Young Western Sydney climate voices amplified during Climate Action Week 2025
SYDNEY, 15 March, 2025: As the city sweltered due to unseasonably high temperatures last week, over 230 community-led events took place as part of Climate Action Week Sydney (CAW).
Now in its second year, the event aims to mobilise individuals, businesses and communities across Greater Sydney to inspire change and elevate our city's contribution to global climate action.
One of six key goals expressed by the event organisers, was to “Empower the next generation with a platform to amplify their voices and lead transformative impact.”
Sharing this goal is the New Possibilities research team at the Young and Resilient Research Centre (Y&R). The team, led by Professor Philippa Collin with Associate Professor Michelle Catanzaro and Dr Luigi Di Martino, are exploring the significance of young people’s participation in climate justice movements and their impact on Australia’s political landscape and the implications for Australian democracy.
A co-researcher on the project, Professor Rob Watts from RMIT University said of his work on the youth climate movement; “We’re heading towards a tipping point from which there may not be recovery, and young people have shown extraordinary clarity, courage, conviction, and commitment to providing leadership at a time when plenty of adults are showing no such capacity whatsoever”.
Image: (left to right) Event panelists Varsha Yajman, Carmel Reyes, Phoebe McIlwraith and Professor Philippa Collin discuss climate action and its relevance for Western Sydney communities at the Climate Action Week event held at PHIVE in Parramatta
As part of the New Possibilities project’s ongoing engagement with students and the broader community, Associate Professor Michelle Catanzaro joined forces with Carmel Reyes, Head of Climate Action and Sustainability at Powerhouse Parramatta to co-host a vibrant, interactive Climate Action Week event at PHIVE in Parramatta Square.
The event showcased the work of over fifty Western Sydney University Design students, including visual displays and student led poster-making workshops, which saw youth climate advocates and activists, artists, designers and the Western Sydney community come together to visually express the role of youth climate action in achieving climate justice.
Image: Members of the public look at visual displays of WSU student posters calling for action on climate change at PHIVE Parramatta
The event also included a series of ‘lightning’ talks from presenters who are active across the climate action movement. One of these speakers was indigenous journalist Phoebe McIlwraith, who spoke about the importance of holding face to face events. She said; “We know misinformation about climate affairs is on the rise. There is lower public trust in even accepted science. So having in-person events [like this] increases that ability for people to build relationships [and therefore trust] the information they're consuming”.
Another speaker at the event was Marlene Baquiran, a youth climate advocate and co-founder of ‘Climate Writers’ a monthly gathering of young people who write to politicians urging them to act on climate change. Marlene said; “Seeing all these people come to this event and speak so passionately and about the experiences of people of colour as well, [has been] really inspiring for me to see how much things have changed”.
Image: A poster created at the event
The event also included a lively panel discussion chaired by climate activist Varsha Yajman who is a Research Associate on the New Possibilities project. Reflecting on this experience Varsha said; “The reality is that young people are going to be facing the brunt of the climate crisis, [which is why] having them involved in the research process is so incredibly important”.
Powerhouse Parramatta, is the first NSW state cultural institution to be located in Western Sydney. It is due to open next year. Once opened, it will undoubtably place Western Sydney as a critical hub of cultural learning and development. Like Western Sydney University it will play an important role in helping our community accelerate the transition to a zero-emission, nature-positive future.
Finally, Professor Philippa Collin said of her research and the event; “New Possibilities is an exciting example of how we're activating research that's being undertaken with young people in the university context, but bringing that to the broader public for a cross-institutional conversation about what we can do better to address the climate crisis”.
