The main objective of #YCL2019Immersion was to create an experience where young people could learn climate change in theory, understand it in practice, and work on hands-on projects to start their careers in this field. Therefore, the participants' main assignment to be delivered in the journey was to develop a project that consisted of a solution to be implemented to improve our cities.
Hereby we are proud to present the projects developed during the immersion - they are 4 main projects focused on 4 sub-themes related to Sustainable Cities: urban mobility, energy, food & agriculture, and urban planning. On this post, you will find the details related to the Urban Planning project.
We thank all the experts for their inputs and recommendations to make sure that the projects were meaningful and had great potential of being implemented after the journey. Additionally, thank you ICLEI Jury for helping our participants with your critics and suggestions. All our participants left this journey eager to make them to the next level.
Authors
Anna Yuruyeva, Ana Carsalade, Daniel Patrick Howard, Evelyn Salas & Zara Amer
The Problem
Environmental migrants displaced into cities often tend to move to poor communities where they face a number of challenges including lack of access to Jobs. While environmental migrants into the city may find basic resources like food and shelter, their physiological needs are often not met. These needs include social acceptance and job security amongst other things. As a result, they often turn to crimes or get affected by mental illnesses (suicides rates often increase). Also, in the long run, they can be a burden to the economy. Even though many environmental migrants stay in cities only on a temporary basis, some of them stay permanently due to impossibility to return to their homes. As environmental migration continues to increase this target group is likely to increase and it might become an urban planning concern on how to integrate them into the cities.
Additionally, most cities are not well prepared to take and integrate migrants, particularly rapidly growing cities that already face multiple challenges related to the creation of employment opportunities, adequate housing, and modernization and expansion of infrastructure.
The aim is to intensify job and residential densities in development hotspots. With job growth, the resulting economic flourishing will increase the number of people who can access publicly funded mass-transit services, thus promoting average densities over time, and integrate the city via transit rather than expensive residential relocations.
The Solution
A training program in solar panel installation impacts society through the integration of environmental migrants in the city by giving them formal employment. At the same time, contribute to a more sustainable society through more people working on the solar energy sector which contributes to less carbon emissions. The training program is divided into 3 specific actions:
Action 1: To start, a welcome event in which the participants meet the partner organization and understand how the project works. Introduction to climate change in a way that they can connect what they experienced (leaving their homes) with why they should be trained in the specific fields (mentioned below). This event is important because it is more of a motivational event where the partner organization will explain to them how Climate Change was the reason of their displacement - rising sea levels, rising temperatures, irregular monsoon periods - and why they need to work in sectors like energy, mobility, infrastructure, and waste management to make a positive difference and help in mitigating/adapting climate change effects.
Action 2: Training on solar installing. Focus on a practical teaching methodology.
Workshops should take place within communities (local schools or public venues)
in order to promote localized community integration and ensure that the program
is accessible and inclusive.
Action 3: After the training, these workers will be guaranteed the job opportunities
already established in the partner organizations.
Check the Urban Planning pitch & solution canvas HERE.
Check also the remaining Group projects developed in YCL2019Immersion:
URBAN MOBILITY: A browser extension that can be incorporated into current route planning software (i.e.: Google Maps) to improve its suggestions with new and improved parameters. hOw2gO supports and encourages behavioral changes towards alternative modes of transport by including new parameters and improving existing ones (by Felipe Sá, Gereon Fju Mewes, Gerald Imo, Luciana Brandão, and Sibu Szymanowska)
ENERGY: The Green Building Guide - a Communication Toolkit is for tenants to convince their landlords to increase energy efficiency and implement renewable energy solutions, therefore it will be possible to reduce the GHG emissions associated with the energy consumption in buildings. The Communication Toolkit takes the form of a brochure and a website (by Anna Klaffschenkel, Daniel Kim, Flávia Perucci, Karima El Azhary and Sara Nyberg)
FOOD & AGRICULTURE: A proposed program that enables the children to impart knowledge about food production through methodologies like the gamification of the farming process as well as real-life experience. We aim to mitigate climate change by spreading awareness among future generations and within their social environment. (by Ana Carolina Corrêa, Flávia Christo, Manoj Kumar, Rachel Shi, and Silmarie Crespo-Vélez)
