Hope and dreams- but mostly action
"I don’t want you to be hopeful. I want you to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel every day. And then I want you to act."
In 2019, Greta Thunberg articulated a sentiment shared by many in the climate space. She rejected hope, calling instead for panic-driven action. Her speech, given at the World Economic Forum in Davos was hugely impactful, and formed part of a necessarily decisive call for urgent policy. But, as we move further into the climate crisis, I wonder if it is time to re-evaluate this dismissal of hope?
On December 6th, 2024, I had the opportunity to explore this question during the East Norfolk School Sustainability Conference hosted by East Norfolk College. Co-organised by SOS-UK, the event was built around fostering collaboration, education, and action. Centring youth voices and leadership, students participated in workshops on climate justice and activism, engaged with local employers in a sustainability marketplace, and explored actionable steps to tackle the crisis in their schools and communities.
At the beginning of the day, students were asked to answer two questions: How do you feel about the climate crisis? and Do you feel hopeful that the climate crisis can be overcome? At the end of the event, the same questions were posed again.
The results to the first question—How do you feel about the climate crisis?—tell an all too familiar story. Students responded saying that they felt ‘scared’ ‘bad’ and ‘anxious’, echoing widespread studies documenting the prevalence of climate anxiety among young people. These responses were unfortunately unsurprising, and reflected the weight of a crisis that has shaped a generation.
However, the second question—Do you feel hopeful that the climate crisis can be overcome?—revealed some interesting trends. Even before the day’s events, many students expressed hope. They responded saying that they felt that they could “overcome” challenges posed and that they had “hope” that “solutions” were possible. Moreover, mentions of “community” and “collaboration ”picked up on essential pillars of successful climate initiatives and action-orientated thinking. Through the lens of hope then, students appear more able to construct positive imaginings of the future, and explore a more diverse set of possibilities of what could be.
That the students are feeling both worried and hopeful about the climate crisis presents an interesting duality, and a nuance that I think is being overlooked in the climate education space. The same students who we describe so forthrightly as scared and anxious, appear too to hold hope for the future. I wonder how the climate education sector would change if we premised our approach on this? And what power may lie in engaging directly with the idea of hope with our young people?
By the end of the conference, the students’ responses had evolved. While feelings of fear and uncertainty remained—expressed through words like "bad," "scary," and "help"—new terms emerged: "better," "positive," "inspired," and "changed." The day's action-oriented format, which was grounded in local context and tangible solutions, had clearly made an impact. It demonstrated that engagement with concrete actions could help shift perceptions from helplessness to empowerment.
The more striking change, however, came in response to the question of whether or not the students had hope- overwhelmingly they simply answered ‘yes’. The event seemed to have had a dramatic effect on how hopeful the students felt about the climate crisis, even if they still had negative feelings toward it.
This shift highlights a profound insight: far from being opposites, hope and action are deeply entangled with one another. To have hope is to imagine an alternative future and to act as though it is possible. For young people, that future is not distant; it is theirs to live in.
Surely then as educators and facilitators one of the most powerful tools we can equip students with is hope. Rather than a passive feeling, hope is an active force that drives change. Hope encourages imagination, fosters resilience, and empowers youth to take tangible steps toward a more sustainable future. It allows them to see beyond the current crises and envision a world in which they can play an essential role.
Moreover, the importance of hope extends beyond the classroom or workshop space. It serves as a vital tool for us, as well. Working in this space, it is easy to become disillusioned or discouraged by the overwhelming nature of the climate crisis- think back to when you last engaged in a conversation about some of your doubts-- Is this enough? Are we really making a difference? What if instead of relegating these questions to hushed chats between colleagues we acknowledged them openly and reframed them through the lens of hope?
Hope isn’t naivety; it’s a way of engaging with the future and embracing our power to shape it, it’s a belief in change, a confrontation of fear, and a much needed framework in the climate space.
During one of my earliest workshops at the Polygon School, a student asked me a candid question: Do you think it will all be alright?
In a moment of nervousness, I responded instinctively: I hope so.
Looking back, I realize that those three words carried the power of truth and possibility. In the climate space hope should not be seen as a precursor to apathy but rather the emotional condition through which action becomes possible. Hope is not certainty, but it is the first step toward change.
By Talia Hardie, Climate Action Plans Coordinator