Earlier this year, we asked young people to tell us about their visions of the future, based on our interactive story book following the lives of four girls in the two Earth4All scenarios. Now we are delighted to announce the winning entries.
With almost 100 entries from dozens of countries, we were truly impressed by the response to the call and the quality of the stories. There were visions of hope, expressions of fear and uncertainty, defiance and activism. While we could only choose a small number of stories to publish, each and every story we received was a reminder of the extraordinary power of young voices and the importance of inviting creative expression into our efforts to build a better world.
We asked winner Tara Choudhry, who wrote about the legacy of flooding in Pakistan and how the country could be transformed, why writing a new story for the future was important for her. She told us: “My mind immediately rushed to my home country, Pakistan, and the devastating floods that arose in 2022, leaving a third of the country under water. Living in England however, I carry with me a sense of responsibility to protect the planet and help prevent future disasters.”
Justin Lie from Singapore, whose story focused on memories of lost species, said “I hope to see a future where animals, humans and the environment live as one Earth. I hope to see a future where species are conserved and efforts are taken to protect our Earth as we know it today.”
Congratulations to Taylor Elyse Branch, Justin Lie, Tara Choudhry, and Archna Singh, and our gratitude to all the the young people who participated. You can read the winning entries in a special digital magazine here, and we hope you enjoy these stories as much as we did.