ABSTRACT
This chapter concerns a particular assemblage: climate change, islands, geopolitics and children's geographies. It provides insights of wider relevance to scholars of children's geographies, geopolitics, and island and climate studies, among others. The chapter reflects and asserts a strong commitment to the transformative power of participatory programmes involving the arts and geography. It is based on two premises: one is that children's lives are already fully human lives and not merely lives-in-waiting for adulthood. And the other is that those lives are always already politically located; that is, enmeshed in particular locations, affected by the scalar dynamics between locations and influenced by diverse forms of identification such as gender, ethnicity or status. Islands are also intensifiers: their populations face pressing problems related to sea level rise, salinisation, land use, development, pollution, and threats to public health. Child-initiated participation is rare, nevertheless 'children have the opportunity to participate in society in truly authentic ways as 'active citizens.
