Generation Hope event
If you thought that the National History Museum was full of old bones, bits in jars and stuffed specimens, you would have been disappointed on Friday 24 April. The place was full of young people attending a special evening “After Hours: A Night with Generation Hope”. This was part of a busy 4 days of events, talks and activities at the Museum revolving around the kind of world Gen Z and below wants to live in.
The programme for the evening was aimed at the hopeful generation, young climate leaders from around the world, creating a fertile soil for them to grow and reach out to their peers, galvanising them into action to build a better world, but also providing a safe space to reflect and voice their fears and hopes.
Dr Sebastian Eastham, Associate Professor in Sustainable Aviation at Imperial and member of the Brahmal Vasudevan Institute for Sustainable Aviation, joined the Fireside Tales session. A lively group of scientists, activists, and creatives shared short stories about their personal journeys, how they came to care about climate, coral, animal, people or nature in general. Among them, Dr Eastham’s tale brought a perspective on sustainable aviation and climate impacts, via a convoluted learning curve, involving nuclear power studies and the Fukushima accident.
The evening left you feeling intrigued, informed, inspired, connected, and genuinely hopeful about collective action.
It wasn’t just talks – you could wander through the Mammals Hall, join a climate café, write a letter to Mother Earth, and chat with grassroots groups doing real-world work, all while meeting people who care about the same issues.
