Download to read offline
Uploaded byGlobal Landscapes Forum (GLF)
Youth4Nature Landscape Leadership Camp Asia
This presentation is one of the highlights of the Landscape Leadership Camp, held in Bogor, Indonesia, from 21–23 April 2025. The camp brought together over 50 young landscape leaders committed to driving impactful and transformative change across the landscapes of Asia and the Pacific. Participants engaged in a series of activities, workshops, dialogues, and field trips — all focused on reimagining the future of Asian landscapes through intergenerational knowledge and grounded action.
Youth4Nature Landscape Leadership Camp Asia
- 1.
- 2. Y4n is aby-youth, for-youth, global non-profit. we educate, equip, and establish youth as leaders on system-wide solutions for the nature and climate crises that are rooted in knowledge and grounded in
- 3.
- 4. INUKA Nbs accelerator ⇨ Successfullytrained and secured the commitment of 17 youth NbS leaders from 3 youth-led organizations in Kenya, focusing on fundraising, leadership, and storytelling. ⇨ Distributed microgrants worth $30k ($10k each) to the three youth teams to enhance and scale up their NbS projects, including: - Building a boardwalk in the mangroves to promote ecotourism; - Identifying and mapping 400+ha of land for restoration; - Establishing a ½ an acre land of a botanical garden of indigenous species and reforested around the degraded wetland ⇨ Community of practice: creating a community where youth can engage and exchange ideas through their newly found relation over interaction with inuka and use this new found partnerships to transfer the knowledge to their communities
- 5. Storytelling As part ofour 4-year Scaled-Up Storytelling Strategy, between 2020 and 2024 we: Built youth storycrafting skills through immersive activities, including: - #YourStoryOurFuture: Ran our second Storytelling Campaign collecting 100+ climate-nature stories from dozens of countries (incl. one-fifth from Asia and the Pacific), and growing our Global Community of Storytellers to over 200 members. - Global Climate-Nature Storymap: Amplified youth stories in creative & engaging waysa 3D virtual exhibition, and the digital magazine “PolleNectar”. - Empowering Youth Through Global Storycrafting Workshops: Built storycrafting skills & confidence in 150+ youth through workshops at international events and with local communities in Egypt, Finland, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Syria, Tanzania, UK and Uganda. - Supported our Global Storyteller Community: with funding for learning opportunities, digital engagement, storytelling projects, and attendance to policy events/conferences (incl. $30,000 disbursed as small grants and scholarships)
- 6. Regional work (ASIA) ⇨Meghna Knowledge Forum (22-24 June 2021) Y4N hosted “The River Game” to discuss in a playful style the interconnections of river biodiversity, culture, and various threats to river- based livelihoods and promoting cooperative management of Meghna river basin in Bangladesh and India. ⇨ Riverine Stories (22 April 2022) The experience sharing workshop discussed the challenges and opportunities of disaster management through transboundary cooperation in the Ganges-Brahmaputra- Meghna(GBM) Basin through the lens of youth practitioners.
- 7.
- 8. GA support fund “Theaccessibility stream helped me feel valued and secure through a challenging and lonely part of my activism and life.” - testimonial from a GA Support Fund recipient ⇨ Continue the legacy of the GA Support Fund for it’s 4th year by sustaining and increasing the scope and scale of the project ● Provide more support to the team members we already have, to consider global inflation ● Provide support to more/new team members ⇨ Directly challenge extractive and tokenistic relationships, while creating opportunities, building a community of care, and building internal capacity ⇨ Adapt to the changing needs of our organisation, our team members, and the world around us ● Ie. our updated 2024 policy includes support for expenses related to mobility/displacement/ migration from climate-induced events
- 9. WHAT IS NEXT: Y4nis SUSTAINING OUR MOVEMENT
- 10. OUR DESIRED IMPACTFOR 2025: ⇨ Youth-led climate-nature solutions recognised by policymakers and institutions, including their material contributions to achieving the targets under the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Framework. ⇨ Increased quantity and access to public resourcing and financing for rights-based and livelihood-based climate- nature solutions (NbS, ecosystem-based approaches, etc) rooted in local communities, rather than the overreliance on private-sector instruments and profit-based mechanisms.
- 11. OUR GOALS ANDOUTCOMES We are expecting that by the end of COP30 in 2025… 1. POLICY INTEGRATION: National governments incorporate benchmarks and safeguards in climate and biodiversity plans (NDCs, NAPs, NBSAPs) to: ● Respect international human rights treaties. ● Align with biodiversity science. ● Promote local livelihoods and just transitions. 1. Resource Accessibility: Governments establish actionable targets to enhance funding and capacity-building opportunities for youth-led and locally driven climate-nature solutions. 2. Youth Funding Commitments: Environmental philanthropies and grant-giving organizations pledge to scale up financial support for youth-led initiatives, including pilot projects and community-based efforts. 3. Employment Opportunities: Key environmental actors commit to annual targets for creating fair, paid employment opportunities for youth in sectors like environmental engineering and AFOLU as economies transition to low-emission, nature-positive models.
Editor's Notes
- #2 Youth4Nature (Y4N) is a by-youth, for-youth, international non-profit organisation that educates, equips, and establishes youth as leaders on system-wide solutions for the nature and climate crises that are rooted in traditional & scientific knowledge and are grounded in intergenerational justice. We are elevating youth voices and youth-led action on our own terms as young people for ambitious, science-backed, and justice-oriented solutions for climate action that work with, and not against, nature Work intentionally in the nexus between nature and climate - Despite their intrinsic and interdependent connections, research, policy, advocacy, and practice related to nature and climate are largely disconnected, as emphasised by the IPBES-IPCC Joint Report. Only by treating climate and nature as coupled systems, as well as centering people as key components of these systems, can solutions be developed that prevent maladaptation and maximize beneficial outcomes - for people, for nature, and for the planet. Additionally, our values at Y4N ensure that we centre knowledge and justice as intrinsic components of this nexus.
- #3 Our mission is to address the challenges of resources, capacity, knowledge & access that prevent youth from leading on solutions in the climate-nature nexus. Through knowledge-sharing, capacity-building & storytelling endeavours, we strive to educate, equip & establish youth as the climate-nature leaders we know we already are, on a local, regional & international level. We educate youth to build knowledge and inspire new + innovative ideas We equip youth with resources, skills, and access to transform their ideas into climate-nature solutions. We establish youth as leaders for nature and climate on the global and local stage
- #4 can engage
- #5 Built youth storycrafting skills through immersive activities, including: She Shapes Nature: serving women & girls in Tanzania who are nature leaders Storytelling for Syrian Youth: trainings online and policy event support for youth communities living on the front lines of climate change and war Wilderness Climate Camp: delivering an experiential rural learning moment, immersed in nature for urban youth in Rwanda Nandere Community Outreach and Restoration Event: carrying out a capacity-building tree planting project in Nandere forest, including overnight camping. Did storytelling outreach at key climate-nature events in Lebanon, Morocco and Tanzania collecting micro-stories from youth leaders & inspiring them as storytellers Supported our Global Storyteller Community with networking, capacity building and funding needs to support their learning, digital access, storytelling journey and policy engagement in the climate-nature space
- #6 On bullet point one: The JEDI grant specifically
- #7 Youth are similarly systematically excluded from the solution process, both at the decision making level and on-the-ground. As a by-youth, for-youth organisation, Youth4Nature seeks to address this by educating, equipping, and establishing youth-led work within the climate-nature nexus. We envision a world where communities thrive with nature across generations. … This is who we are. We are an ambitious, determined and committed team of over 50 youths (and counting!) from around the world - representing all populated continents. Our current team consists volunteers (Global Ambassadors) & 7 full-time staff
- #8 The Global Ambassadors Support Fund is an internal fund that Y4N established in 2021 to support our Global Ambassador (volunteer) community. Considering the intergenerational inequalities and extractive relationships that youth experience in the mainstream climate-nature architecture, especially on the global scale, we recognise how vital it is to tangibly recognise and support the youth driving our work. We designed this innovative and flexible internal fund as a key component of our core operations, with sub-funds for specific programmes and projects (including the Storytelling Programme Unit, our largest programme, and International Events). The fund is set up to be easily accessible, requiring little to no red tape, and to meet our Global Ambassadors where they are to support their needs. As a result, this fund has supported youth in accessing more reliable internet connectivity, necessary technology like laptops, travel support to attend local events and meetings, and honoraria to support youth in leading specific Y4N projects. The majority of fund applicants reported that the fund significantly increased their ability to engage more meaningfully in Y4N’s work. This proposed increase to the Global Ambassador Support Fund will enable us to meet our strategic goals, leverage the internal infrastructure we’ve already developed, and further build the internal capacity of our global youth team to lead on projects. 80% of funding will be made available directly for Global Ambassadors, while 10% will support distribution and coordination costs associated with managing this internal fund. (add photo here!) Impact The Global Ambassador Support Fund is directly challenging the norm of extractive and tokenistic relationships that youth tend to experience in the nature and climate movement while simultaneously creating leadership opportunities for our team, building internal capacity, and contributing to an internal community of care and solidarity within Y4N. We are ensuring that the ability to contribute significant amounts of unpaid labour or access to a strong internet connection and a personal laptop are not barriers to engaging with us meaningfully and joining our community. “The accessibility stream helped me feel valued and secure through a challenging and lonely part of my activism and life.” - testimonial from a GA Support Fund recipient “When I joined Y4N, I did not have a laptop … this limited my engagement both in terms of time and support. Since I acquired the laptop, all these challenges have been reversed and now I am able to provide my support seamlessly towards organisational development.” - testimonial from a GA Support Fund recipient Established in 2021 to support our global Ambassador (volunteer) community Easily accessible, internal support fund for Y4N volunteers (Global Ambassadors): Needs & accessibility based Honorarium based Over US$ XX delivered in 2023 X% supporting Global South youth
- #11 Goals & Outcomes [SMART] We are expecting that by the end of COP30 in 2025… National governments adopt clear benchmarks and safeguards in their NDCs, NAPs, and NBSAPs to ensure NbS projects in their territories 1) respect int. human rights treaties, 2) align with biodiversity science, and 3) promote local livelihoods (or a just transition, where necessary). Indicator: number of countries that mention or include said benchmarks/safeguards for NbS in their submitted NDCs, NAPs, and NBSAPs to the UNFCCC and CBD. National governments incorporate actionable targets in their NDCs/national climate strategies, NAPs, and NBSAPs to increase the accessibility and allocation of resources, especially funding and capacity opportunities, to youth-led and locally led climate-nature solutions. Indicator: number of countries that include funding and resourcing targets for youth-led and locally-led climate-nature solutions in their national climate and biodiversity plans. Environmental philanthropies and other grant-giving actors pledge to scale up (or initiate) funding for youth-led climate-nature solutions, including pilot, local and small-scale projects. Indicator: number of philanthropies and grant-giving actors that include new/updated youth funding pledges in their budgets and plans for 2025 and beyond. Environmental actors (national governments, international organisations, academic institutions, private sector) pledge to develop annual targets to create paid and fair employment opportunities for youth in the environmental engineering and AFOLU sectors as countries transition to low-emission and nature-positive economies. Indicator: number of environmental actors that announce pledges and programmes to promote paid and funded youth employment in the environmental engineering and AFOLU sectors.
- #12 NbS Case Study(ies) (KS) Harnessing the local youth-led NbS project development we have already incubated and supported through our INUKA Project and She Shapes Nature, as well as through connections with our partners and in our Storytelling network, we will produce a policy brief featuring case studies from INUKA Pilot and high-impact storytelling microgrants & storycrafting lab to demonstrate and showcase the types of projects that are already happening at a local level and the environmental and community benefits that are already being proven, to provide data to inform high-level decision making regarding resource mobilisation, human rights, inclusion and equity, and more. With further financial support this year, Y4N will connect on the ground with frontline and sometimes hard-to-reach communities to gather biodiversity and human impact information, strengthening the overall quality of the data in these case studies. Building on the 200+ stories from 60+ countries already showcased on our Glocal StoryMap, we will collect over 100 new stories, focusing on unrepresented regions as well as LAC and Brasil in alignment with COP30. These stories will a) be part of a digital campaign in the lead-up to COP30, creating space for more youth voices - especially frontline youth, Indigenous youth, and youth of the global majority - in COP30 narrative and decision-making, and This, together with 2-3 virtual training & resources, will also inspire young people to connect their local efforts to national and international decision-making and connect decision-makers and resource-holders with youth who are already leading on climate and biodiversity initiatives that respect human rights, align with biodiversity science, and promote local livelihoods, Together, this will further s further supporting the case for increased & accessible climate & biodiversity funding, more green jobs, and a new economy. With additional funding support this year, Y4N will also run 6-8 on-ground Storycrafting labs (in each region), to help equip young leaders with the skills to tell their stories more effectively and connect them clearly to objectives for COP30. This would increase the overall quality of the stories being showcased and compellingly link youth calls to action into this crucial year of decision-making. Additionally, with increased funding Y4N will be able to increase the number and quality of youth featured in each of the two forestry series. NbS Mobilising & Partnerships (KS) This work does not happen in isolation. Together with our established networks and new partners, we will collaborate with youth and youth allies to update the Global Youth NbS Statement. This, together with contributions on Loss & Damage (financing) as well as IPLCs (environment & land defenders, human rights) advocacy, will contribute to clear and strong messaging and advocacy efforts around the urgent and radical action we need countries to be taking in their NDCs, NAPs, and NBSAPs related to resource mobilisation for climate and nature, human and biodiversity safeguards, and inclusion and equity in implementation. With additional funding and resources this year, Y4N and our partners will be able to better reach Indigenous, local, and frontline youth - especially those in (Latin America & Caribbean) - to provide input and perspectives for the youth statement, strengthening the outcome and building better synergies and solidarity between parallel advocacy efforts in advance of and at COP30. Partners we seek to work with for these efforts include NbS Youth Coalition (YOUNGO and GYBN), Youth in Landscapes Steering Committee (GLF, YPARD, IFSA), Nature Positive Campaign (N4C Coalition), Youth Climate Council Alliance Brasil, other LAC partners like Guardians of the Forest, RESERVA Youth Land Trust, RBBC and other global youth partners.