About Us
The Third Generation Project is an international think tank based in Scotland that uses education and research to enable social change for climate justice.
TGP's mission is to put the people most impacted by climate change at the heart of a progressive education agenda.
Our Approach
Create opportunities for learning
Educate diverse audiences, including Western policymakers, academics, students and communities – in practices and advocacy tools that prioritise the voices and local knowledges of marginalised frontline communities.
Collaborate Ethically
Provide a platform for the voices of marginalised frontline communities and elevate the profile of third generation rights issues through education and meaningful dialogue.
Take Action
Challenge the extractive practices of mainstream academic research by developing lasting partnerships with frontline communities, and taking our cues from them.
Our Values
Putting people first
We adopt a people-centred approach to addressing climate and social injustice, which sees climate change as a human rights issue that dis-proportionately impacts communities who contribute least to the climate crisis.
Building equal partnerships
We seek to develop mutually beneficial relationships of trust, understanding and respect with community partners through long-term, open and inclusive engagement
Valuing community
We embrace a participatory approach to research and education that encourages co-learning and promotes local ownership by integrating communities into all aspects of our work.
Recognising privilege
We believe that those who have created and continue to benefit from systems of oppression are responsible for dismantling them. We try our best to recognise our privilege and to listen and learn from our mistakes.
Bringing people together
We reach across academic divides and forge new connections between communities, researchers and decision-makers.
Climate Justice
We understand climate justice to be grounded in a collective response to generations of colonial, social, economic, environmental, and racial injustices and in a transition out of systems that perpetuate cycles of inequality and inequity.
We acknowledge that there isn’t a singular definition of climate justice and that if there is to be such a definition, that it should not come from institutions rooted in injustice. Those who are experiencing the brunt of system collapse as a result of climate change should be the first to speak in establishing just transitions out of oppressive and exploitative systems of inequality.
Logo & Name
The triskelion is a pre-Celtic symbol that dates back to the Neolithic era. Its earliest known usage is found at the entrance of the Newgrange tomb in Ireland, which archeologists estimate was constructed around 3,200 BC. The triskelion also helps to explain the three generations of human rights as being interdependent, indivisible and mutually-reinforcing.
In international law, the three generations of human rights refer to civil and political, socio-economic, and collective or ‘solidarity’ rights, respectively.
Our name represents a challenge to the existing rights framework, which emphasizes individual needs and entitlements. We encourage a more comprehensive rights framework that incorporates the individual and the collective to ensure the protection of peoples, communities, and our shared environmental commons.
