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Youth Climate Action Community Outreach Framework: A Theoretical Study
Dean Richardson, Gabriela Haruta, Shaillina Rai, Lauren Scriven, Elizabeth Ma
To cite: Richardson, D., Haruta, G., & Rai, S. (2025). Youth Climate Action Community Outreach Framework: A Theoretical Study. International Journal of Youth-Led Research, 5(1).
http://doi.org/10.56299/opq345
Received August 31, 2025
Accepted October 1, 2025
Highlights
This is a youth-led theoretical study. Youth researchers took all initiatives and made all decisions throughout the research process.
This study addresses the persistent gap in climate action research: a lack of youth voices.
With a strong emphasis on youth leadership and community context, this study offers a practical guide for young people seeking to take meaningful climate action and create positive change in their communities.
ABSTRACT
Objectives This study aims to develop a theoretical framework that empowers youth to lead community-based climate action and demonstrates how structured guidance and supportive principles can enable sustainable, context-specific impact.
Methods Through conceptual development and operationalization processes, the study formulates the YCACO Framework and examines its applicability using mental-model thought experiments grounded in five country case studies.
Discussion The optimized YCACO Framework provides a structured, community-centered model for youth-led climate action that can be readily applied in real community contexts. The study provides both methodological and practical contributions, offering a promising approach to addressing longstanding gaps in youth climate action research. Although it is constrained by limited youth representation in existing literature and the inherent limitations of thought-experiment methods, the findings nonetheless demonstrate the framework’s potential to strengthen and guide youth-led climate action.
Keywords Climate action, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), community outreach, youth leadership, youth empowerment
INTRODUCTION
© Author(s) 2025. Re-use permitted under CC By-NC.
No commercial re-use.
See rights and permissions. Published by IJYLR.
Youth Research Vox,
Los Angeles, CA, U.S.
Correspondence to
Dean Richardson
dzrichardson08@yahoo.com
Climate change represents one of the most pressing challenges of the twenty-first century, with its escalating impacts increasingly threatening the safety and well-being of future generations (Chalupka et al., 2023). In this context, youth voices are particularly critical. Baldwin et al. (2023) found that in Australia, 78% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 20 view climate change as a serious concern, compared to only 50% of adults over 60. Despite their passion and determination, youth activists often encounter significant barriers that limit their effectiveness in climate action. Specifically, youth-led initiatives frequently struggle to create lasting impact, even in communities where the effects of climate change are most pronounced (Gutterman, 2024). Externally, youth activists face a lack of institutional support and discrimination in decision-making spaces. Internally, they often grapple with self-doubt and uncertainty about the path forward (Baldwin et al., 2023). While both external and internal obstacles are common, there are successful examples to draw from. Our research team, composed of youth researchers from five continents, seeks to examine these examples and the diverse communities we represent. Our goal is to create a practical, accessible tool that will serve as a roadmap, offering clear direction, providing actionable steps, building confidence, and empowering global youth leadership and participation in climate action.