🔗 Share this article

Earth could be facing challenges, but there is hope. A new award from the interdisciplinary festival Starmus seeks to motivate people to act.

The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will honor in honour of the esteemed British primatologist who died this year. It is designed to celebrate individuals and groups that protect life on Earth.

Award Details

The first recipients are slated for announcement at the upcoming Starmus event in Tenerife and La Palma, scheduled from October 17th to 22nd next year.

According to statements that Goodall, a former Starmus advisory board member, had backed the medal's establishment. “The vision of having this award, and the festival being tasked to oversee it, is Jane’s,” a representative said. “Her desire was that she wanted this to happen. This is likely due to the unique bond she had with us.”

“This medal aims to highlight sustainable programmes carried out to create a planet a better place for people, animals and the environment and provide encouragement to continue that work,” said a family member.

Structure and Vision

One of the founders of the festival stated that the medal – unveiled at a scientific institution – would probably encompass various fields.

“The intent is for it to be modeled after the Stephen Hawking medal honoring scientific outreach that we created a decade past,” he explained. Goodall herself received of that award.

Sharing thoughts about the future for Earth, a prominent voice remarked, “Honestly, it's challenging to feel hopeful. Certain policies globally is conducting a war on science. This situation really cripples collective action.”

“Realistically, the situation appears particularly bright so we have to commence reconsidering, much more seriously regarding the impact of human activity. This concern encompasses not only global warming, that’s the entire manner in which we interact with the natural world.”

A Call to Action

Consequently, observers believe this is a good time to honor Jane Goodall's legacy. “It is believed that in bestowing the prize, we will be considering this core philosophy of Jane’s – that was her foremost concern, to transform our relationship with wildlife with which we share the planet.”

Another key issue currently was highlighted of false information. The theme of next year’s Starmus festival will be “the pursuit of factual understanding”.

“There is a recognition that truth is becoming a matter of debate when politics is involved. This is an alarming trend,” it was said. “The climate science remains a scientific discipline; you cannot have any influence by political agendas in climate science.”

Hope and Determination

The aspiration remains that the medal will inspire action. “It’s about motivating others to participate and to show concern and to work in that direction, really. Whether or not we feel hopeful, we have to look at working all that is possible,” it was added. “Accept the possibility of failure, but you still continue striving towards succeeding.”

A descendant engaged in environmental protection shared confidence that “given direction and when empowered, people are capable of being diligent stewards of Earth”, highlighting the work of an institute that, among its other activities, empowers young people become engaged with their community, animals, and environment.

“As Jane Goodall often told everyone, the choices we make each day are significant and the responsibility lies with us the kind of difference we make,” it was stated. “We still have an opportunity and this medal will offer support and increase understanding about the positive actions that people are making.”