The University of Manchester has launched a national climate writing competition for young people in the aftermath of the recent COP26 conference in Glasgow.
Organised by the University’s Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute in collaboration with Save the Children UK and UK-Med, a frontline medical aid charity, Words for your World invites students aged 13-18 to write a letter to the UN expressing their hopes and fears about the climate emergency.
As part of the competition, teachers and students will have access to specialist workshops and resources to help them to write their letters. An expert judging panel will be led by Lecturer in Responses to Climate Crises Dr Stephanie Sodero, and further judges will be announced in the New Year.
The competition will close on Earth Day 2022 (April 22), and the winner and runners-up will be invited to a special reception in summer. The best entries will also be published on the University’s website.
“UK-Med is proud to be part of the ‘Words for Your World’ competition – the most powerful and important voices in this debate are the younger generation of climate activists, and our role is to amplify those voices,” said David Wightwick, CEO of UK-Med. “Together we can keep up the momentum following events like COP26 to push for real change. There is so much more to be done to prepare for the growing impacts of the climate emergency on communities around the world.”
“Children of today will face seven times more heatwaves and at least double the number of droughts than their grandparents experienced,” said Gareth Owen OBE, Humanitarian Director at Save the Children UK. “They have inherited a problem not of their own making, and it is important that we amplify their voices – the climate crisis is a child rights crisis.”
