Youth Imagine the Future

Dec 14, 2022

It's all too easy to feel hopeless in the face of global warming, but Inverary resident Jerri Jerreat recently created a community event that approached this issue from a positive perspective. 

She organized a festival of writing and art for local youth, challenging them to create a short story or a piece of art about a place on earth set in a more hopeful future, without fossil fuels. The contest offered substantial prizes, all donated from the community: two $500 GICs set to mature on graduation were the first prize in each category, and there were many other cash and in-kind awards. Jerri rounded up readers and artists as judges, booked the Windows Gallery to display the finished works, visited many schools in the Limestone and Algonquin areas, taught many workshops - she herself is a published sci-fi writer - and reintroduced the concept of solar punk. 

Entries flooded in;

“The depth of thinking, the quality of writing and art has been astonishing,” said Jerreat. “We were hoping for some good ideas. These are brilliant.” The original age range of 13-18 had to be changed to 8-18, as younger siblings insisted on taking part. Twenty-four young people, the majority from Frontenac County, notably SHS, Granite Ridge and LPS, won awards. 

Jerreat is already beginning to plan for next year's festival, and welcomes volunteers to help with a range of tasks. She can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..