often either held as a source of undisputed or are conversely ignored completely. I hope this newsletter will be a place to explore the challenges of living in a fractured and ‘messy’ time. I hope it will become a platform for voices more important than my own. I hope it will become a place to bring the perspectives of different generations together.
Subscribe if you:
• Believe tackling the climate crisis will take all of our ingenuity and needs every generation engaged.
• Want to explore ideas around generational trauma, justice and cooperation.
• Are curious about the ways intergenerational dialogue can be used as a tool for change.
My approach: In this newsletter, I quote various others for the substance of what they share. The quotes are not endorsements of all the views of those people. If I am sharing someone else’s story using words or video it will mean I have sought full permission from that person for its use. They will also have understanding of how and where it will be used. However, I cannot account for how others may have sourced their stories. I commit to seeking to use only using legitimate sources of research and insight and to give credit where credit is due - not as endorsement but as an acknowledgment that we all build our learning and knowledge on the back of the learning and knowledge of others.
In writing a newsletter on intergenerational dialogue I acknowledge I am myself of a particular generation (firmly in the so-called ‘geriatric Millennial’ group) and a particular background. I consider my own learning as a constant work in progress and am open to being challenged and corrected here. I think often we have become concerned as a world with avoiding difficult dialogues - but we need to be more prepared to have them if we are to find solutions to the plethora of problems facing humanity and nature.
About Laura
Laura is a PhD researcher with the University of Birmingham in the UK. She is also full-time Communications Advisor with The Elders. All views in the newsletter are very much her own meandering thoughts on intergenerational dialogue and the climate crisis (or those of the amazing people she meets doing her research). Laura believes in the power of storytelling to ignite conversations and to open up spaces for radical change. You can follow Laura on Instagram.
