The current climate crisis is putting people’s lives at risk and creating anxiety and a sense of hopelessness among youth. The development of a Creative Eco Centre provides young people with a sense of control over their environment and provides them with an opportunity to plan for the future to tackle the climate crisis. Young people from secondary schools in Ireland have linked with young people from Secondary Schools in Nigeria and they have reflected on the ongoing climate crisis and how it is affecting them both in varying ways. They have come together to create the Creative Eco Centre for the purpose of developing ideas to address the issue of climate change. They have worked with facilitators to design the content of a Creative Eco Centre that includes a number of creative elements. They are planning to work with facilitators and technical support personal to create the Digital Eco Centers with young people at the core of what will be developed.

The design of the content of what will be included in the Eco Centre is being undertaken through the following means:

Young people are working on the development of an action project to support climate justice which is equitable, fair and just and is rooted locally and impacting globally;

Through the Creative Eco Centre, young people hope to foster local dialogue and action for engagement and increased awareness raising and to support key activities that will promote a just transition in relation to climate justice;

Young people are working together to creatively explore solutions to social issues and how they are linked;

Young people are exploring the role of social media in art activism for social change from the local to the global.

Once completed the Creative Eco Centre will be housed on the Smashing Times website.