Climatarium: A Rural Education Roadmap

DISCOVER THREE COMMUNITIES IN RURAL COLORADO COMING TOGETHER TO SOLVE THE CLIMATE CRISIS, ONE STUDENT CAREER PATHWAY AT A TIME.

On April 13, 2023, residents of Yampa Valley awoke to massive flooding. The principal of Steamboat Springs High School identified it as yet another way the impact of environmental change is being felt in rural Colorado. “Climate change is real and here. It is a crisis.”

Legislators, businesses, nonprofits, and educators in rural Colorado, have come together in an innovative way to address climate change, offering a new model for the country around climate education and youth engagement. Eco-anxiety is real for students and educational pathways are a great solution arming them with knowledge, skills and a sense of agency. Collaboration transcends politics in this inspiring documentary that infuses environmentalism into all career paths.

High school student Tal Sheleg has a lot to say about the climate crisis: “No offense to the older generation, but I feel like my generation specifically is really trying hard since it’s going to be on our hands, or our kids' hands. We don’t want our earth to die!” Along with her friends Amara and Indigo, they’re doing what they can in Leadville, Colorado.

From a school-wide Earth Day Event to a summer Hut trip, they’re building a club and getting others involved. Their environmental journey began when they attended a summer program in Durango in Southwest Colorado, another community taking this innovative, Climatarium approach.

Famed climate activist Greta Thunberg once said, "I have learned you are never too small to make a difference” and that’s exactly the Climatarium model. With each community working together and with each student feeling the local impact they are making, small change is happening. The efforts of each Climatarium hub add up to big change, one rural community at a time.

  • Julie Jackson
    Director
    Rocky Mountain PBS’s “Colorado Experience”, Revisiting the Sand Creek Massacre, White Prairie Historical Drama
  • Sarah Hamilton
    Director
  • Julie Jackson
    Writer
  • Amy Turner
    Writer
  • Sarah Hamilton
    Writer
  • Julie Jackson
    Producer
  • Mary Seawell
    Producer
  • Elizabeth Harbaugh
    Producer
  • Meghan Sivakoff
    Producer
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Genres:
    Documentary, Environmental Education
  • Runtime:
    57 minutes 11 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 17, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    65,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Julie Jackson, Sarah Hamilton

Julie Jackson, Director & Producer

A 7-time regional Emmy-Award-Winning filmmaker and 4th generation Coloradan, Julie has produced and directed over 1000 documentaries across the US and abroad, including several Emmy Award-Winning shows for Public Television. She is the Creator of Rocky Mountain PBS’s “Colorado Experience” and has several narrative and documentary projects in development. She is the Chief Creative Officer for jSPiNC and the Chief Content Officer for Truce Media Collective. She lives in Salida and Denver.

Sarah Hamilton, Director of Photography & Editor

Sarah Hamilton is a documentary editor and director. For seven years she has created films exploring Arab-American identity post 9/11, the power of music after tragedy, and a Corps' movement grappling with its problematic past. Sarah is drawn to stories with deep emotional truths that transcend our differences. An intrepid camera operator she can get the shot in highly technical and remote environments: her work has been done climbing, skiing, as well as deep in the backcountry for extended periods. She assistant edits for films featured at Tribeca, Banff, Mountain Film, and Five Point. She lives in Salida, Colorado.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

PLEASE NOTE FILM SUBMISSION AS OF NOVEMBER 2023 IS A FINE CUT. Final full-length feature film will be ready by 12/15.

What started out as a simple documentary, filming a back-country hut trip organized by three young climate activists, has turned into a much larger story. The Climatarium model has extraordinary potential of mobilizing communities and individuals, which when added up, have the potential to move the needle on the climate crisis. The Climaterium model breaks the "think globally, act locally" modo into practical steps, bringing unlikely allies together to support and give students power to feel their impact locally - with the environment benefiting! Thank you for helping us spread this model far and wide!

Julie