The project brought together a cohort of young adults (18-25)—university students, recent graduates, and early-career professionals—for an eight-month learning journey centered on climate justice, systems change, and personal empowerment. Over the course of the program, each participant developed a personal climate action plan as well as a community-oriented project. These projects ranged from public workshops and climate cafés to online campaigns and sector-specific climate initiatives.
The guiding principle of the Lab was simple: climate action does not belong only to the experts. Instead, it can (and must) be integrated into every field of activity such as education, media, business, urban planning, etc.. The Climate Works Lab created the space and support for participants to explore how their own lives and work could become levers for systemic change.
Process and structure of the program
The Climate Works Lab unfolded in three interconnected phases:
- Learning: Participants came together to share personal stories and discuss how climate intersects with different fields and communities. This stage focused on storytelling, peer learning, and building a shared vocabulary around climate justice.
- Ideation: Youths engaged in systems mapping and visioning exercises to identify personal motivations and social leverage points. Guest speakers from diverse professional backgrounds helped illustrate the variety of ways one can act on climate across sectors.
- Action: Each participant created a tailored climate action plan. While implementation was not required to be complete within the eight months, participants began activating their plans and preparing for long-term commitment.
Throughout the process, the emphasis was not on perfection or speed, but on agency, adaptability, and ongoing engagement. Meetings always included shared meals, which helped build trust and community. Youth were given financial support through stipends and transit reimbursements, lowering barriers to full participation.
Participants and facilitation
Participants were selected through outreach in youth and university networks, and emphasis was placed on creating an inclusive cohort. The City Hive team paid special attention to reducing financial and logistical barriers, offering stipends, food, and a flexible schedule. This practical support helped make space for meaningful participation, particularly for racialized and marginalized youth often excluded from climate decision-making spaces.
Facilitation was youth-responsive and participant-led: rather than prescribing a fixed curriculum, the team adapted to the group's interests, letting conversations and project themes emerge from within. One key activity was "power mapping", where participants explored how systems of influence work in their sectors and how to strategically intervene.
Outputs and public materials
The Lab's projects, and what came out of them, are ongoing and diverse. Some examples include:
- A climate café series inviting public dialogue
- Youth-led workshops on climate futures in education and employment
- A social media campaign connecting everyday jobs to climate narratives
- Personal climate integration plans for architecture, design, and communications sectors
Public-facing materials will be shared via City Hive's website and social channels as projects reach maturity. Some outputs are already being used to inform the design of a future, larger-scale version of the program.
Insights and lessons learned
The Climate Works Lab revealed just how urgently young people want to engage in climate work, and how rarely they are provided with the tools, support, or institutional trust to do so. When given the opportunity, participants displayed remarkable creativity, care, and leadership.
What was observed :
- Youth leadership flourishes in flexible, self-directed environments.
- Food and shared ritual (like meals) were central to trust-building.
- Many young people are not waiting for jobs to be created in green sectors, they want to integrate climate action into any role, from business to media to education.
- Current job systems, particularly in Canada, still treat climate as a future problem, which is increasingly out of sync with the values of the younger generation.
Climate Works Lab was a pilot. City Hive plans to continue the program, refining its structure and potentially expanding its reach. The hope is to embed this kind of climate leadership development into more institutional pathways, including higher education and in developing more work aligned with climate concerns.
For City Hive, this project is part of a broader call to action: decision-makers must stop expecting youth to build the bridge to power on their own. Institutions need to co-create those bridges, invest in them, and recognize youth not just as "future leaders", but as current actors capable of shaping our shared ecological and social futures. Right now.