Street Works Earth Festival Returns to Queens with Focus on Climate Careers and Community Co-Creation

Street Works Earth returns to 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights for its second annual festival, combining art, climate action, and community engagement during New York Climate Week. The event, a collaboration between Street Works and Make Justice Normal, features over 100 artists, climate experts, and community groups, building on last year's attendance of more than 3,000 people. This year's festival introduces Future@Work, a career fair designed to help individuals explore climate-related career paths, co-created by organizations including ALIGN, El Puente, and WE ACT for Environmental Justice. The full schedule is available at https://streetworks.earth/schedule.

Future@Work represents a practical approach to climate justice, emphasizing that meaningful employment and environmental action are interconnected. Jenille Scott, Climate Director at ALIGN, stated, "Future@Work shows that climate action and good jobs are inseparable. A just transition means creating opportunities where frontline communities and working people can thrive with dignity, creativity, and purpose." The career fair, taking place from 12:00-2:00 pm, aims to provide pathways for young people, immigrants, and BIPOC communities to shape the climate future, addressing the urgent need for inclusive economic opportunities in the green sector.

Additional festival themes include Thread Lightly, exploring the cultural and political dimensions of fashion, and Kindred Roots, focusing on care and mental wellness practices. These initiatives highlight how climate solutions must integrate with daily life and community well-being. Sasha St. Juste, Organizing Manager at WE ACT for Environmental Justice, noted, "Climate solutions must speak to our daily lives and our futures. Through Thread Lightly, we show how fashion shapes who bears the burden of pollution and who sets the trends." The festival's co-creation model, where art is not finished until made collectively, serves as a metaphor for collaborative climate action and democratic engagement.

The event underscores New York's lagging compliance with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA), using co-creative decision-making to bridge gaps between residents, justice leaders, and policymakers. Margot Brown of Frontline Resource Institute emphasized, "At Street Works Earth, we see how co-creation in art and organizing builds the skills, connections, and confidence needed to tackle climate challenges together." This approach not only fosters community resilience but also models equitable, care-driven solutions that can be scaled beyond the festival. Free and open to the public, Street Works Earth runs from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm on September 21, 2025, offering a family-friendly space for collective imagination and action toward a just climate future.