U of T, Toronto Team Up to Engage Youth in Climate Action
For many young people, the policy discussions around climate issues can feel like they happen behind closed doors – a perception that researchers at the University of Toronto, in collaboration with youth leaders and the City of Toronto, are hoping to change.
The TransformTO Youth Climate Engagement Strategy developed by the Youth Climate Action in Toronto (YCAT) project team at U of T offers a roadmap for how the city can meaningfully involve young people in climate action.
Developed through a year-long engagement process with more than 800 Toronto youth, the strategy forms part of the city’s broader plan to become carbon neutral through its TransformTO Net Zero Strategy .
“The city identified the need to engage youth on climate action,” says Laura Tozer, assistant professor in U of T Scarborough’s department of physical and environmental sciences and co-lead of YCAT alongside postdoctoral researcher Grace Nosek.
“How we empower, equip, enable young people to take the climate action that they want, and shape what climate action the city is taking.”
The strategy emphasizes key priorities such as funding youth-led initiatives, improving climate education and building trust between young people and institutions.
More than just a set of policy recommendations, Tozer describes the strategy as a response to youth frustration with perceived government inaction – a call to rethink how the city engages young people in climate decision-making.
“The city asked for this strategy to figure out how to better support the youth-led climate action that’s already happening, to make more on-ramps for broader youth engagement, and to make a bigger space to bring more people into climate action.”
To ensure youth voices were heard, the researchers organized 14 activities that were aimed at engaging young people, including workshops, youth-led projects and community events. For example, one event gave young people a platform to express concerns about the mental health impacts of climate change, with one participant sharing how their parents’ dismissive attitude toward climate change was affecting their well-being.
One of the strategy’s core recommendations is the creation of “climate hubs” – spaces where youth can engage with climate action. These could include centralized hubs for youth leaders to collaborate, place-based hubs in community centres, hubs in cultural centres and hubs at universities – one of which is already being considered at U of T.
Additionally, Tozer notes that U of T Scarborough’s department of physical and environmental sciences is planning to launch a new major in climate change studies. The program will bring together courses from environmental studies and other social sciences, as well as from environmental science, literature, economics and other disciplines.
“Students, no matter their disciplines, will get the climate education they need to work and live in this climate-changed world,” she says.
The next step is ensuring the youth strategy leads to real policy change. One key indicator, Tozer says, is whether it’s officially adopted through the City of Toronto’s TransformTO reporting process. This would involve city staff developing detailed implementation plans and assigning budgets to various initiatives.
“We would see over the next year or two the strategy is being turned into much more detailed implementation plans with responsibilities assigned within the city, with budget associated with these different action areas,” she says.
Another important indicator will be evidence of a broader shift in how the city approaches climate justice. Toronto youth want to see climate justice embedded in the way the city talks about and implements climate action. This includes rolling out climate hubs across Toronto, applying a climate-justice lens to transit planning and creating new funding programs for youth-led climate initiatives.
“Youth have valuable feedback and input into what the city should do,” she says. “Citizens of Toronto need to be heard in shaping what a climate-safe Toronto should look like and how we should get there.”
https://www.utoronto.ca/news/u-t-researchers-work-city-toronto-keep-youth-engaged-climate-action