Ahead of the youth activities at December’s Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) in Peru, which will focus on building youth skills and knowledge to become leaders and effectively contribute to discussions, we caught up with Andhyta Utami to find out how her career path has changed and her advice for upcoming youth leaders and participants in the 2014 GLF (Register to attend the youth session here).
Where were you with your career (and/or studies) before the Forests Asia youth session? What’s changed the most for you in the last 6 months? What projects are you currently working on?
Before the Summit, I was a Jakarta-based researcher with the World Resources Institute, focusing on sustainable land-use issues, particularly those related to the palm oil sector. One of our projects tries to identify public participation and transparency related to concession granting process in two districts in Riau province. Additionally, I was also leading Youth Parliament Indonesia, a program by Indonesian Future Leaders that aims to increase youth participation in democracy.
Previously, ‘environment’ and ‘youth issues’ seemed to stand in two completely different domains to me. Although I am equally familiar about both worlds, I never saw environment under a ‘youth as stakeholder’ framework, and vice versa. Getting invited to give a speech that combined both topics helped me restructure my thinking process and finally discovered a great epiphany of how youth have, and should continue to play a great role in shaping the conversations moving forward.
Today, in addition to my professional work, I continue to raise the awareness of Indonesian youth on climate change and the utmost importance of sustainability principles in land use through various means, including events like Youthnesian and Indonesia Youth Conference. I am also invited to speak at the World Democracy Forum by the European Council.
What was the most concrete benefit or opportunity you gained by participating in the Forests Asia youth session?
Meeting inspiring youth moderators, participants, as well as mentors, who widened my perspective about how to solve various issues related to forests. I try to keep in touch with them as well as keep ourselves updated through social media and others.
What do you think has been one of the most important moments for youth engagement in climate change, land use or sustainable development and what should we learn from this?
Recently, there are more opportunities for young people to be involved in the decision making process—not only in Indonesia but also globally. We have also learned that uniting ourselves through better organization will significantly help us in getting our aspirations across and heard by the relevant stakeholders. That being said, it is pivotal for young people to also actively bring their potentials forward and offer this to government, private sector, civil society, as well as their own communities to be part of the solution to the abundance of challenges in the sector.
Do you have any advice for the youth leaders and participants in the upcoming youth session in Peru? (this could be related to their participation, career advice that you have received etc).
It’s exciting to be labeled as ‘youth’, because it basically means that we’re label-less! Being youth allows us to ask the wrong questions, to suggest the most out-of-the-box ideas, without having to worry about being expected to act or talk in certain ways. Therefore, embrace this youth-ness; enjoy exploring the unlimited possibilities, and don’t hesitate to speak out your thoughts! Get involved.
This belongs to a blog series profiling youth leadership in landscapes. Tell us your youth story – submit blogs to landscapes.youth@gmail.com
