By Ewa Chwojko-Srawley
A real chicken, a group of curious campers and a question about the future helped spark an idea that is now reaching children around the world.
Future Chicken, a climate-action project, has been named one of 15 finalists, selected from more than 3,100 applicants, competing for the title of Science Breakthrough of the Year in the Falling Walls Engage competition in Berlin, Germany.
The Project was co-created by Annabel Slaight, founder of the ClearWater Futures Foundation, and Catherine Winder of Wind Sun Sky Entertainment. Slaight has gone to Berlin to present the project to an international jury.
The idea for Future Chicken began about four years ago at ClearWater Farm. During a summer camp, children aged 6 to 10 began imagining what a chicken might discover if it could travel into the future. A real chicken at the farm helped bring the idea to life. A year later, that first spark had grown into an animated, time-travelling eco-hero.
“I never imagined this kind of success in a million years!” Slaight said. “But if you are authentic and believe in what you do, it catches on.”
Future Chicken uses humour, storytelling and science to help children turn climate anxiety into hopeful action.
Its message is especially important at a time when frightening headlines about wildfires and other environmental disasters can leave young people feeling powerless.
“We need to connect kids to nature,” Slaight said. “We must listen to them; hope grows when we give them agency.”
Slaight wants children to take action and discover that positive choices today can make a difference tomorrow.
“Don’t be scared,” is her message. “Take action, whatever it is, and you will feel better.”
With Georgina as its home base, Future Chicken has grown into a global initiative, with more than 800 science segments, over 45 million YouTube views and learning guides reaching educators and parents in 93 countries.
Slaight hopes to involve local children even more, strengthening relationships with schools and bringing Future Chicken into more activities at the farm. The farm’s Future Chicken Forest is already home to 2,000 trees planted by children and adults.
This child-led approach is also taking shape in another ClearWater Farm project: The Wild Place, a nature-based play space scheduled to open in spring 2027.
About 25 Grade 3 and 4 students from Lakeside Public School helped design it, asking for climbing structures, towers and opportunities to explore. The space will encourage children to test their limits, build confidence and connect with nature.
For Slaight, listening to children is what keeps ideas fresh.
“They keep your thinking original,” she said. “That’s so wonderful about children.”
Website: https://futurechicken.com
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