CARE stands for Creation, Awareness, Recycling and Educating. It’s our creative project addressing the anxiety and passion that young people have about climate change and the environment, and putting them to good use.
What is CARE?
CARE is a space for young people to share what they already know about environmental issues, explore how they feel about these issues and consider what positive steps they can take to make a difference. It’s also a creative project, where they can use art to express their worries and passions and to make a difference by educating the people around them.
How does CARE work?
A local professional artist is helping Soulscape to deliver the CARE project. The students create individual pieces of art, enabling them to visually express the aspects of the climate crisis that affect them most. Their artwork is created from recycled or sustainable materials. We exhibit their completed work at an installation, so that it can play a role in educating others about the climate issues that the young people are passionate about.
“Art is a great way to express my beliefs about the environment and raise awareness.”
Summer term 2020: CARE online
Due to Covid-19 school closures and students home-schooling at the time, we delivered the majority of the first CARE project through weekly video chats with a small group of students at home, in partnership with their school. Each week, they had a live discussion and watched the artist demonstate some creative ideas, then had space to work on their own pieces at home during the week. The end of term exhibition took place online so it could be shared with people at home.
Why is CARE important?
A survey for World Environmental Day 2019 showed that 80% of teenagers feel under pressure to solve the environmental issues of climate change and plastic pollution – to save the planet. However, the same study revealed that those teens don’t think they are well-enough equipped to make a difference, and while 39% said they “deeply care” about the impact of humans on the planet, 44% indicated they never or rarely hear about sustainability in the classroom.
The climate crisis is a serious issue for young people, and these feelings of responsibility and helplessness are another source of pressure affecting their mental and physical wellbeing.
Through CARE, Soulscape aims to give young people a space to explore some environmental issues, and empower and equip them to make a positive difference. This will both help the environment and reduce the pressure that the young people feel, improving their wellbeing.
CARE 2020 student exhibition
This year’s exhibition of the student’s work is in video form. You can watch it here! In this short video, the students share their artwork and facts from the project to educate and inspire you.
