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Our planet is facing challenges, yet a sense of hope remains. A new award originating at the science, music and arts festival the Starmus festival will motivate people to act.

This new Earth medal bearing Jane Goodall's name is to be awarded in honour of the celebrated scientist and conservationist who passed away this year. It will recognise individuals and groups that advocate for our planet's biodiversity.

Honoring a Legacy

The inaugural winners will be revealed during the upcoming Starmus event in the Canary Islands, which will run from 17–22 October the coming year.

It was shared that Goodall, a former Starmus advisory board member, had supported the award’s creation. “The concept of having this medal, and the festival being tasked to oversee it, is Jane’s,” a representative said. “She said she would like for this to occur. This is likely due to the close relationship she had with us.”

“This medal will acknowledge enduring projects carried out to build an environment improved for people, animals and the environment and provide encouragement for the continuation such efforts,” said a family member.

Structure and Vision

One of the founders of the festival stated that the medal – which was announced at a prestigious venue – would probably include several divisions.

“It’s going to be inspired by the Stephen Hawking award honoring scientific outreach that we created a decade past,” he explained. Goodall was an honoree of that very medal.

Expressing concern on the outlook for Earth, one figure remarked, “To be truthful, it is difficult to maintain optimism. Certain policies globally represents an assault on knowledge. So this significantly hampers collective action.”

“To be honest, the situation appears very good which means we need to commence reflecting, much more seriously regarding the impact of human activity. This concern encompasses not just climate change, that’s the whole way that we treat the natural world.”

Inspiring Change

As a result, it was noted it was a good time to follow Goodall’s example. “It is believed that when we’re awarding this medal, we will be considering this core philosophy of Jane’s – which made her priority, to transform how we regard the other animals around us.”

A major topic at present was highlighted of disinformation. The central topic of the upcoming Starmus festival is set as “the pursuit of factual understanding”.

“There is a recognition that factual reality is becoming contested when politics are involved. And it’s a very dangerous thing,” he commented. “The climate science is a science; it is impossible to have any influence by political agendas in this field.”

Hope and Determination

The aspiration remains that this honor will inspire positive change. “It focuses on inspiring individuals to participate and to show concern and to strive in that direction, truly. Whether or not we’re optimistic, we have to look at doing our utmost,” a statement concluded. “Be prepared for failure, yet we must have to work towards succeeding.”

A family member engaged in conservation work shared hope that “given direction and when empowered, humanity can be diligent stewards of Earth”, pointing to the initiatives of an institute which, among its other activities, empowers the next generation become engaged locally, animals, and the natural world.

“As my late grandmother repeatedly reminded us, the choices we make each day are significant and it is up to us what type of impact we make,” he said. “It is not too late and the Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will offer support and raise awareness about beneficial initiatives that people are making.”