🔗 Share this article

The world is under pressure, yet a sense of hope remains. A novel accolade from the interdisciplinary festival Starmus seeks to encourage individuals to make a difference.

The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal is to be awarded to pay tribute to the celebrated British primatologist who passed away this year. It is designed to celebrate individuals and groups that protect life on Earth.

The Medal's Framework

The first recipients are slated for announcement at the Starmus VIII festival in the Canary Islands, which will run from October 17th to 22nd next year.

According to statements that Goodall, who was a member of the festival's board, had endorsed the award’s creation. “The idea behind this award, and the festival being tasked with organising it, is Jane’s,” a representative said. “She expressed that she wanted for this to occur. This is likely because of the close connection she had with the festival.”

“The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will recognize enduring projects undertaken to create a planet improved for people, animals and the environment and provide encouragement for the continuation that work,” commented a relative.

Structure and Vision

One of the founders of the festival noted that the medal – which was announced at a scientific institution – would probably have multiple categories.

“The intent is for it to be inspired by the Stephen Hawking medal honoring scientific outreach that we created a decade past,” he explained. Goodall was a recipient of that very medal.

Expressing concern on the outlook of the planet, one figure stated, “Honestly, it’s very hard to maintain optimism. Certain policies in one major nation represents an assault on knowledge. This situation significantly hampers collective action.”

“To be honest, the situation appears very good which means we need to commence reflecting, with greater urgency regarding the impact of our actions. And that’s not just global warming, that’s the whole way that we treat the natural world.”

A Call to Action

Consequently, it was noted this is an opportune moment to follow her guiding principles. “I think that when we’re awarding this medal, the focus will be on this core philosophy that Jane embodied – that was her priority, to transform how we regard wildlife with which we share the planet.”

Another key issue today was highlighted of misinformation. The central topic of next year’s festival is set as “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 is a science; you cannot have any influence by political agendas in climate science.”

Optimism and Resolve

The goal is that this honor will spur concrete steps. “It focuses on motivating others to get involved and to care and to strive toward these goals, really. Regardless of if we’re optimistic, we must focus on working our utmost,” it was added. “Be prepared for failure, but you still continue striving towards succeeding.”

A descendant engaged in conservation work shared hope that “with guidance and once enabled, humans are capable of being diligent stewards of our planet”, highlighting the programs of a foundation which, in addition to its projects, assists the youth become engaged locally, animals, and environment.

“As Jane Goodall often emphasized, the choices we make each day have an impact and the responsibility lies with us what type of impact we choose to create,” he said. “There is still time and this medal will provide inspiration and increase understanding about beneficial initiatives currently in progress.”