Redford Center Stories Program & Curriculum
Redford Center Stories
A free environmental justice education program and curriculum for youth that celebrates transformational storytelling, creative education, community wellbeing, and global justice.
The Redford Center Stories program is a go-to resource for educators, after-school program leaders, youth development organizations, and homeschooling parents interested in leveraging the power of storytelling and film to support young people in learning about the environment. Redford Center Stories features a free, flexible, film-based curriculum, a series of virtual workshops and events, and an inclusive learning community designed to actively engage our youth in the environmental justice movement.
This year’s program launched on Half-Earth Day and will culminate on Earth Day, April 22, 2022, with the announcement of the winners of the Redford Center Stories Challenge—the program’s annual filmmaking challenge that invites students in grades 5-12 to create and submit a short film that tells a story that is personal to them and helps propel action towards a more just environmental future.
Watch 2021 Redford Center Stories “Best Of” Montage on YouTube
New this year: Program expands to include High School students
About Redford Center Stories
Now entering its third year, after a two-year pilot, Redford Center Stories brings educators and students into dialogue with youth activists, filmmakers, and environmental and social justice leaders, nurturing the next generation of environmental advocates and storytellers. Last year, 400 student films were submitted from youth in 32 states and 13 countries. Based in creative youth development principles, Redford Center Stories invites educators, organizations, families, and students to participate in:
Annual youth filmmaking challenge, providing an expansive take on environmental justice and how it shows up in young people’s lives.
Comprehensive, free curriculum that includes suggested standards and utilizes the rich collection of environmental films and media created by The Redford Center and its global network of filmmakers and storytellers.
Public event series – Meet the Moment – that combines professional development for all educators with learning opportunities for classrooms that engage students as experts and media-makers.
Mentoring pathways that put students in direct relationships with filmmakers, environmental activists, creative youth development experts, and each other.
Educator, Family & Organization Registration
Educators, families, and organizations interested in participating in Redford Center Stories can learn more and sign up here. Participants will receive a welcome email, details on how to access the curriculum, instructions for this year’s Student Filmmaking Challenge, and regular updates throughout this year’s program.
2021-22 Redford Center Stories Challenge
The Redford Center invites students in grades 5-12 to tell their story, raise their voice, and help reimagine environmentalism for all. Students are invited to submit a 90-second film responding to this year’s Stories Challenge prompts:
Prompt #1:
The future I envision is…
Prompt #2:
I’m an environmentalist because…
Prompt #3:
A call to action.
All final films are due in early March and will be followed by a winners’ announcement on Earth Day, April 22, 2022. See the full list of Stories Challenge prompts here.
2021-22 Meet the Moment Series
All Redford Center Stories participants, and the public, are invited to the Meet the Moment series—a free and inclusive virtual community dialogue series featuring filmmakers, educators, youth activists, and organizations discussing energizing and impactful solutions for environmental justice.
You can watch our most recent installment of Meet the Moment on YouTube.
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ABOUT THE REDFORD CENTER:
Co-founded in 2005 by Robert Redford and his son James Redford, The Redford Center uses the power of storytelling to galvanize environmental justice and regeneration. Its cross-cutting programs support environmental storytellers and invest in impact-driven narrative strategies. By amplifying and changing the conversations around environmentalism, The Redford Center aims to engage a much broader and more diverse population in the movement. It has produced three award-winning feature documentaries and 30+ short films, supported 75+ film and media projects with grants and other services, inspired 400+ student films, and dispersed more than $8 million to fiscally sponsored projects. Redford Center film impact campaigns have halted the construction of dirty coal plants, reconnected the Colorado River to the Sea of Cortez, and helped accelerate the clean energy revolution in America. For more information, visit redfordcenter.org.
PROGRAM CONTACT:
Arathi Govind, Program Officer