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Earth is facing challenges, yet there is hope. A new award originating at the interdisciplinary festival the Starmus festival aims to motivate people to take action.

This new Earth medal bearing Jane Goodall's name will honor in honour of the celebrated British primatologist who died recently. It seeks to acknowledge individuals and groups that advocate for life on Earth.

Honoring a Legacy

Initial honorees are expected to be announced during the Starmus VIII festival in the Canary Islands, scheduled from 17–22 October the coming year.

Reports indicate that Jane Goodall, a former member of the festival's board, had endorsed the medal's establishment. “The concept of having this award, and Starmus being entrusted to oversee it, was Jane's wish,” a statement said. “Her desire was that she wanted this to happen. And I think because of the unique relationship she had with us.”

“The Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will recognize ongoing initiatives undertaken to make our world a better place for all living beings and ecosystems and offer support to carry on that work,” said a family member.

Structure and Vision

One of the founders of Starmus stated that the medal – unveiled at a scientific institution – would probably have multiple categories.

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

Expressing concern on the outlook of the planet, one figure remarked, “To be truthful, it is difficult to be optimistic. Certain policies globally is conducting a war on science. So this significantly hampers global initiatives.”

“In truth, things don’t look particularly bright so we have to begin to reconsidering, with greater urgency regarding the impact of human activity. This concern encompasses not only global warming, that’s the entire manner in which we interact with our environment.”

Inspiring Change

Consequently, observers believe it was an opportune moment to emulate Goodall’s example. “It is believed that when we’re awarding the prize, we will be considering this essential spirit that Jane embodied – which made her foremost concern, to transform our relationship with wildlife around us.”

A major topic currently involves the spread of misinformation. The theme of the upcoming festival will be “the pursuit of factual understanding”.

“We realised that factual reality has become a subject of discussion where political interests are involved. This is a perilous development,” it was said. “The climate science is a science; you cannot allow interference from politics in climate science.”

Hope and Determination

The hope remains that this honor will spur concrete steps. “The purpose is inspiring individuals to engage and to care and to work toward these goals, really. Whether or not we feel hopeful, we have to look at working the best we can,” it was added. “Be prepared for setbacks, but you still have to work to achieve positive outcomes.”

A family member involved in conservation work shared optimism that “given direction and once enabled, people can be diligent stewards of Earth”, highlighting the initiatives of a foundation which, in addition to its projects, helps young people get involved with their community, wildlife, and environment.

“As Jane Goodall constantly told everyone, our daily actions are significant and it is up to us the kind of difference we make,” it was stated. “There is still time and the Starmus Jane Goodall Earth medal will offer support and increase understanding about beneficial initiatives currently in progress.”