Fighting for a green future

Photo: Karolina Grabowska

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Lucia di Paola and Daniel Botha  within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within the Climate Action research Line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

Youth Green Movement, Denmark

A youth-led project for a brighter future

The Youth Green Movement (previously the Green Student Movement) is a Danish group of young climate activists fighting for a greener future with a biodiversity and climate crisis mindset. It is a volunteer-led movement eager to solve the climate crises challenges and reduce the damages. The initiative is open to all youth, as they are/will be the most affected group by the climate crisis.  

Although highly educated white people are leading the project, the members strive to be more inclusive of marginalised groups within the youth (LGBTQ+, BIPOCs, etc.)- It is clearly stated on the website that membership is open to all “Without education, under-educated, unemployed, in work. All genders, gender identities, sexualities, skin colours, bodies and minds are welcome in our community.”  

A promising vision for Denmark

The initiative is independent of party politics and strives for a flat organizational structure. The project main actions, in terms of advocacy and requests, are:  

• Advocating for the polluters
• Establishing an official citizen’s assembly to discuss sustainability-related matter  
• Calculating and reducing Danish emissions produced outside Denmark 

In the Green Youth Movement, six-monthly large meetings are held, where members discuss the movement’s overall focus and objectives. Attendees participate in demonstrations, climate actions (called “Climate Army”), lectures and various events to disseminate their ideas and advocacy work. Besides, the project took part in significant activities such as the Roskilde Festival, the largest festival in Denmark (130 000 participants) and one of the biggest in the world.

Find out more here.

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