Building an Informed Citizenry: The Climate Democracy Project

Overlooking the salt marsh at Allens Pond Wildlife Sanctuary in South Dartmouth, one of Attleboro High School’s marine science classes watched as a Saltmarsh Sparrow disappeared into knee-high grass. Against a lush coastal backdrop, students dug into why this at-risk habitat is vital not only for the endangered Saltmarsh Sparrow, but also for improving water quality, protecting against flooding, and absorbing atmospheric pollution. 

Equipped with a deeper understanding of the importance of salt marshes in Massachusetts, students brought their experience at Allens Pond back to the classroom to discuss climate change’s impact on their local coastal communities, and how it can be confronted at the legislative level. 

The Attleboro High student experience models how Mass Audubon’s Climate Democracy Project lays the groundwork for more young adults to civically engage with climate change: to show up at city council meetings, run for office, and vote. 

Tackling Climate Change Through Civic Engagement 

The project aims to spark conversations and inspire action. This pilot program launched in fall of 2024 in cities with significant low-income populations, often excluded from conversations and engagement opportunities around climate justice. These included Fall River, Pittsfield, Springfield, Worcester, and Attleboro. 

The Climate Democracy Project, with funding from the Environmental Protection Agency and the Institute for Museum and Library Sciences, is actively bringing civic climate action into communities that are most affected by climate change, helping shape the next generation of climate leaders. In each city, a Mass Audubon educator teams up with a schoolteacher and a community partner, such as a library, to bring locally relevant, solutions-oriented climate education to students in grades 8-12. 

Throughout the year, students explore climate change’s impact on their community, investigate solutions, and design civic action projects to address these issues. Built on Massachusetts’s existing requirement to complete a student-led, nonpartisan civic action project, Climate Democracy Project seamlessly integrates into curricula and education standards. By partnering with establishments like libraries, the program leverages local institutions’ resources to support both students and teachers in their work. 

As an in-school program, Climate Democracy Project also complements Mass Audubon’s Youth Climate Leadership Program, an established and thriving out-of-school-time program where a team of young leaders hosts climate summits for high school students around Massachusetts. Last year, seven summits brought together 650 attendees, building leadership skills while deepening knowledge of climate advocacy and solutions.  

In February 2025, students from Worcester North High School—a Climate Democracy partner site—along with Youth Climate leaders joined the Youth Climate Lobby Day organized by the Massachusetts Youth Climate Coalition at the Massachusetts State House. Students reviewed information about the featured bills, discussed those most significant to their own lives, and brainstormed strategies for communicating with legislators. A bill about outdoor air quality resonated with many Worcester students as an issue that affects their everyday lives, and Mass Audubon was able to fund their field experience and transportation to the State House to meet Representatives and Senators and participate in lobbying. 

Scaling Our Impact 

Teachers and students co-create this program with leadership from Mass Audubon’s Education Team. Drawing on classroom teachers’ wisdom and experience, Mass Audubon aims to develop tools that other teachers find useful, with a goal of scaling the Climate Democracy Project beyond the initial pilot. The goal is to reach as many teachers and students as possible through both ongoing programming and a free, open-source toolkit. 

Looking Ahead 

Mass Audubon envisions this youth climate work as a catalyst for change—one that not only builds climate resilience in Massachusetts communities but equips our youngest community members to engage with their local and state governments confidently and effectively. Through both the Climate Democracy Project and the Youth Climate Leadership Program, Mass Audubon supports the next generation of leaders, ensuring they are informed with an evidence-based understanding of climate change, and are equipped with the civics skills to bring that knowledge into whatever fields they choose to pursue.  

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