Youth & Justice in 2022
By Lauren Ballesteros-Watanabe | Reading time: 4 minutes
This year we are revamping our Energy Justice colloquiums. After several sessions we learned that the ‘present and discuss’ approach around such a largely unknown topic, such as energy justice, doesn’t work. Participants cared about the issues, but there was still a disconnect. Ultimately, our goal with this program is to encourage youth to see their role in taking action on these issues because the energy transition impacts us all. We live in a society where it is increasingly common to know and understand that environmental, climate, racial, and economic justice (I could go on) are deeply intertwined. Racism is most readily seen in our built environment, and those communities of color that have been neglected for decades are already experiencing the economic and health impacts of the climate crisis. Youth get it. But that leaves us with questions, like what do we do and where do we start when everything about our social systems needs to change?
Working with youth leaders from our partners at Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition, we created a series of initiatives for 2022 that includes hosting the Just Transition Labs. The Just Transition labs are youth-led forums designed to engage students throughout Oʻahu, and potentially statewide, in building a collective vision for a transition from an extractive, exploitive, fossil fuel dependent economy to a regenerative, justice-centered economy. The Labs will feature cultural practitioners and community members, who will teach us how to honor traditional knowledge to restore our relationships with one another and our ecological systems. From there, narratives and activities will be focused on aloha ʻāina place-based solutions rooted in compassion and care. The Labs are also about dismantling authoritative education approaches, and are meant to elicit their lived experiences and wisdom. It is an opportunity to learn from one another; an incubator for mutual learning, transformative narratives, and community building.
We will hold a special space for more intimate discussions during our micro-series of talks,“Learning Our Past to Reclaim Our Future.” Connecting to our individual and collective history is a powerful tool for change. We are all impacted and shaped by our experiences - though they may vary, it is important to honor one another in a space that cultivates shared appreciation of where we are today. Through storytelling, this event will cover three major themes that prompt youth to ask questions and gain introspection through storytelling led by organizers and practitioners who have taken on intersectional racial justice work for years. Speakers will share on Hawaiʻi’s colonial history that shapes our institutions today and impacts our current way of life. We will relate it back to our economy and just transition, furthering ideas on returning to traditional knowledge and place-based solutions. By utilizing these forums, our youth facilitators will lead meaningful dialogue and build relationships that activate their peers’ involvement in building systemic change initiatives. These initiatives may include public policy development, organizing public events, and media creation that we will work together to plan. We hope to capture all this data on a website that houses a youth manifesto for a Just Transition, their concerns and solutions, and educational material; much like the Hoʻohuli website created in 2020 from our youth program series of Community Change Forums.
The initiatives throughout 2022 give youth the tools, language, and confidence to identify solutions and align their vision for collective change. 2022 is also a big election year. We are gearing up towards a Youth Accountability and Action Summit (YAAS). It will be an opportunity for youth participants from the Just Transition Labs to organize and lead panels with candidates running for office in their district, or the Governor and/or Lieutenant Governor’s race. The goal is for the youth to decide and present on themes of regeneration, justice, new economy, resiliency etc… and hear directly from candidates to see if they are aligned, informed, and concerned about issues that matter to them. This is not a debate event, but rather an accountability session with candidates directly addressing youth and the issues uncovered from the Just Transition labs.
That is what we are cooking up for 2022. It is a year to further our commitment to the Jemez Principles with a focus on youth. As they say, an investment in our youth is an investment in our future. Our partnership with the incredible youth leaders at Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition gets stronger each year. I am grateful for their collaboration and solidarity. Some of the other project partnerships in the works are a Digital Kiaʻi course with Purple Maiʻa and EJ film camp with Hawaiʻi Women in filmmaking. Excited for what’s to come!