Gen Z Project
conservation outreach & the new generation
What do the kids think?
Generation Z - current middle-schoolers through mid-twenty-somethings - faces unprecedented climate challenges and resultant climate anxiety. Marketing studies show “Zoomers” worry about plastics and waste, and are knowledgeable about product sourcing. They engage with social justice causes, and tangentially, with environmental justice.
But what about conservation? Conventional wisdom suggests that the people who care most about conservation issues are those who actually own land, which most Zoomers don’t (yet). Ultimately, though, all the land and the ecosystems it houses will be in their hands…and it’s never too soon to get this crucial generation on board. So, we decided to find out what today’s young people already know about conservation, what galvanizes them, and how we can get them more involved.
Our Gen Z project will be a long-term study, but we’re kicking it off with the survey below. It’s still in the experimental phase: both longer and more open-ended than the final version will be, as we’re looking for feedback.
If you were born after 1996, we want to hear from you! Please spread the word and share: more data mean better answers, and better action.
our Gen Z experts
Who better to opine on a generation than its members? Our Gen Z project is grounded in vital insights from our Zoomer friends and volunteers at the Smithsonian-Mason School of Conservation and Mountain Vista Governor’s School.
Sustainability Matters’ current Smithsonian-Mason interns, Cassidy Bittenbinder and Sydney Grimes, have made the Gen Z project a focal point of their time with us, canvassing friends and colleagues from inside and outside the conservation field, and refining the study to maximize resonance with their own generation.