For a lot of AYCC volunteers, their journey in the AYCC has taken many twists and turns – but for many, it all started in 2009, when they attended Power Shift. With Power Shift 2011 just a few months away, here’s one take on why Power Shift is so transformational from Joel, our Online Grassroots Coordinator.
Climate change isn’t the easiest issue to get involved with. It can be hard to pick out victories, or say with certainty that you’ve made a difference. But when I think about moments when I have felt victorious, and when I’ve felt like my actions mattered, Power Shift 2009 always springs to mind.
In a sentence, I would describe Power Shift as a youth climate summit. These words can’t capture why Power Shift was so transformational in my life – but maybe some of my memories from the event can.
I remember arriving on the first day of Power Shift 2009 and taking a seat near the very front of the plenary hall. Turning around, I was greeted by the sight of over one thousand people streaming inside – young people like me, who had been brought together by this issue. The energy and enthusiasm was unforgettable.
Later, I participated in a campaigning workshop with John Hepburn, Greenpeace’s Climate Campaigner. This was a surreal moment for me. I had almost no prior campaigning experience, and here I was listening to one of the most informed and experienced climate campaigners in Australia. John’s eagerness to help us made me realise just how important I and other young people were to the growing movement in Australia to reduce pollution.
A final experience I remember was hearing from Kandi Mossett, a Native American whose home has borne the costs of her country’s addiction to fossil fuels. She has seen her local environment devastated, and has lost people she loved due to the health effects of coal mining. I cried as I listened to her and realised the responsibility I had, as somebody lucky enough not to be facing such terrible impacts, to use my privilege for good. It struck me then that in acting to avoid runaway climate change, I was acting in concert with people and nations the world over.
Power Shift 2009 was the moment when I felt my eyes had really opened. It was the first time I’d felt part of something bigger, and something powerful. It was one of the first times I was able to learn from veteran campaigners who knew themselves the importance of empowering young people to take action. Through hearing from people like Kandi, I began to understand why it was so important to solve climate change.
If you sign up to attend Power Shift 2011, and go, open to new ideas and chances to learn, you will be transformed. I can’t tell you what it will be for you, or whether your experience will be like mine. But I know that, while Power Shift 2009 was my opportunity, Power Shift 2011 can be yours.
Interested in Power Shift 2011? Sign up here to receive updates, and click here to find out about the Power Shift Field Team – an amazing opportunity to be one of 100 young people selected to make Power Shift 2011 happen.
