Shape Your Future! – Engaging Young People in Active Climate Action
Anxiety or action? The climate crisis is taking its toll on young people too: more and more of them feel that the future looks bleak. The “Shape Your Future!” project aims to help the 15–30 age group respond to the challenges of climate change not with paralyzing fear, but with effective solutions.
Faced with the global challenge of climate change, it is essential to actively engage younger generations in Hungary as well. According to UNICEF data from 2022, 62% of Hungarian youth aged 13–25 report serious anxiety regarding the climate crisis, with more than a quarter saying this feeling significantly shapes their everyday lives. The “Shape Your Future!” project aims to counteract this paralyzing anxiety by offering knowledge, self-confidence, and positive pathways to action. The goal is for young people aged 15–30 not to be passive sufferers but active shapers of a green future.
During the first phase of the project, we will work together with civil society and local government actors to develop a practical factsheet, focusing, particularly focusing on how to ease the growing climate anxiety among young people. This resource will support the work of multipliers who interact with the target group, eg. teachers, professors, psychologists.
During the second phase, we will address young people directly – in the space where they feel most at home: the online environment. Through visual content, video challenges, and attention-grabbing campaign tools, we aim to motivate them to take action, participate in communities, and develop positive climate attitudes.
The programme also strengthens the capacities of green civil society organisations and local municipalities, enabling them to engage with young people more consciously and effectively. The project’s goal is to encourage to take action – whether responsible consumption, participation in green community initiatives, or climate-conscious decision-making – the norm rather than the exception among youth.
The project is implemented within the framework of the “Gear UP! - Global Citizenship Education Actions to Strenghten Youth Engagement Through Local Support to LAs and CSOs, to Accelerate Progress Towards Sustainable Development” initiative, carried out in partnership with HAND Association and co-financed by the European Union, in cooperation with the Hungarian HAND Association (GearUp/HU001/2025). Its content is the sole responsibility of Energiaklub and does not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union. Through this initiative, Energiaklub also contributes to achieving Hungary’s climate neutrality goals – not only at the policy level, but also on a societal scale.
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