It’s time to listen to future generations! Children across the world are speaking up for the future wellbeing of our planet, with an artwork started by Olafur Eliasson.
Eliasson started the multilateral artwork Earth Speakr – featuring an app and a website available in 25 languages – to amplify kids’ hopes and concerns about climate change and promote cross-generational exchange across the world. Earth Speakr aligns with Article 12 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child – the child’s right to be heard – which states that children are not objects of decisions, but constantly maturing persons with their own views and interests. Kids have a right to participate in decision-making processes, in particular when they are affected by them. So far, over 250,000 people have collectively taken part in Earth Speakr since it launched in July on the occasion of the German Presidency of the Council of the EU 2020. Children from 70 countries (and counting) are co-creating the artwork by sharing their views – in their native languages – using the app’s augmented-reality technology. The video messages are addressed to adults, but also to other kids, offering solutions, ideas, and sharing frustrations. Over 100 in person and virtual events have been organized, through a growing network of partners of Libraries, Cultural Institutions, and Educational Groups.
“World Children’s Day is a reminder to us all to show kids – and to demonstrate through action – that their down-to-earth views are entirely valid and much-needed in shaping our future. They must become co-designers of our tomorrow. To recognize the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including the child’s right to be heard, I ask politicians and other people in power to work to make this happen, not just today but every day of the year” – says Olafur Eliasson, the artist behind Earth Speakr.