Generation Z

GENERATION Z, those born between the years 1995 and 2012 will grow into adulthood never having known a world that was not in crisis. Major studies on the effects of unchecked greenhouse warming and population growth may differ on the details, but they are all nightmare scenarios. Today’s children are inheriting a planet on which, by 2050, plastic could outweigh fish in the oceans, food production will be insufficient to feed a population of 9 billion, 75% of which will face critical food and water sources. The middle east and west Africa will be unlivable, and more than half the planet, according to an Australian think tank, will face at least 20 days a year when the heat is beyond the threshold of human survivability. This is the world that Generation Z may inherit.

Activism amongst GenZ is already the highest by percentage amongst all the preceding generations. Studies show that 26% of 16-19 year olds volunteer on a regular basis, and the they are becoming activists far younger than ever before.

This portrait series, the GEN Z Project, will highlight the activism of this generation in Sarasota and Manatee counties, detailing their perceptions of the role that they and their peers can play in shaping the world they will grow into. My hope is that this exposure may stimulate others both in GenZ and elsewhere on the generational spectrum to examine their own attitudes and behaviours towards the environment, the political climate and other critical issues facing both the nation and the world.