Ronke Ayoola is the Youth Programmes Lead UK at the Resilience Project. She helps young climate leaders sustain their activism and avoid burnout by training them to develop and lead ‘Resilience Circles’, spaces of community and support for youth navigating a changing planet. Here she explores how intergenerational mentoring has helped build links between young and old and sustain the climate movement for the future.
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The Resilience Project is fortifying a generation of climate leaders. Our organisation builds emotional, psychological and campaign resilience in people taking action for the climate. Our aim is to resource four groups: youth, educational institutes, socially-minded organisations, and philanthropists to become effective and resilient climate changemakers for a sustainable future. With climate anxiety at an all-time high and only set to grow, we create the spaces and communities which enable young climate changemakers to find their resilience, their people and their power.
The climate crisis is an intergenerational issue, yet young people and older generations are often placed in opposition. Young climate leaders sometimes feel that older generations bear the blame for today’s environmental challenges, while older generations may feel misunderstood, having lived through different circumstances. At The Resilience Project, we believe that true progress requires us to repair this generational divide by fostering mutual understanding, respect, and collaboration.
To integrate this essential repair work, we incorporated intergenerational mentoring into our 2024 Programme, where we used a train-the-trainer model to equip young climate leaders with resilience skills and the tools to create their own communities of care via ‘Resilience Circles’ . As an additional support mechanism, we paired our 20 participants from around the world with mentors from various backgrounds, including community organising, environmental science, policy, and activism. Recognising that resilience is supported in part through relationships and voices of support, mentors were encouraged to provide wisdom, guidance, and a compassionate ear to support youth navigating today’s challenges.
I have loved being a mentor in this year’s Resilience Project. I’ve been supporting a brilliant young woman who inspires me endlessly because of her ambitions and dreams as well as the care and compassion she has for herself and those around her.
Joey Clifton – Intergenerational Mentor
A Year of Building Trust
Mentoring relationships thrive on trust, shared expectations, and a recognition that both mentor and mentee have something valuable to offer. It wasn’t just about older people giving advice — it was about genuine dialogue, where both sides could share experiences and grow together. For many participants, the most valuable aspect of mentorship was feeling truly listened to and supported by someone outside their immediate peer group. The presence of a mentor who believed in them helped counterbalance the weight of climate anxiety and activist fatigue. Likewise, many mentors found the experience deeply rewarding—an opportunity to reconnect with hope, learn from the creativity and drive of younger generations, and reflect on their own experiences in new ways.
Adding mentorship to our 2024 Programme brought another layer of resilience building that demonstrated to both mentors and mentees that crossing the generational divide amplified by the climate movement is possible. We are deeply grateful to all the mentors and young people who participated in last year’s Programme and helped shape what we hope will be a lasting and growing model for intergenerational collaboration.
We hope to be joined by other organisations supporting intergenerational relationship-building in climate because one thing is clear: repairing intergenerational relationships is not just valuable — it is essential for our shared future.
It has allowed me to engage deeply with a young climate leader, offering guidance and support while learning more about myself in the process. The programme has provided a structured space for self-reflection and growth, reinforcing the idea that mentoring is a two-way street.
Heleen Vink – Intergenerational Mentor
Watch the video below for more information and reflections from the young climate leaders themselves.
Join the Movement: Explore Our Workshops
Eco-anxiety affects adults too—they just might not have the language to describe it. That’s why we’ve transformed our knowledge of green leadership, resilience, and wellbeing into effective workshops backed by climate psychology and insights from the international youth climate movement. Our workshops help individuals and groups to build knowledge, connection, and organisational resilience.
Whether you’re a leadership team seeking deeper nature connection, an NGO struggling to manage staff climate anxiety and burnout, or an individual looking for community and support, our workshops are tailored to fit your needs. Our workshops are delivered by global young climate leaders from our Resilience Programmes —activists with first-hand experience of the inner change needed for powerful external transformation.
To meet with a member of our core team about organising a workshop, contact us here.
Join the Conversation
If you are interested in learning more about our international programmes, mentoring opportunities, or ways to support intergenerational climate action, we would love to have you join our community.
Join our mailing list here: to see how you can best join our work. Let’s continue building relationships that sustain us all.