Turning Tides: Youth Project | Transition Exmouth

TURNING TIDES

Imagine a sustainable future for Exmouth, where people and nature thrive together.

Turning Tides is an intergenerational celebration of all the possible futures we could create.

Too often, climate action overlooks the young people who will face the most dire consequences of a crisis they did not cause. Exmouth has a vibrant scene of community activists; this event puts children and young people's voices at the heart of that community, bringing generations together to share, connect, imagine hopeful futures, and figure out how we can create them - together.

SAVE OUR PLANET

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

THE EVENT

THE COMPETITION

Digital Exhibition

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

8 - 21 year olds were given the following prompt and asked to respond in anyway that felt right for them: "Imagine a sustainable future for Exmouth where people and nature thrive together."

'Trees to Exmouth' - Jasmine, 19

On my travels to Taiwan this year, I was exposed to the way people and nature thrive together through trees. In the bustling city of Taichung, there's not much nature to find other than the trees on the side of the roads and their integrated park walkways, where parks full of winding trees run along the edge of roads for people to walk through. Exmouth is one of my favourite places because of the environmental activists who shape the culture of our town. In my drawings, I bring to life the colour and vibrancy of trees that I hope never go unseen by the busy city-goers. There are never enough trees, and I believe Exmouth can plant more!

'Trees to Exmouth' - Jasmine, 19

On my travels to Taiwan this year, I was exposed to the way people and nature thrive together through trees. In the bustling city of Taichung, there's not much nature to find other than the trees on the side of the roads and their integrated park walkways, where parks full of winding trees run along the edge of roads for people to walk through. Exmouth is one of my favourite places because of the environmental activists who shape the culture of our town. In my drawings, I bring to life the colour and vibrancy of trees that I hope never go unseen by the busy city-goers. There are never enough trees, and I believe Exmouth can plant more!

'Trees to Exmouth' - Jasmine, 19

On my travels to Taiwan this year, I was exposed to the way people and nature thrive together through trees. In the bustling city of Taichung, there's not much nature to find other than the trees on the side of the roads and their integrated park walkways, where parks full of winding trees run along the edge of roads for people to walk through. Exmouth is one of my favourite places because of the environmental activists who shape the culture of our town. In my drawings, I bring to life the colour and vibrancy of trees that I hope never go unseen by the busy city-goers. There are never enough trees, and I believe Exmouth can plant more!

'Trees to Exmouth' - Jasmine, 19

On my travels to Taiwan this year, I was exposed to the way people and nature thrive together through trees. In the bustling city of Taichung, there's not much nature to find other than the trees on the side of the roads and their integrated park walkways, where parks full of winding trees run along the edge of roads for people to walk through. Exmouth is one of my favourite places because of the environmental activists who shape the culture of our town. In my drawings, I bring to life the colour and vibrancy of trees that I hope never go unseen by the busy city-goers. There are never enough trees, and I believe Exmouth can plant more!

Music video rendition of 'Yellow Taxi' by Joni Mitchell - Elliot, 13

Hello, Im Elliot, im 13 years old and Im a young neurodivergent musician. Music is my way of expressing myself. The video I’m submitting is an oldie but I have adapted some lyrics to make it about sustainability in Exmouth, where my family have lived for 16 years. There has been a lot of change in this time and I have focused on those changes, good and bad in my rendition.
This video is about the beautiful space we all share but also about the impact of sustainability which has improved with many charities and communities within Exmouth wanting to improve the area.
As a young person I feel there needs to be more for the younger generations to do and play their roll in protecting the future of our coastline. There is not enough educational spaces for younger people to learn about our coastline and the marine life within it to encourage them off their phones and actually learn. There are many old buildings out of use such as Sams Funhouse. This building used to be one my favourite places when I was younger. Changes to the town can bring more homes and income but it also affects our water with
southwest water pipeline issues and sea life. It takes away our green spaces for every new housing site built there should be a tree planted and homes should be made sustainably with solar panels.
The lack of reliable and regular public transport needs to improve and more access for the tourist
to use instead of cars. Transport companies such as stagecoach and southwest railway should
have incentives for those travelling to use their services instead of adding to pollution from
individual vehicle use.
There are many other issues affecting the sustainability of our towns, these are only a few.
I hope you enjoy my video I had a lot of fun making it. I’d like to thank AJs Taxis for their kindness and allowing me to use their vehicle in my video. Here’s is to improving sustainability in exmouth. Thank you.

The Competition

THE COMPETITION

We asked young people from Exmouth aged 8-21 to respond to this prompt:

Imagine a sustainable future for Exmouth where people and nature thrive together.

There were no restrictions on how they responded... they could create anything they wanted, about any aspect of the prompt, in any format!

Participants were divided into 3 age categories:

Budding (8-12) Blooming (13-16) Branching (17-21)

The public were invited to our in-person exhibition to celebrate the young people who shared their visions for the future, connect about local climate issues and explore how we can uplift and centre young people in this work. We also asked the public to vote for the imainged futures they most wanted to see become a reality, to decide on three winners of £150 each, one from each age category.

While this was a competition - we truly want to celebrate every single entry, each of which has taught us something unique. Everyone who took part will have their work displayed for the community at the Sideshore Hub, as a useful reminder of what the next generation wants us to create.

Thank you to everyone who took part!

TURNING TIDES EVENT

The Event

12pm - 5pm, Open Door, Church Street, Exmouth, EX8 1PE

Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult - 1 adult for every 5 under 18.

Turning Tides is an opportunity to connect with your local community about climate and nature. Expect an intergenerational event with activities, conversation and art. Children & young people, expect to be celebrated! Adults, join us as we contemplate how best to include young people in climate action work in Exmouth.

SCHEDULED EVENTS

12pm: Event begins

2pm: Live acoustic music from The Collywobbles

4pm: Live acoustic music from Elliot Ralph

5pm: Event closes

RUNNING ALL DAY
Youth Exhibition - View all the imagined futures Exmouth's young people have created and vote for your favourite response in each age category.

Conversation & Sharing - Connect with different generations in your community.
Big Feelings Workshop - Explore your emotional responses to climate change and nature loss. We will run this whenever 5+ people want to take part on the day.

Games & Activities For All Ages - Make seed bombs, sensory play, truth pong, guess what is in the box, turn the tide, real talk.

NOTICE

There will be water available on the day but no food or other drink. Feel free to bring your own lunch/snacks and get hot drinks from elsewhere but please be mindful about allergens when sharing the space!

ACCESSIBILITY

The room layout will be wide enough for powerchairs to get around but not mobility scooters. Written info is available, no need to rely on verbal info. There will be a quiet room available on the day for anyone needing a little break from all the action! We aim to be ASD friendly but please let us know of any changes we can make to be more inclusive for you on the day!

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?

As students struggle through exams in record-breaking temperatures, the urgency of Transition Exmouth's mission feels clearer than ever. Young people are a critical part of creating climate resilient communities, but with so much rapid change seemingly out of their control, it's easy for them to despair, shut down or feel overwhelmed with anxiety about the future.

With this in mind, we are keen to inspire and support future generations to tackle the climate crisis head on, in joyful, creative ways, so this summer we are offering a competition and free event for the public to join and celebrate children and young people in Exmouth.

It is an opportunity for them to create and showcase their talents and passions, while connecting with others about the climate crisis. We hope that inviting them to dream up their ideal sustainable Exmouth promotes a sense of empowerment and belief that they can create a better future, and that the adults around them are here to support and celebrate them.

BECOME A MEMBER: RAISE YOUR VOICE, SUPPORT OUR WORK!

TURNING TIDES

DIGITAL EXHIBITION

THE COMPETITION