Talking ’bout our generation

The civil rights veteran and Harvard Professor Marshall Ganz master-minded Barack Obama’s grassroots election campaign, where they got the many people who felt powerless and disenfranchised to talk about their personal stories and local concerns, resulting in ‘votes for change’.

In the same way, many young people are concerned about climate change but don’t know what they can do about it. Power Shift – an event created by young people for young people – has been designed in consultation with Marshall Ganz, and will bring together hundreds and hundreds of 16-25s from all around the UK in a common solution to their personal climate change concerns.

It is happening very soon: this coming weekend, from 9-12 October, at the Institute of Education in London. Attending Power Shift is Oxfam’s number one thing to do against climate change.

We will hear some fantastic speakers, such as the Guardian deputy editor Ian Katz, and ‘Canada’s Obama’ Kofi Hope. We will take part in great workshops, such as one on campaigning by George Marshall, the only person to ever be banned from UN climate negotiations. We will take part in a huge flash mob action. We will be entertained by live music, including a performance from Underline the Sky, the pop-punk band who won the MTV competition to open V-festival. Most importantly, we will find that we are not alone in our concerns, and we will be empowered to take direct action in the run-up to the crucial UN climate negotiations at Copenhagen this December. We won’t let our youth be a barrier to bringing change.

See www.powershift09.co.uk for further details and tickets. Extra incentives, not that they should be needed, include fifteen percent discounts for groups of ten or more; generous scholarships; and the Students’ Union will subsidise any Warwick students’ tickets. Cheap accommodation is available for the event itself, and National Express offer a coach pass for all attendees, giving a thirty percent discount for a year.