Blake Inspire: Turning the Legacy of Sir Peter Blake Into Environmental Action for Young Leaders
In the CEE-Change, Together blog series, NAAEE shares narratives from the CEE-Change Fellows as they implement their community action projects and work to strengthen environmental education and civic engagement capabilities, all supporting the mission of cleaner air, land, and water. Join us on their journey! The Civics and Environmental Education (CEE) Change Fellowship is NAAEE’s initiative to support leadership and innovation in civics and environmental education in North America and beyond.
The 2025 U.S.-based CEE-Change Fellowship Program is supported by generous funding from ee360+, the Cedar Tree Foundation, the Sam and Mary Lawrence Foundation, and the Weeden Foundation. The 2025 International CEE-Change Fellowship Program is a partnership between NAAEE and the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP).
This post was written by 2025 CEE-Change Fellow Ginny Ellis-Kirifi, programme manager at BLAKE.
My Responsibility
I am so privileged to grow up in Aotearoa (New Zealand), living in both its North and South Islands, and feel deeply connected to the environment, and in turn, a huge responsibility to protect it. I am of Sāmoan and English heritage, descending from the villages of Falelima and Satitoa, which pushes me to strive for change—for my people, for future generations, and for all of Aotearoa.
Unique responsibilities come with living as a product of immigration post-colonisation. In Aotearoa, Te Tiriti o Waitangi is a foundational document that outlines the agreement between Māori and non-Māori to co-exist in Aotearoa. Te Tiriti is the reason non-Māori, including myself and the generations of family that came before me, have been and are lucky enough to call this place home.
In my work to pursue better outcomes for all young people through environmental education, I am also especially committed to the outcomes for young Māori. Without acknowledging the historical injustices that Māori have faced and the consequences thereafter, I would not be able to meaningfully engage with young people in the context of Aotearoa.
The Foundation at BLAKE
As part of my role with BLAKE, I support the planning and delivery of our BLAKE Inspire programmes—week-long environmental education and leadership programmes with young people. In the legacy of the late Sir Peter Blake, we run programmes to inspire and educate young people to be kaitiaki, or guardians, of our environment for generations to come. It is the most fulfilling work that I have been a part of.
When developing my action plan as part of the international CEE-Change Fellowship, I wanted to think of something that tied into the amazing work we already do at BLAKE, but that could support an area that we could improve upon. I decided to create an action plan that was centred around gaps in accessibility for students, specifically supporting more Māori and Pacific young people to attend our programmes.
Traditionally, we have lower numbers of applications from Māori and Pacific students and therefore even fewer Māori and Pacific students in attendance at BLAKE Inspire. There are many reasons for this imbalance, the main being the cost barrier of the programme. In Aotearoa, Māori and Pacific young people face many financial barriers that would hinder them from attending BLAKE programmes, or from even seeing the opportunity in the first place. This was the challenge I wanted to address.
My Community Action Project (CAP) was designed to specifically target groups of young people during the application or recruitment stage.
Post-snorkel and trying sea urchin (kina) for the first time! Photo credit: BLAKE
Pockets of Wisdom from Fellowship Friends
Time zone difficulties made my experience as an international fellow slightly tricky, however the turning point was sharing my CAP with the CEE-Change Fellows cohort. I was able to hear incredible feedback and suggestions from Fellows from all corners of the world who are doing incredible things in the realm of environmental education. Their insights made me see gaps that I had missed, but also see how they might think and approach things differently, which I could use as a tool to make my work more meaningful.
One of the pieces of wisdom that was shared was around centering elders into the conversation. Much of my thinking had been about ways to engage specifically with Māori and Pacific young people, but I never stopped to think about influence. One Fellow shared that in his work connecting with Indigenous youth, he learnt about the role elders play in their communities, specifically in influencing and encouraging the younger generation towards future pathways.
Learning about kawakawa, a native New Zealand plant, and its traditional Māori medicinal use. Photo credit: BLAKE
From this suggestion, I took back to my team the idea of working with adults who have the means to support their young people to attend BLAKE Inspire, bypassing the financial barrier young Māori and Pasifika face. Now the journey lies within building relationships with older leaders in the Māori and Pacific communities, so we can showcase the value of our Inspire programmes and, in turn, they can nominate young students to take part—as they know their young people best.
Roles and Responsibilities
Being a part of the CEE-Change Fellowship has made me think in different ways, see things through a different lens. But importantly, connecting to the people of the fellowship has overwhelmed me in the knowledge that there are normal, incredible, dedicated people all around the world who are just as motivated by environmental education. My CAP is not completed in any way; it marks the beginning of an ongoing process and commitment to supporting young Māori and Pasifika to attend BLAKE Inspire in a way that works for them.
Environmental education does not exist in isolation. To do justice for the young people we work with, we must understand the historical and socio-economic context of the country we work in. Understanding history, and how we got to where we are today, is crucial in understanding our roles and responsibilities when educating and engaging with youth.
Environmental education does not belong to just one group of people with the means to access it. It belongs to all people who exist in a changing climate. As educators and people who work with youth, it is our responsibility to ensure no young people are left behind and that education is fair and accessible. Learn more about our work at BLAKE.
Using digital technology tools like virtual reality to take young people into the environment—if we can't take every student into nature, let's bring nature to them. Photo credit: BLAKE