The Power Is Yours is one of the most iconic rallying calls for the environment which began 30 years ago with Captain Planet, the first multi-racial environmental children’s series. Although it only aired for six seasons, this Saturday morning program deviated from the previous focus on a Western-centric hero and is still remembered as the first exposure to a generation of youth around the world about environmental issues. The upcoming conference on climate change shifts the perspective of climate issues, allowing voices from Africa, the Middle East and Asia to be able to be a greater part of the narrative. 

This participative solar art installation comprises 1,200 lights built with sustainable materials, pottery and upcycled plastic bottles, assembled in collaboration with youth volunteers who will each have 30 minutes to make a solar light that lasts for five years. The lamps for the installation are being produced by a cooperative of 200 ceramic potters from the city of Safi, Morocco, which recently received recognition from UNESCO as a world city for the ceramics industry. 

In this collaborative project with SHEMS for Lighting, we are hoping to produce multiple renditions of this human-powered billboard during Forever Is Now .02, as well as in cultural heritage sites around the region, creating a global link between UNESCO sites to amplify youth voices and express a collective hope for the future, a future where each person knows that they have the power to make a difference.