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The role of the youth sector in response to the climate crisis

There is certainly a strong tradition of youth sector engagement with environmental issues, from Scouting and Guiding to International Young Naturefriends and Young Friends of the Earth. However, as a new generation of young people engages in climate activism, Siurala (2022) suggests that European youth policy has tended to keep climate change “at arm’s length” (p. 36). And while it is now emerging on the agenda, he notes that its adoption is “accompanied with hesitancy, ambivalence and differences of opinion” (p. 31). Research suggests that this issue is also mirrored in youth work practice.