Sign of the Times
Sign of the Times is an editorial exploration documenting 2019: year of the climate strike. Designed to provide parents of school strikers with a visceral insight into how their children are illuminating critical, global issues. This project evokes the passionate sentiment of these strikers while laying bare the facts that motivate their action within our communities and beyond.
Aim
Sign of the Times is a publication that provides a central, independent voice that plays the role of the middle man between parents and strikers with three primary aims. One, to confront, to inform parents of the current situation surrounding the climate strikes and how the climate emergency is viewed by their children. The second, to engage and illuminate how the climate crisis will directly affect them, their children and their future grandchildren at a local level that makes it real for them. The third, to empower, to help them find a place to start making changes to their lifestyles. These are all things that can be actioned as a family. It also provides another opportunity for students to lead by using their knowledge to guide their families to making more sustainable choices going forward.
Strategy
Ecological strategist Joshua Kahn Russell’s principle of ‘Shifting the Spectrum of Allies’ provided the theory behind Sign of the Times. In his words: ‘Movements seldom win by overpowering the opposition; they win by shifting the support out from under them. Determine the social blocs at play on a given issue, and work to shift them closer to your position’.
