The story of the starfish is a popular fable. So popular, in fact, it inspired a national non-profit organization, The Starfish. The organization shares celebratory stories of environmental youth leaders from across Canada who are creating their own spin on the starfish fable by helping the natural world one action at a time. Co-founded by Kyle Empringham, The Starfish – the organization, not the fable – has grown considerably since its start and is now well-known for its Top 25 Under 25 award program. The hopeful nature of the stories showcases a different kind of environmental storytelling and that’s probably a reflection of Kyle himself: a passionate communicator and advocate for youth-driven environmental change.
We spoke with Kyle by Skype from his Victoria home to learn more about how he helped shape and market a different approach to environmental storytelling – and better understand why the best community leaders are so often high school students.
What do you think?
- Regardless of whether you agree with the message, what do you think of Kyle’s storytelling approach to advocacy?
- What lessons can be learned from this approach?
- Do advocates need to be more hopeful? Should nature stories be more hopeful?
- How helpful is it for young leaders to see and understand the successes of their peers?
- Do we need to do a better job of celebrating success and helping each other learn from the stories of others? Might this be our best hope for nature?
More on Kyle
Read an article about Kyle: Environmentalism is often a doom and gloom situation that we face and a lot of people are feeling inspired to do something but also feeling the weight of the world on their shoulders.
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