New Possibilities: Young People and Democratic Renewal
Exploring the significance of young people's participation in climate change movements for democracy.
Our Vision
The mass mobilisation of school students for action on climate change suggests that many young Australians want a more participatory and inclusive form of democracy. The New Possibilities project examines the way student leadership, organisation and participation occurs across online and offline spaces, shaping Australia’s political and democratic culture, during a time of global, social and political change.
Our Project Plan
In this project, we will work with young people to document and analyse how they participate in politics and to create a unique digital media library and novel resource for democratic renewal.
Over three years (2022-2025) we will map student climate action around Australia, conduct surveys, social media and legacy media analysis, and in-depth interviews. From this, we will generate case studies, longitudinal and rich insights into what moves young people to become politically active and how they are conceptualising and making politics in a time of climate crisis.
Project History
This project builds on a pilot project conducted in 2019, as part of a 19-country study about who is taking part in climate protests de Moor et al. eds, 2019). Since then, we have been developing a conceptual framework, research and analytical methods in response to the development of the student climate movement. We are inspired by their leadership in calling for urgent and meaningful responses to the climate crisis and we believe these have broader implications for the health of our democracies around the world.
Read more about the pilot project here.
What Impact will this research have?
The New Possibilities project will enhance knowledge of student politics and their relation to climate change, social and democratic change. It will provide an understanding of how young people understand and respond to complex social, economic, and environmental challenges. The project will also explore how different settings, practices and political commitments move young people to action and the specific role of gender. The project’s findings will be channelled to support democratic participation, teaching and policy-making and enhance young people’s sense of political efficacy, and informed and engaged citizenship. This will support the broader social, cultural and economic outcomes.
Through explaining and amplifying what young people are doing to shape democracy, the project will inform political parties, civil society groups and educators on how to effectively engage with younger people in democratic processes. The project will share research findings via the media library, public reports and a major international workshop with policy-makers, educators, civil society organisations and students.
Outputs
Click on each category to see the outputs.
- Bessant, J., Watts, R., & Collin, P. (2025) ‘Student Activism and Protest’ in E.E. Blair & S. Deckman (eds) Sage Encyclopedia of Education and Gender, np.
- Bessant, J., Prost, A., & Watts, R. (2025). Intergenerational climate justice: applying theory to policy in the Anthropocene. Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 1-16.
- Bessant, J., O’Keeffe, P., & Drake, M. (2025). Civics Education and Citizenship in the Anthropocene. Journal of Applied Youth Studies, 1-20.
- Bessant, J., & Watts, R. (2025). Young and invisible in a time of polycrisis: reframing the problem and finding solutions. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-18.
- Bessant, J., & Watts, R. (2025). Young and invisible in a time of polycrisis: reframing the problem and finding solutions. Journal of Youth Studies, 1-18.
- Bessant, J., Collin, P. Krutsch, E. (2025 online first) ‘It’s Time: Lowering the vote to 16’, Journal of Applied Youth Studies
- M Catanzaro, R Watts, J Bessant, P Collin, L DiMartino…Understanding Young People’s Visual Politics: the Role of Author and Audience in Climate Protests - Libro de actas/Conference Proceedings International Conference: Compromisos sociopolíticos y activismos juveniles: Sociopolitical Engagements and Youth Activisms: 24-25 Octubre, 2024. UNED. Madrid
- Gordon, F. (2025) ‘Beyond the Ivory Tower: How Academia can Support Youth Climate Activism in Australia’, Court of Conscience.
- Rodgers, N. and Gordon, F. (2025) ‘Courtroom and Other Tales of the Climate Generation’, in The Public Child: Media Power, Strategic Silencing and Children’s Rights in Australia, Palgrave’s Childhood and Youth Studies series.
- O'Keeffe, P., Bessant, J., & Drake, M. (2025). The Politics of Framing the Student Problem: Inquiries Into Australian Civics Education, 2006–2024. Australian Journal of Social Issues.
- Shakespeare, M., Catanzaro, M. and Brooker, CJ. (2025) Realising Common Ground: Custodianship of Country and Youth Climate Action In Sabine von Mering et al (eds) Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism
- N Rogers, F Gordon (2025) Children take action: Courtroom and other tales of the climate generation in Nelson, Buiten, Death (eds)The Public Child: Media Power, Strategic Silencing, and Children's Rights in Australia. Palgrave Macmillan.
- Watts et al, and Collin P. (2025) ‘Academic Freedom’ v Climate Change Denial: How the politics of research funding shapes the possibilities for researching grassroots activism. In Sabine von Mering et al (eds) Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism.
- MRes Student, Dinusha Soo, submitted her thesis using data from the project: How have barriers been constructed for young People of Colour in climate activism:A case study of School Strike 4 Climate (submitted 2.12.25) (Supervised by M Catanzaro, HCA)
- Watts, R., Bessant, J., Jackson, S., Catanzaro, M., Gordon, F., & Collin, P. (2024). ‘Academic Freedom’. Climate Change Denial: How the Politics of Research Funding Shapes the Possibilities for Researching Grassroots Activism. In The Routledge Handbook of Grassroots Climate Activism (pp. 362-376). Routledge.
- Gordon, F. (2024). Climate Harm and Future Generations: Young People Pushing for Australian Law to Change with the Times. Court of Conscience, (18), 47-52. https://issuu.com/unswlawsociety/docs/court_of_conscience_-_issue_18_2024/60
- Di Martino, L. (2024). Strategic authenticity in the promotion of a protest action on social media: the case of the School Strike 4 Climate in Sydney. Communication Research and Practice, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1080/22041451.2024.2417140
- Rodgers, N. & Gordon, F. (in press) Courtroom and Other Tales of the Climate Generation, in the forthcoming collection - 'The Public Child: Media Power, Strategic Silencing and Children’s Rights in Australia', Palgrave’s Childhood and Youth Studies Series.
- Watts, R., Bessant, J., Catanzaro, M., Collin, P., Jackson, S., (2024) The Political in the Anthropocene: Reflections on a Ministerial Veto, 2021. Australian Journal of Environmental Education. 2024:1-14. https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2023.37.
- Catanzaro, M., (2023) Understanding Young People’s visual politics: Making young people’s participation (more) visible, in J. Bessant , P. Collin, P. O’keefe (eds) Research handbook for the Sociology of Youth, Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Bessant, J., Collin, P., and Watts, R., L., (2023), ‘Blah, Blah, Blah … [not] business as usual’: politics through the lens of young female climate leaders, Australian Journal of Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2023.2224239
- Arnot G, Pitt H, McCarthy S, Collin P, Thomas S. Supporting young people as genuine political actors in climate decision-making. Health Promot Int. 2023 Dec 1;38(6):daad148. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daad148. PMID: 37952200.
- Collin, P., & Gordon, F. (2023). Children and young people contesting citizenship. In J. Wyn, H. Cahill, & H. Cuervo (Eds.), Handbook of Children and Youth Studies (pp. 1-14). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-4451-96-3_80-1
- Bessant, J., Collin, P., Watts, R. (forthcoming). A Revisionist Account the Democratic Crisis and Youth Participation. In Bessant, J., Collin, P., O’Keeffe, P. (Eds.), Research Handbook for the Sociology of Youth, Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Tasker, S. & Collin, P. (2022) Young people shaping wise futures. in Joy Higgs, Dr Diane Tasker, Jan Orrell, and Dr Narelle Patton (eds) Shaping Wise Futures, Brill Publishing, Leiden: pp 396-415.
- Catanzaro, M. & Collin, P. (2021) “ Kids Communicating Climate Change: Learning from the Visual Language of the SchoolStrike4Climate Protests” in Educational Review s pecial issue - Youth Activism, Climate Change and Education (eds. Frances Howard, Ian Gimpsey, David Rousell). https://doi.org/10.1080/00131911.2021.1925875
- Collin, P., Bessant, J., and Watts, R., L., (forthcoming). When We Can’t vote, Action Is All We Have’: Student Climate Politics, Rights and Justice. In McLeod, J., Wright K. (Eds.), Childhood, Youth and Activism: Global Perspectives on Demands for Rights and Justice from Young People and their Advocates, Emerald.
- Collin, P. & Matthews, I. (2021) ‘School Strike for Climate: Australian Students Renegotiating Citizenship’ in Bessant, J., Mejia Mesinas, A., and Pickard, S. (eds). 2020. When Students Protest. (Vol 1): Secondary School students. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield: 125 - 144.
- Collin, P, Matthews, I. Churchill, B.& Jackson, S. (2020) in Joost de Moor, Katrin Uba, Mattias Wahlström, Magnus Wennerhag and Michiel De Vydt (Eds.) Protest for a future II: Composition, mobilization and motives of the participants in Fridays For Future climate protests on 20-27 September, 2019, in 19 cities around the world. Retrieved from: https://osf.io/3hcxs/
- Rodgers, N. and Gordon, F. (in press) ‘Courtroom and Other Tales of the Climate Generation’, in the forthcoming collection - 'The Public Child: Media Power, Strategic Silencing and Children’s Rights in Australia', Palgrave’s Childhood and Youth Studies Series.
- Catanzaro, M. Collin, P (2025, March 15) Climate Action Week event held on 15 March 2025 at PHIVE in Parramatta. The event was co-hosted by Y&R's New Possibilities research team and Carmel Reyes, Head of Climate Action and Sustainability at Powerhouse Parramatta. The event included lightning (5 min) talks, visual displays, workshops and panel discussions.
- J Bessant, M Catanzaro, P Collin A Post Anthropocentric Imaginary and Policies for Young People. 5th ISA Forum of Sociology (6-11 July 2025)
- M Catanzaro, R Watts, J Bessant, P Collin, L DiMartino…Understanding Young People’s Visual Politics: the Role of Author and Audience in Climate Conference Proceedings International Conference: Compromisos sociopolíticos y activismos juveniles: Sociopolitical Engagements and Youth Activisms: 24-25 Octubre, 2024. UNED. Madrid
- Bessant, Catanzaro, Collin (26 November 2025) The Australian Sociological Association National Conference. "Complicities, cracks and refusals in co-authorship processes with young climate activists"
- Collin, Catanzaro, Bessant, Watts (26 November 2025) The Australian Sociological Association National Conference. Panel: "Youth and the Politics of (Climate) Activism: remaking democracy in times of crisis"
- "Climate change is a crisis of intergenerational justice. It’s not too late to make it right" P Collin, J Bessant, R Watts. The Conversation, 28 October, 2025
- Collin, P. (2025, May 15). From the ground up: Amplifying grassroots leadership in civic engagement and political participation [Webinar]. Centre for Western Sydney.
- Collin, P. (2025, June 19). Canterbury-Bankstown Youth Summit, Bankstown.
- Collin, P. (2025, September 15–16). Business as usual is not working. What forms of knowledge, communication and governance are needed for societies to thrive in a hotter world? [Conference session]. Preparing Nature & Society for a Hotter World, Joint Academies Workshop in partnership with Australian National University and Melbourne University. Note that we supported 8 young people to attend and speak at this event.
- Catanzaro, M. (2025, September 6) Visual Power: Protest Placards as Design Resistance [conference session] Asian conference of Design History and Theory, Osaka, Japan, Kindai University
- Collin, P. Bessant, Watts, Di Martino (2025) August 20 2025 New Possibilities Young People and Democratic Renewal. Newcastle Youth Studies Centre
- Gordon, F. Australian National University, Children's Policy Centre, Middle Years Workshop, paper title: 'Middle Years and Social Media', February 2026.
- Gordon, F. Invited Keynote Address at the Conference on Global Convergence in Law, University of Colombo, paper title: 'Global Convergence in Action: Building a Rights-Based Digital World for Children', September 2025.
- Gordon, F. Australian Studies Institute, The 5th Annual Australia and the World Symposium, Anniversary of the Lucky Country, paper title: 'Youth Activism in Australia to Address Climate Harm for Future Generations', August 2024.
- Gordon, F. Western Sydney University, Children’s Rights in Australia, 21st-22nd November 2024.
- Gordon, F. Public Policy Exchange (2024), paper entitled: ‘Centring the Youth Voice in Addressing Online Harms’, 16 May 2024.
- Gordon, F. Invited Keynote Address at Faculty of Law Universitas Brawijaya Malang at The International Conference on Law of Transnational Crime (ICTC 2023), 25-26 October 2023.
- Soo, D. Solidarities: “How barriers have been constructed for Australian South-Asians participating in the youth-led climate movement: A case study of SS4C” 20th Anniversary Asian Australian Studies Research Network conference held across 29-30 May 2025
- Young climate activist, Varsha Yajman, Pip Collin and Michelle Catanzaro produced 9 episodes of the podcast: "The Silent Majority" 2025
- Listen to The Minefield podcast episode: Can young people stay politically engaged without becoming disillusioned with democracy?
- Read a Conversation article titled: Disappointment and disbelief’ after Morrison government vetoes research into student climate activism.
- Listen to the Policy Forum Podcast here: Who decides? The push to lower Australia’s voting age.
- Read a Western Sydney University article titled: Emerging Voices for the Planet: How young people are re-energising democracy with their fight for climate justice
- Watch the Diplomacy Training Programme, Children's Rights Steam talk about 'Climate Change and Children's Rights' YouTube video.
- Listen to the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice, UNSW Law podcast series: 'Talking About Justice'.
- Read an Australian Book Review article titled: 'The education minister’s jackboots: Political interference in research funding'.
- Read a Conversation article titled: 'At 16, Australians can drive, work and apply for the army – so why can’t they vote?'
- Read a The Age article titled: We need to listen to young people on tackling COVID.'
- Youth, climate change and visual language of protest, at the Powerhouse Late: Climate event. This event brought together an interdisciplinary and intergenerational audience on 27 July 2023 to understand the impact of young people’s efforts in this space. Curated by Brianna Barwise and Michelle Catanzaro. Watch the video.
- Art of Climate Change Exhibition held on September, 3 2024 at the Greenhouse Climate Tech Hub in Sydney's CBD. The exhibition showcased 50 pieces of work communicating the urgent need for action on climate change. The works were created by Western Sydney University students and the event was hosted by the Young and Resilient Research Centre and Edge Impact who are a global, sustainability consultancy company.
- Read this ABC news story Primary school students' most burning questions for the Prime Minister
- Go to the New Possibilities Website.
Outcomes
Expected outcomes include improved capacity for investigating student political action, new knowledge of the motivations, norms and practices that characterise student climate politics and concepts and tools for democratic renewal through engagement with young people.
Collaboration team
Internal
External
- Professor Judith Bessant, RMIT University.
- Assoc Prof Faith Gordon, Australian National University.
- Dr Stewart Jackson, University of Sydney.
- Professor Rob Watts, RMIT University.
- Grace Vegesana, Australian Youth Climate Coalition
- Braedyn Edwards, Australian National University.
Student contributors and interns
- Anhaar Kareem
- Emily Webb
- Dinusha Soo
- Moxit Saurabhkumar Doshi
- Ashish Mohanraj Doyizode
- Dipti Sharma
- Skye Tasker
- Jean Lewis
- Jen Alford
- Anirudh Sastry
Funding
This project has been funded by the Western Sydney University, University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, RMIT University and the Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project program.
Streams
Realising Participation and Engagement.
Enhancing Health and Wellbeing.
Activating Places and Platforms.
Period
2022 – 2025
Contact: If you would like to get in contact with the New Possibilities team, please email Dr. Luigi Di Martino at L.DiMartino@westernsydney.edu.au.