This week's seminar will be Conservation lessons for the future from Gen Z which features a number of the British Trust for Ornithology’s Youth Representatives and will be moderated by Faye Vogely from the BTO.
Wednesday 27th January, 4:00-5:00pm
Josh, 16, Shropshire - The wonders of nature for mental health
My topic will be around the positive effects of nature on mental health in young people. My aim is to outline the issues posed to young peoples' mental health, how nature has helped me both as a man and as a young person, why it's increasingly crucial for NGOs to make nature accessible to those in wildlife-isolated areas, and how they can do this via youth engagement and promotion of green spaces within urban environments, for example, Kabir Kaul's map. I hope this will provide a more in-depth insight into life as a young person, and highlight the importance of bringing nature to those that it may not be currently attainable for.
Keir, 18, London - Nature on your doorstep
There are loads of nature reserves across the UK that are free and yet many people don’t feel that nature is for them. I refuse to believe it is because people are uninterested in nature. Take my Indian aunt, who lives in Coventry: she likes walking and loves nature programmes, but she would not think about going to a wetland centre or a bird reserve of her own volition. For many getting engrossed in the outdoor world is not something that they may naturally gravitate towards because it has not been part of their environment growing up. The core question is how do you open this window and give people living in an urban environment the ability and desire to access and support the natural world? Programmes like Deadly 60 have done a great job triggering a real wonder at the world for young people and nature. The trick now is to galvanise people to support and see that nature is all around where they live. The pandemic has shown the disruptive power of technology and I think this has to be harnessed to break down the barriers across communities and to create engagement to create a real and dynamic sense of ownership. I would like to use the session to brainstorm on the tools that might be deployed to create this sense of ownership.
Alice, 19, Cornwall - Young people for change
My topic will focus on the influence young people can have on driving environmental policies and change, the barriers to some young people with regards to getting involved in conservation and a conservation issue which is close to my heart as a case study for how young people can try to pursue change and restore nature.
