Jan Joseph was one of the coached young facilitators of the ForestsAsia’s youth session in Jakarta 2014.
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 catch up with Jan Joseph to find out how his career path has changed and his advice for upcoming youth leaders and participants in the 2014 GLF. Register to attend the youth session here.
- Where were you with your career before the Forests Asia Summit’s youth session in 2013? What’s changed the most for you in the last 6 months? What projects are you currently working on?
Before the Forests Asia Summit, I was a regular student. Being selected was a worthy experience. It has helped me to build creative ideas and I have been generating the same type of discussions since then, in the context of my studies and involvement in youth groups. I gained skills in moderation and blogging that I can reuse. I learned a lot from mentors from CIFOR, IFSA, and YPARD.
We elaborated a new scientific research on trees in urban areas, the topic I dealt with at Forests Asia. Indeed, through the Forests Asia experience, I have been having deeper thoughts on this approach and grew an increasing passion for it. The paper was selected for an upcoming Asian conference on remote sensing and we conducted the research study last July-August. Forests Asia’s discussions motivated me to do something concrete related to the topic afterwards.
Also, I am keeping in touch with youth organisations – such as IFSA through the Association of Philippines’ Forestry Students, in the Philippines, and YPARD. We keep sharing information and learning from each other.
2. What was the most concrete benefit or opportunity you gained by participating in the Forests Asia Summit’s youth session in 2014?
Making new connections and networks was the greatest benefit of this experience. It helps sharing information for possible collaborations and opportunities. Notably,we are organizing the International Forestry Students’ Symposium (IFSS) with IFSA, and we are planning to invite people met in Jakarta to the Symposium.
Also, getting outside of my comfort zone by doing something new, like facilitating and blogging, was a life changing experience.
3. 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?
Young professionals are getting to the same page as other professionals: they know what the problems are there and they can engage themselves in, becoming more active and contributing to solve issues by acting actively. Also, they have come to realize that that they are not alone and that they can do something collectively.
4. 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).
Enjoy the event and get involved as much as possible; express yourself, share your thoughts, and create innovative ideas and solutions that you can concretely initiate and get involved in.
This belongs to a blog series profiling youth leadership in landscapes. Tell us your youth story – submit blogs to landscapes.youth@gmail.com
