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Our planet might be facing challenges, however a sense of hope remains. A fresh honor originating at the interdisciplinary festival Starmus will motivate the public to make a difference.

The medal will honor to pay tribute to the celebrated British primatologist who passed away recently. It seeks to acknowledge those who champion life on Earth.

Honoring a Legacy

The first recipients are slated for announcement during the upcoming Starmus event in the Canary Islands, which will run from October 17th to 22nd next year.

Reports indicate that Goodall, who was a member of the festival's board, had backed the medal's establishment. “The idea behind this award, and Starmus being entrusted with organising it, is Jane’s,” a representative said. “She said she would like for this to occur. And I think due to the close connection she shared with the festival.”

“This medal aims to highlight sustainable programmes carried out to build an environment a better place for all living beings and ecosystems and provide encouragement for the continuation that work,” said a family member.

Format and Inspiration

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

“The intent is for it to be modeled after the Stephen Hawking award honoring scientific outreach that we created exactly 10 years ago,” it was explained. Goodall was an honoree of that very medal.

Sharing thoughts about the future for Earth, one figure said, “To be truthful, it’s very hard to maintain optimism. The current political climate in one major nation represents a war on science. This situation significantly hampers global initiatives.”

“To be honest, the prospects aren't very good which means we need to begin to reconsidering, with greater urgency about the consequences of our actions. This concern encompasses not only global warming, but also the entire manner in which we interact with nature.”

A Call to Action

Consequently, observers believe it was an opportune moment to honor Jane Goodall's legacy. “It is believed that when we’re awarding the prize, the focus will be on this core philosophy of Jane’s – which made her foremost concern, to transform the way we treat the other animals with which we share the planet.”

Another key issue currently was highlighted of false information. The focus of the upcoming festival will be “the pursuit of factual understanding”.

“There is a recognition that factual reality has become a matter of debate where political interests is involved. This is a very dangerous thing,” it was said. “The climate science remains a scientific discipline; you cannot allow interference from politics in climate science.”

Hope and Determination

The aspiration is that this honor will inspire concrete steps. “It’s about inspiring individuals to engage and to care and to strive in that direction, truly. Whether or not we’re optimistic, we have to focus on doing all that is possible,” a statement concluded. “Be prepared for failure, but you still continue striving to achieve positive outcomes.”

A family member engaged in environmental protection shared optimism that “given direction and once enabled, humans can be diligent stewards of our planet”, pointing to the programs of an institute that, among its other activities, assists the next generation get involved with their community, animals, and environment.

“As Jane Goodall often reminded us, our daily actions are significant and the responsibility lies with us the kind of difference we make,” he said. “There is still time and this medal will give encouragement and raise awareness regarding beneficial initiatives currently in progress.”