We often imagine children as the ones who push adults to act on climate change. What if we turned the picture around? In Come Together, we tested this idea: involving seniors to pass on climate knowledge to the younger generation.
The activity, designed and led by Planète Sciences,
brought together a group of seniors from the Brel-Brassens Social Center in
Évry-Courcouronnes (France). Over a session, they built a complete weather
station—anemometer, wind vane, rain gauge. It was hands-on, educational, and
designed to spark intergenerational exchange.
A hands-on start
From the very beginning, seniors pictured how they would use
the weather station at home and share it with their grandchildren. Each built
an instrument adapted to their own environment—balcony, garden, or window
ledge. Concentration and engagement stayed high throughout.
Fun fact: when they first came, many thought the
workshop was about gardening. Some even brought their own tools, expecting to
start a vegetable patch. The surprise? They loved building scientific
instruments—and especially the idea of teaching this skill to their
grandchildren. But it raised an open question: would they have come if the
activity had been announced as “scientific construction” from the start?
From tools to climate discussions
As they built and tested the devices, participants discussed
the difference between weather and climate, and the changes they had witnessed
over decades. Their lived memory became a powerful entry point to connect
personal stories with scientific knowledge.
Extending the dialogue
The activity was designed to be reproduced at home, turning
the workshop into a tool for family dialogue. Seniors left not only with
instruments but also with stories to share—making them credible and trusted
messengers for climate issues.
Later, the group came back to continue the exchange, this
time around biodiversity, seasonal consumption, and a mini-vegetable garden.
The potager gave a concrete way to explore how everyday choices link to
environmental change.
Why it worked
- Practical
engagement: building something tangible creates attention and
motivation.
- Credible
messengers: seniors bring long-term experience and authentic stories.
- Intergenerational
impact: knowledge is passed on with emotions and memories, not just
facts.
What we observed
- Consistent
focus and investment from participants.
- A
strong desire to reproduce the activity with younger generations.
- Collective
pride in creating something useful, visible, and easy to share.
- Reinforcement
of the idea that climate mediation works best when grounded in everyday
life.
Takeaways for practice
- Offer
simple, manual activities that can be repeated at home.
- Provide
a clear protocol so participants feel confident passing it on.
- Encourage
intergenerational conversations.
- Always
connect practice with clear, relevant messages on climate.
In conclusion
This workshop showed how seniors can be powerful actors of
climate mediation. By making them builders and storytellers, we opened a new
way to spark dialogue with children—rooted in experience, practical skills, and
the joy of sharing.
It was also the last activity in the formal phase of Come
Together. Now begins the next step: analyzing and formalizing everything
learned since the launch of the mediation actions, to draw lessons for the
future.
