Earth Charter Indiana (ECI) is an Indianapolis­-based nonprofit grassroots organization dedicated to spreading information and organizing efforts to fight climate change. ECI’s youth program Youth Power Indiana aims to inspire young people to tackle climate change and social inequality and promote youth ­driven climate stewardship and civic leadership. ECI wants to expand their mission to Muncie, Indiana in an effort to educate Muncie youth about the direct effects climate change has on their lives and how to positively mitigate climate change. However, ECI faces three major challenges to accomplishing their mission as an organization: 1) increasing climate literacy among youth in Indiana, 2) decreasing climate change apathy, and 3) providing youth with a platform to express their concerns about climate issues to the decision ­makers of their community. Thus, this creative project will address these issues through a nonfiction transmedia storytelling experience in Muncie to raise awareness of climate change among youth ages 10 to 13. This creative project will also explore the extent to which transmedia storytelling can increase awareness of climate issues among youth in their community by employing simple metrics to assess the success of the project in meeting its goals.

This project will be preceded by extensive academic research focused on the issue of climate change and its effects, and youths’ (10-­13 years old) perceptions of climate change. Semi­structured interviews with experts will inform an understanding of what youth ages 10-­13 know about climate issues and how to motivate youth to take action in their communities. Group discussions with students ages 10-­13 at the YMCA of Muncie and Burris Laboratory School will be conducted to better understand their existing knowledge of climate change and climate issues. Design Thinking exercises will facilitate ideas for project development with stakeholders. This project will be produced using the Transmedia Activism Framework.

In addition to contributing a new initiative to Earth Charter Indiana’s current programs, this project will contribute to conversations within the area of transmedia storytelling for youth and social change. It will explore why younger people are disengaged or concerned about climate change and what motivates them to take climate action in their communities. On a larger scale, this project could determine whether the design of ECI’s transmedia storytelling experience in Muncie is worth replicating in other cities. It is crucial to explore solutions that might help further the knowledge on climate change education and adaptation and engage younger generations with the issue of climate change.