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The world might be under strain, but optimism persists. A novel accolade originating at the interdisciplinary festival the Starmus festival seeks to encourage the public to take action.

The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will honor in honour of the esteemed scientist and conservationist who died this year. It will recognise individuals and groups that advocate for the natural world.

Award Details

The first recipients are expected to be announced during the Starmus VIII festival in the Canary Islands, scheduled from October 17th to 22nd next year.

According to statements that Jane Goodall, who was a Starmus advisory board member, had supported the award’s creation. “The vision of having this medal, and Starmus being entrusted with organising it, was Jane's wish,” a statement said. “Her desire was she would like this to happen. And I think because of the close relationship she had with us.”

“The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal aims to highlight sustainable programmes undertaken to make our world a better place for people, animals and the environment and offer support to carry on that work,” commented a relative.

Format and Inspiration

One of the founders of Starmus indicated that the medal – which was announced at a prestigious venue – will likely have multiple categories.

“It’s going to be very much similar to the Stephen Hawking award honoring scientific outreach established a decade past,” it was explained. Jane Goodall herself received of that award.

Expressing concern on the outlook of the planet, one figure said, “Frankly, it's challenging to maintain optimism. Certain policies globally represents a dismissal of evidence. This situation significantly hampers the world’s efforts.”

“Realistically, things don’t look particularly bright which means we need to really start reconsidering, much more seriously about the consequences of our actions. And that’s not only climate change, but also the whole way in which we interact with our environment.”

A Call to Action

As a result, it was noted it was a good time to honor her guiding principles. “I think that when we’re awarding the prize, we will be considering this essential spirit of Jane’s – which made her priority, to change our relationship with wildlife with which we share the planet.”

A major topic today is the proliferation of misinformation. The focus of next year’s festival will be “the pursuit of factual understanding”.

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

Hope and Determination

The goal remains that this honor can motivate positive change. “The purpose is encouraging people to get involved and to show concern and to strive toward these goals, truly. Regardless of if we feel hopeful, we must look at working the best we can,” a statement concluded. “Accept the possibility of failure, yet we must continue striving towards succeeding.”

A descendant engaged in environmental protection shared confidence that “with guidance and once enabled, humanity can be responsible caretakers of Earth”, citing the work of a foundation which, among its other activities, assists the youth get involved with their community, animals, and environment.

“As Jane Goodall constantly emphasized, our daily actions have an impact and it is up to us what type of impact we make,” he said. “It is not too late and this medal will offer support and raise awareness about constructive efforts that people are making.”