Summary: Through our latest campaign, Not so Freshwater, we’re calling on the UK government to act now for our freshwater ecosystems, for nature and for our future. Freshwater ecosystems in the UK are internationally important. Of the world’s 210 chalk streams, 170 are in England. The UK’s freshwater network is made up of 200,000km of streams and rivers, plus thousands of ponds, lakes and ditches, forming a cross cross of habitats that support a diverse array of wildlife from dragonflies to water voles. Our freshwater systems should be one of the jewels of our landscape but no rivers in England, Wales or Northern Ireland are considered to be in high ecological health. In Scotland, 92% of rivers do not meet high ecological health.
Artist: Glesni Lewis
Theme: With rivers, lakes and waterways being such a source of inspiration for our community, both artistically and for our environmental activism, we wanted to celebrate how much they mean to us by asking our wider youth (16-35) community to submit artwork and poetry, following the themes of our campaign. They can be celebratory, environmentally-focussed or nostalgic – however you wish to represent your feelings towards these beautiful, crucial ecosystems is up to you!
Artist: Spike Clark
Online and offline exhibition: You can submit your artwork to ukyouthfornature@gmail.com anytime between now and 8th of May. All artwork will be exhibited on our website and social media, and a selection will also be exhibited at our Chemical Cocktail event in London on 23rd May 2023. This event will bring youth campaigners and policy-makers together, in the hope that we can spread our campaign message far and wide, and achieve our campaign goals. We will have a small exhibition space in the corner for guests to view whilst attending the event.
Your artwork can be painted, drawn, sculpted, or however you wish to let your creative juices flow (pardon the pun!). Please send in a high resolution image of your artwork so that we can show it in its full glory. Poetry can be sent in as a word document, or alternatively, an image of the paper it was written on can be submitted. There is no limit to the number of pieces you can submit, but if you submit multiple we may not be able to exhibit all of your pieces.
