ABSTRACT
Four youth leaders from the climate action organization Zero Hour present their stories of how they became climate activists and how they are currently guiding youth climate activism in the U.S. and abroad. They provide critiques of how primary, secondary, high school, and undergraduate education is failing our youth through its inadequate focus on climate change, other environmental topics such as environmental justice, regenerative solutions, and citizen action. These high school and college leaders offer personal stories, a joint statement, and a detailed list of demands of how primary, secondary, high school, and undergraduate education must change to address climate realities and prepare youth to participate not only in environmental sustainability, but environmental regeneration. Their demands call for fundamental justice shifts in society, and a comprehensive sustainability education in which environmental topics permeate the curriculum, values that go beyond the anthropocentric norm feature prominently, and learning is intersectional and experiential, as well as relevant to local community context.
