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23 November 2020

Eight children and youngsters from Foyer des Jeunes, aged between 8 and 15, participated in Earth Speakr, an art project that invites young people to express themselves for the sake of the planet and adults to listen to what they have to say. The young people created video clips and then presented their work via videoconference to officials from the German embassy and the Goethe Institut.

Earth Speakr is an initiative of the artist Olafur Eliasson, in partnership with the German Foreign Ministry and the Goethe Institut.

For several years now, Foyer des Jeunes has been running projects on the environment, our impact on it and on climate change awareness. The young people were therefore already aware of some of the problems addressed in the project.

In their work, the young people mainly stressed the excessive number of cars in our cities, the importance of the protection of green and wooded areas as well as flora and fauna. Finally, the issues of waste, especially of water and food, were also often mentioned in the video clips.

Importantly, Earth Speakr made young people aware that their ideas may be shared by others and may make some people aware of the importance of safeguarding our environment. The technological aspect of the project also excited them: seeing their own creation on the Earth Speakr website was a great source of motivation.

The project has shown that children and young people are acutely aware of the environmental issues that hamper their freedom and their development, whether in terms of mobility, well-being or recreational space.  

Earth Speakr is subsidised by the German Foreign Minister on the occasion of the German Presidency of the European Council and carried out in cooperation with the Goethe Institut.

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© Lillo Mendola ©  Bertrand Vandeloise

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