For the first time in several years, Campus Leaders for Energy Action Now (CLEAN), Helios and the Student Voters Union collaborated to host Fridays for Future.
Fridays for Future is an international strike movement for climate action inspired by Greta Thumberg’s school strike outside of the Swedish Parliament building in August 2018, according to the organization’s website.
The outreach event hosted by the coalition of student organizations took place Friday, Dec. 1 on East Campus Mall. Organizers Lillian Herling, Isabella Lubotsky and Winston Thompson joined other supporters and provided educational messages and materials to attendees and passersby.
Organizers said the event's objective was to encourage students to join the student organizations in calling for urgent climate change reform. They intentionally kept the event small to demonstrate the ease of participation and to prevent burnout, which they have witnessed from organizers of similar outreach events.
According to Lubotsky, the goal of Fridays for Future and CLEAN’s mission statement is for UW-Madison to rely entirely on renewable electricity by 2030 and derive all operational energy from clean renewable sources by 2035.
Thousands demonstrated their commitment to this goal by signing CLEAN’s petition, a call to action from the UW-Madison community addressed to Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin.
Madison District 8 Ald. MGR Govindarajan attended the event and emphasized the movement’s importance.
“This is a great opportunity for students to come learn more about voting and sustainability efforts on campus,” Govindarajan said. “Both are the most important thing happening to our generation right now.”
Lubotsky described Friday’s event as a community builder. Lubotsky told The Daily Cardinal that organizers plan to focus on direct action events, including demonstrations, protests and sit-ins from the spring semester forward.
