So, what did we accomplish in 2023?

This year, we welcomed into the team:

Rachel Keane, Partnerships Coordinator

After finishing an International Relations and Modern History degree, Rachel realised that the only thing she could imagine herself doing is working to protect the environment and supporting those already on the front lines.

Janine Walker, Social Media Coordinator

Janine’s travels have given her a deep appreciation for the Earth and the people inhabiting it. She is driven to do more to make sure that future generations are able to see and enjoy the same beauty of the world around us.

Carmen Ibrahim, Operations Director

Carmen is a dynamic and results-driven professional who is committed to working towards climate justice with like-minded people. She is passionate about supporting innovative grassroots and small business solutions for both the waste and economic crises her home country of Lebanon is facing.

Claire Low, Administrative Assistant

Claire is passionate about climate justice and its intersection with politics. Originally from Singapore and now based in the Netherlands, she is committed to building a gentler and sustainable future for all.

We were also sad (and incredibly proud!) to wave goodbye to some incredible team members who were ready to take on new ventures, including Monty Dean, Isabel Flynn and Sophie Palmer. We are so grateful to have been part of their journeys and the legacy of their passion and work will continue at Force of Nature.

We recognised the lack of meaningful focus on social justice in the climate space and decided to look inward and understand what Force of Nature could be doing better.

We partnered with Word on the Curb for a 4-month research project. Its purpose was to identify barriers to access for young people from underserved communities in the UK pursuing careers in sustainability. Insights from this research can be found here. This informed every vertical of our organisation, and largely influenced how we shaped our training pathways; this meant that we were able to work with folks from a wealth of lived experiences.

The curriculum helps participants navigate strong emotions, identify self-limiting beliefs, and identify what agency looks like to them. This year, we refreshed the curriculum and embarked on strategic partnerships with organisations working with young people from a diversity of backgrounds, including RECLAIM and the Patchwork Foundation. We did the same through a global lens for our climate cafés, working with Resilient40 Africa (a youth network based in all the regions of Africa), The Resilience Project (with their youth advisory board facilitating climate cafés), and CoalitionWILD (a year-long programme supporting young people from the Global South to set up their own initiatives).

We refined the curriculum for three 4-week trainings spanning public speaking, advising decision-makers, and facilitating programmes. We ran these trainings with 155 participants.

On average, young people who completed the speakers training reported being:

- 24% more confident writing and delivering a story in their medium of choice.

- 25% more clear on their personal growth goals as a communicator.

- 27% more capable of managing nerves or imposter syndrome when putting stories out into public forums.

After the training, all participants indicated extremely strong belief in the power of platforming young people (5/5 on a scaled response).

On average, young people who completed the consultant training reported being:

- 31% more confident speaking to business leaders about their role in addressing the climate crisis.

- 28% more confident calling out greenwash in conversations with business leaders.

- 23% more comfortable being the youngest person in a room with business leaders; as well as consulting business leaders respectfully and constructively.

On average, young people who completed the facilitator training reported being:

- 14% more in touch with their own thoughts, feelings and behaviours related to the climate crisis.

- 19% more confident helping other young people open up about their climate-related thoughts and feelings.

- 13% more motivated to be in a position of facilitation for difficult conversations.

- 20% more connected to other young people who feel similarly.

We also developed a model to license these graduates and started coordinating opportunities for them to test their new skills (e.g. facilitating workshops, speaking at events, and engaging with business leaders).

Climate change and mental health are two of the greatest, interconnected challenges we face. However, the initiatives and research projects that have emerged in response are siloed and not representative of the people living through the crisis. Connecting Climate Minds was launched in response to this challenge. It’s the largest project of its kind to date, with the goal of establishing a global research agenda on climate and mental health. We’ve been fortunate to lead on the youth work stream as a headline partner.

We re-launched the campaign and project, which included developing a new How-to-Guide to support facilitation of climate-related conversations. We had 108 climate cafés registered in over 35 countries in the last quarter of 2023! In an attempt to remove the financial barrier to hosting climate cafés, we were able to distribute £9,335 in micro-grants to 69 hosts.

From our Northern-most café held in Svalbard, Norway to our Southern-most in Temuco, Chile, we were thrilled to see so many people creating space to host important and honest conversations.

Abideen Olasupo, a climate café Host in Nigeria, told us: “Hosting the climate café was a transformative experience that underscored the importance of community engagement in addressing environmental challenges. The genuine enthusiasm and commitment demonstrated by participants reinforced the belief that local initiatives play a pivotal role in driving positive change. The experience was both humbling and empowering, highlighting the potential for impactful change when communities come together for a shared cause”.

This year, on November 30th (the first day of COP28), we also held a Global Activation Day so we could connect communities all over the world through climate cafés! Natasha Pavey, a climate café Host in the UK, said: “It was lovely to meet, connect and run the café with co-facilitators via the [Force of Nature] Slack! Everyone was super excited to be one café of many globally - that was super cool!”.

Sacha Wright, our Research & Impact Coordinator, participated in events at the WHO Pavilion alongside the Climate Cares team from Imperial College. While Sacha was the only team member to make it to Dubai, the rest of the team was supporting behind the scenes to support activists on the ground.

We partnered with the Climate Crisis Advisory Group to run two climate cafés; remunerated 6 youth activists for speaking at climate cafés; and partnered with the Entertainment & Culture pavilion as a Community Partner. We also released £2715 in funding to help other activists with travel, accommodation and covering their access needs.

Our work this year has been made possible by our incredible collective of funding partners, including: Big Change via the Big Education Challenge, the Savitri Foundation, Greenhouse Communications, Ecosia, Wellcome, the Climate Crisis Advisory Group, as well as donations from companies including Pinterest and Lululemon. We’ve also employed crowdfunding platforms such as GoFundMe to aid in our fundraising efforts, and received individual donations (one-off and ongoing) from supporters of our work.

We conducted interviews with 12 trailblazing activists delving into activism in all its messiness and nuance. Recognising that pressure to be the ‘perfect activist’ is often voiced as a barrier to meaningful action, source of eco-anxiety, and a common contributor for youth burnout, our conversations aimed to highlight that we don't need a handful of perfect activists - but millions of imperfect ones.

Launching in March 2024, Confessions of a Climate Activist explores what activism can look like when it's more open, honest and human.

Our community grew to 1109 members between the ages of 16-35, based in more than 47 countries worldwide. In 2023, we facilitated 9 community calls, providing space for meaningful discussions on upcoming projects, climate-related emotions and urgent issues.

All of our work at Force of Nature focuses on centering young people in climate solutions whilst recognising that facing the world’s biggest problems requires us to cultivate the world we want to live in within ourselves, our communities and our teams. We are proud that 100% of our team recommends Force of Nature as a place to work.

With this in mind, in 2023 we focused on creating a positive workplace culture by:

- Positioning a dedicated “Director of People and Culture” role to support our team’s development and wellbeing.

- Completing our first full year following a 4-day work week (no condensed hours and no loss of salary).

- Piloting a “wellbeing week” which consisted of paid time off for the team to explore and promote their wellbeing, in ways that worked for them — including additional budget for activities.

- Formalising menstrual leave for all team members.

- Inviting our team and community to attend an activist retreat in Plum Village, fully expensed, to explore the intersection of inner sustainability and activism.