Background

How we live and work together in communities and cities can have a huge impact in tackling climate change. Energy efficient buildings, low carbon public transport and encouraging cycling and walking are essential to cutting CO₂ emissions. Greening cities with parks and gardens reduces CO₂ and helps cool urban areas and reduce flooding. Thinking and acting at a local level helps communities fight climate change and build resilience to climate impacts. For instance, producing goods and food locally can lower the cost of transportation, reduce waste and help local economies.

We are looking for videos that showcase fantastic ideas that have already been implemented into concrete actions both in cities and locally which mitigate and/or help communities adapt to climate change. What we’re most interested in seeing are videos that demonstrate inspirational actions taken by youth to combat climate change regardless of where you come from or whether you have access to state of the art equipment.

Actions could include:

• Campaigning to produce behavioral change
• Developing more sustainable commuting
• Producing products and food locally
• Providing services to people affected by climate change
• Reducing the use of energy in buildings
• Local solutions for sustainable energy access and transformation
• Creating wealth from waste
• Reclaiming green spaces
• Implementing the sharing economy

Description of possible videos:

• Campaigning to produce behavioral change: Inspire, educate and raise awareness on how our everyday consumer behavior affects our local environment and planet, introduce people to actions they can implement into their daily routine to reduce their negative environmental impact.
• Developing more sustainable commuting: Demonstrating identified opportunities that have helped change commuting behavior whether it be developing new technology or implementing existing methods in a new context that make cities more sustainable and enjoyable.
• Producing products and food locally: Changing the world by first looking at what you can do close to home, supporting local businesses that preserve local knowledge and customs using sustainably sourced materials from the surrounding area is one way of many to think globally and act locally.
• Providing services to people affected by climate change: Identify how climate change will affect your community specifically and showcase approaches that have been designed to address the needs of those who will be hit the hardest. Some ideas for questions you might ask: Are some jobs that communities rely on not going to exist in the next decades? Are there food staples that are vulnerable to the effects of climate change that need to be replaced or adapted? Will housing need to adapt to new weather patterns? How is your community preparing for such changes?
• Reducing the use of energy in buildings: Raising awareness on efficient energy usage and inspiring small changes in individual behavior that if done consistently can have a big impact on climate!
• Local solutions for sustainable energy access and transformation: Determine whether your community has access to energy from sustainable low carbon sources. Identify opportunities to support energy transition through education, awareness, training, volunteering or following a new career. Get inspired by pioneers adapting new technologies to local contexts and tell your story of clean energy revolution.  
• Creating wealth from waste: Draw inspiration from concepts like circular economy, and upcycling! Looking for innovative spirits that are eager to show how they have helped establish and maintain responsible production and consumption patterns.
• Reclaiming green spaces: Sustainable community-led urban renewal projects, that are aimed at getting together as a community and shaping areas to suit your needs whether it be community gardens, parks, recreational centers or anything your community might need to increase their resilience and combat climate change!
• Implementing the sharing economy: Establishing platforms for sharing for your community, some objects are not necessary to be owned by every household, utilizing what your neighbor has and offering what you have to others establishes a spirit of community and enforces the goal of sustainable production and consumption!