How do we engage younger generations in the effort towards climate change adaptation?

The International Federation for Housing & Planning (IFHP) had the pleasure on May 9th 2019, to act as facilitator and jury member, when the Copenhagen Municipality led "Climate Ambassador Programme" held a workshop for approximately 25 young Climate Ambassadors.

The video below documents the collaboration and the work of the Climate Ambassadors. Please note that the audio is in Danish while English subtitles are available by clicking the CC button in the YouTube player.

What makes a city livable and sustainable - in the eyes of its inhabitants?

The Climate Ambassador Programme targets 7th grade students in the Municipality of Copenhagen and has been educating - and involving - students for almost a decade. For this year's edition, the IFHP has been part of developing the educational tools applied as well as facilitating the work of the students.

The video documents the work of the young Climate Ambassadors and posits the question: How do we ensure the engagement of all the inhabitants of our cities, in our efforts to balance sustainable demands with the pursuit of liveable cities?

The video features thoughts from Copenhagen Municipality's Project Manager for the Climate Ambassador Programme, Ane Rotbøll Jørgensen, IFHPs Project Manager, Ulla Eikard, as well as from two of the participating Climate Ambassadors.

Citizen engagement is at the core of IFHP

The involvement of citizens - across every socioeconomic status, religion, sex or ethnicity - in the development of cities, has been at the core of the IFHP since its inauguration.

As we phrase it, we base our activities on the motto "Better cities for all" - because cities are built by people for the people that inhabit them. Therefore, we are always interested in learning about new ways to initiate and improve citizen engagement.

If you are curious about our involvement with the Climate Ambassadors Programme, our experience with the engagement of the youth and other citizen groups or more generally in the work we do at the IFHP, please do not hesitate to drop us an email at info@ifhp.org.