YOUTH CLIMATE ACTION FUND

Trees, plants, and invasive species

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding trees. This could look like a student-led planting event to increase the number of trees on campus and/or mitigate invasive species environments. This could also look like hosting a native plant drive to collect species for planting on campus. 

Wetlands and streams

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding wetlands and streams. This could look like a student-led workday cleaning a stream close to campus. Students could also create or restore ‘auwai to create a lo‘i on campus.

Ocean and coastal protection

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding ocean and coastal protection. This could look like students educating each other on coastal protection efforts relevant to their coasts such as appropriate and inappropriate responses to sea-level rise. Students could campaign to host a field trip to participate in a beach cleanup with a local cleanup organization. 

Storms and flooding

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding storm systems and flooding. This could look like students exploring their school’s flood hazard zone and creating educational materials on what their flood zone means. Students could also explore and/or install rain-catchement systems to analyze rain data and potentially incorporate rainwater into use around campus. 

Increasing temperatures and drought

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding increasing temperatures and drought. This could look like creating educational materials on how to stay cool including temperature differentials under the sun vs under shade. Students could plant trees to increase their school’s shade canopy or they could investigate green roofing techniques.

Wildfires

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding wildfires. This could look like a student workday to clear campus of fire hazards including excess brush and invasive plants while also planting natives to lower fire risk.

Communications, media, and technology

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding communications. Media, and technology. This could look like students creating visual media/models/webpage to explain climate efforts relevant to their school. Students could also create educational materials on new climate technologies and host a debate to discuss their thoughts on implementation. 

Arts and music

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding art and music centering climate themes. A climate focused art project could be the creation and execution of a mural on your school’s property featuring a climate-conscious world, showing climate-positive behaviors, or teaching students how to be climate-minded etc. 

Relevant City actions: 

• OLA Action 39: Celebrate O‘ahu’s Resilient Past and Future through Public Art

Renewable energy

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding renewable energy. This could look like creating a student-run campaign for your school to consider installing solar panels on school property. This could include educational materials created by students, student-organized conversations about how solar would improve the school and the student’s well-being, and proposed locations on campus for the solar panels. 

Relevant City actions: 

• CRO 12.7: Maximize installation of solar PV over parking lots to mitigate urban heat

Mobility and clean transportation

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding mobility and clean transportation. This could look like students educating others on the pros and cons of alternative mobility options to potentially increase uptake. This could also look like creating signage at school cross walks designed to alert drivers of students using alternative mobility and to practice increased safety when driving. 

Buildings and the built environment

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding buildings and the built environment. This could look like students creating education materials detailing the benefits of climate-conscious additions to buildings including painting roofs white to deflect heat or installing “green” roofing solutions like vegetation to also reduce heat.

Food

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding food. This could look like installing a community garden on campus full of crops students select and will enjoy. This could also look like a student-led campaign to increase locally-produced food in student lunches. 

Potable/non-potable Water 

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding water. This could look like posting educational materials by water sources like drinking fountains or in restrooms to educate students on water use in and out of school. Students could also explore water re-use and ways that could be implemented in school followed by a campaign to incorporate water-reuse within the school.

Waste and recycling

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding waste and recycling. This could look like putting together a food recycling program within the school to reduce food waste and provide compost for student use perhaps at a school community garden. This could also look like creating educational materials on what items are truly recyclable here in Hawai‘i. Students could also designate specific rubbish bins for recycling and create signs indicating what materials are eligible.

Equity and environmental justice

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding environmental justice. This could look like students creating educational materials on what environmental justice is and what it looks like in their community. Students could create a survey to equitably assess what environmental justice topics are most relevant to their school’s student body and create events/activities/campaigns to address these. 

Relevant City actions:

• CRO

  1.1 Develop and distribute materials about climate hazards, their impacts, and how individuals can take action to prepare.

  4.1 Operationalize an Equity Screen for City projects to ensure equitable implementation of climate ready actions

  4.2 Develop and monitor key adaptation metrics in collaboration with frontline community members

  4.3 Improve language accessibility of climate-related information

Indigenous knowledge-informed solutions

This category can include events, programming, campaigns or education surrounding indigenous knowledge-informed solutions to climate change issues. An indigenous approach to climate solutions could look like planting natives to restore watersheds, restoring loko i‘a, or taking an ahupua‘a approach to restoration and/or land management. Indigenous-knowledge informed solutions could also look like cultivating, planting, and harvesting culturally-informed crops to limit shipping-related emissions and to broaden knowledge and consumption of climate-smart, locally relevant crops. 

Relevant City actions: 

• CRO 

  3.1: Recognize and compile educational resources on how Native Hawaiian cultural practices positively contribute to climate adaptation

  3.2: Research climate impacts on Native Hawaiian cultural practices and resources

  3.3: Assess and mitigate risk to iwi kūpuna from sea level rise and coastal erosion

  3.4: Produce tools and guidance specific to climate indicators defined by Native Hawaiian communities.

  3.5: Identify and plan for climate impacts to historic sites and landmarks