Ep. 015: Generation Wilder

The UK’s ecological health is in the bottom 10% on earth and over 80% of UK young people are eager to take action to help the environment, but only 1 in 5 believe they are being listened to on environmental issues. Jack and Noah share the story of Youngwilders, which exists to turn these statistics around. Listen to them talk about youth engagement, inclusivity within the environmental sector and how you can get involved as a young person or landowner.

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Your Hosts

• Tom Constable: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-constable/
• Chloe Constable: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-constable-24155821b/

Grange Project Contact & Social Media

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grange.project/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/grangeproject
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@GrangeProject
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tom-constable/

Our Guests

Jack Durant is the Co-Founder and Director of Young Wilders. Jack's love of spending time in unkempt natural spaces began with charging headlessly around Wimbledon Common as a child. Ensuring plentiful local, beautiful natural spaces like this has proved a central motivator in Jack's passion for the Youngwilders project. 

Jack studied philosophy at undergraduate level before completing a Masters at the Institute for Resources, Environment and Sustinability at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. After a stint working as researcher in environmental philosophy, he is now focused on YW full-time and serves as the organisation's Director and primary point of contact. Reach him at: [email protected]

Noah Bennett is the Chief Technical Officer for Young Wilders. Noah has a background in Environmental Engineering, with a particular focus on hydro-morphology, flooding, and river restoration, and graduated with an MEng in The Environment, Energy and Sustainability in 2019. Following his degree, Noah worked for several years as an engineering consultant on a wide number of environmental projects with both the private and public sector. 

Noah is now the technical lead at Youngwilders, responsible for the detailed design of our wilding projects as well as the behind the scenes mapping and calculations which support our work. Noah has a passion for improving watercourses as part of our projects, and believes that river restoration can be the cornerstone for connectivity between wild spaces.

Listen out for:

[00:00:00] Tom and Chloe introduce the episode and share some big news for the Grange Project; their first volunteer day.

[00:06:44] We start our interview with Jack and Noah who introduce themselves to the listeners. 

[00:09:36] Noah defines who Youngwilders work with and Jack describes the origins and aspirations of the organisation.

[00:13:26] We discuss why rewilding is particularly attractive to young people.

[00:16:15] Noah and Jack describe what Youngwilders actually do, how they access funding and some of the projects they’re currently involved in.

[00:22:36] We talk about the format of the Youth Volunteer days and how they’re accessible for everyone, as well as how landowners can get involved.  

[00:28:08] The conversation expands to talk about financial sustainability, the future aspirations for Youngwilders and the challenges and opportunities of volunteering in the environmental sector.    

[00:36:35] Tom and Chloe reflect on the episode. 

Keen for more:

https://www.youngwilders.org: The website for Youngwilders, a non-profit focused on accelerating the rewilding of the UK and involving young people in the movement. Working to address two problems: the UK’s ecological health is in the bottom 10% on earth AND over 80% of UK young people are eager to take action to help the environment, but only 1 in 5 believe they are being listened to on environmental issues.

Mentioned in this episode:

Visit & Stay at the Grange Project

Would you like to escape the trappings of the modern world and wake-up in the morning to one of the best views in South Wales, where only the birds are noisy? We have two beautiful and sustainably built ‘tiny homes’, carefully located in secluded locations across our 80 acre rewilding project.

Visit Grange Project