Climate and Youth: Empowering Rural Voices for Environmental Justice
On May 15th, 2025, the rural village of Barcus in the French Pyrenees became a hub for environmental learning and empowerment as part of the RurALL Active Citizenship Labs project. The event brought together 27 participants mainly from France, but also from Germany and Spain for a full-day in-situ training on climate change, sustainability, and the power of grassroots action.
Much like the RurALL initiative’s broader ambition to view environmental crises through inclusive and community-centered lenses, this training sought to elevate the voices and awareness of young people in rural settings—those often underrepresented in climate discourse yet among the most vulnerable to its impacts.
Centering Rural Youth in the Fight Against Climate Change
The event took place in a “tiers-lieu,” a shared community space in Barcus, emphasizing local participation and relevance. Participants, including local youth, members of Mission Locales (rural youth employment centers), and volunteers from the nearby Mirasou eco-place, engaged in a variety of interactive sessions.
The day began with icebreaker activities encouraging personal reflection on environmental commitment, followed by a knowledge assessment via Kahoot. These set the stage for deeper discussions about the EU’s Green Deal, the concept of carbon footprints, and hands-on applications using an online footprint calculator. The use of local food for lunch reinforced the importance of short supply chains and seasonal consumption.
From Awareness to Action: Local Challenges and Global Lessons
Workshops tackled four main topics—seasonal menu planning, invasive species, eco-friendly travel design, and fast fashion's hidden costs. These practical challenges illustrated how individual and community choices intersect with systemic environmental problems. The presentation of Mirasou—a local eco-place combining volunteer hosting, education, and community gardening—also stood as a tangible example of grassroots solutions.
As seen in the RurALL project's gender-lens approach to the water crisis, this workshop, too, underscored the need for inclusive participation in environmental justice—ensuring rural youth not only understand the stakes but see themselves as agents of change.
Measuring Impact: A Shift in Knowledge and Intention
Pre- and post-training evaluations revealed a notable increase in participants’ climate literacy. More than 80% of attendees left the workshop with clear intentions to change habits—from reducing energy and water use to limiting fast fashion consumption and engaging in local environmental initiatives.
Most notably, the carbon footprint calculator activity emerged as the workshop’s standout moment, challenging assumptions and sparking personal reflection. One participant remarked, “I thought I was being mindful, but the results were surprising,” capturing the essence of the event’s transformative potential.
The training culminated in participant interviews, revealing not just knowledge gains, but emotional engagement and a call for broader EU support—especially in addressing rural mobility, sustainable infrastructure, and youth education.