Elsa B's Senior Project Blog
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Project Title: We, the People: Improving Youth Representation in Local Climate Politics BASIS Advisor: Messai Yigletu Internship Location: DC Youth Climate Corps Onsite Mentor: Valerie Fitton-Kane |
Project Abstract
As global warming proliferates, impacts range beyond our natural environment. As cities struggle to respond, flooding erodes the foundation of our political system, and fuel is added to wildfires of political division. These impacts are especially severe for youth, who will be alive to experience the ramifications of today’s climate decisions yet are seldom given a formal voice in climate policymaking. In my senior project, I worked to close this representation gap by advocating for a bill which would establish a DC Youth Climate Council to formally incorporate youth perspectives on climate change, engaging and educating youth. My project also involved creating a guidebook on how young people can get engaged in local climate politics, furthering DC youth’s political involvement. I remotely partnered with DC Youth Climate Corps, a DC grassroots organization, and collaborated with DC’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) to advocate for the bill’s passage. Working with Youth Climate Corps, I gained the grassroots engagement experience essential for writing my guidebook. In the process, I learned both the process of advocating for a bill (speaking at a DOEE youth panel and testifying at hearings), and the exigency of engaging stakeholder voices in propelling this process. I explored the democratic implications of such a council in a political system that can be detached from those it should protect. Overall, I raised awareness on how youth can civically engage locally, while advocating for the creation of new avenues for youth engagement.
Week 10: Wrapping Things Up
This week, I’ve been working on tying up the loose ends on my project–finalizing my website and creating my slides for the rehearsal presentations. First, for the website, I’m working on accessibility and youth-friendliness. That means including bright colors and simple, user-friendly formatting. In doing so, I’ll be able to communicate the essential information–my... Read More
Week 9: Digital Designs
Hi everyone! Over the past week, I’ve been making a bunch of progress on my website. Though it was at first difficult to navigate Wix’s convoluted landscape–adding buttons, deleting pages, and figuring out how to link to websites in a way that didn’t hurt my eyes–it is now much easier to visualize what my... Read More
Week 8: Locking In!
This week, I looked at my Google Calendar and realized how soon the final presentations are. Amidst a rising sense of existential dread and after extended hours of doom-scrolling, I decided to attempt to lock in on my final product. Since I’ve drafted my guidebook, I’m now working on polishing it, starting the website for... Read More
Week 7: Words!
This week I’ve only been working on one thing–my final product–so this will be a pretty short post. Over the past few days, I’ve finally finished a rough draft for my guidebook. And since I can’t paste the entire guidebook into this post, here’s what it discusses: Why the guidebook is important! Though someone... Read More
Guidebook Glows and Webpage Woes
Hello and welcome back to my blog! This week, I’ve focused on creating my final product: the guidebook I’m drafting! So far, I’ve worked on writing… a rough draft. As I mentioned before, I want it to be easy to read and to access, which is why I’m planning for it to be online and... Read More
Week 5: The Guidebook
We’re finally halfway through! This week, I’ve focused primarily on my guidebook and research. Mostly, I’ve been working on my guidebook. So far, I’ve created an outline of what it will look like. I’m planning for it to be concise and accessible–less of a "book" and more of a collection of bullet points. I’ll... Read More
Week 4: Historicizing Climate Activism While Sleeping In
Hello to all blog fans and welcome to my Week 4 blog! This week has been more relaxed than usual (and has included a lot of alarm snoozing), so this blog will be pretty short! I’ve primarily been focusing on historical research and finalizing my survey. For research, I’ve finally started reading “The Youth Climate... Read More
Week 3: The Hearing (Jumpscares and Big Ideas)
Hello and welcome back to my blog! First of all, my update on this week’s big hearing: I delivered my speech without crying! And overall, the hearing went well–everyone who spoke was in support of the bill, and the hearing was (luckily) much shorter than scheduled. It was actually pretty fun to be able to... Read More
Week 2: Q&A Slays and Testimony Delays
Hello and welcome back to my blog! First of all, as promised, updates on my call last week: it went pretty well! It ended up turning into a sort-of Q&A session, and I was able to bring another high schooler with me to share her ideas too (#networkingicon). Overall, there were several high schoolers on... Read More
Week 1: Speech-Drafting and Book-Reading
Welcome to my blog’s first week, and thanks for following along! This week I’ve started preparing my speech for tomorrow's hearing on the bill, and did more research on the “why” of a youth climate advisory council. I’m in the stage of my project where I start advocating for the bill at public hearings. So,... Read More
Introduction to my Senior Project: Youth in Climate Politics
Hi everyone! My name is Elsa, and I’m a senior at BASIS DC with a passion for political action and climate advocacy. Growing up in DC surrounded by politics – and noticing summers getting warmer and flooding becoming more prevalent – I became fascinated with finding local climate solutions, and began searching for ways to... Read More