The Youth in Landscapes Initiative united young innovators (aged 18 – 35) to develop real-world solutions to land-use challenges in partnership with organizations working on the ground.
From 1-4 December, 50 collaborative, compassionate and courageous young innovators held an intensive leadership development and project accelerator workshop, working in 5 groups on solving one of 5 landscapes challenges.
Each group pitched their solution to a dragon’s den of business, policy and science experts for feedback during the 2015 Global Landscapes Forum.
The aim was to generate exciting new ideas/projects/campaigns or support existing ideas/projects/campaigns tackling real-world landscapes challenges and see these taken up by organizations and/or individuals.
Meet the 50 youth innovators here!
Workshop agenda (1-4 December)
The workshop was focused on developing teamwork skills that are essential for collaborative problem solving and pitching solutions at a professional level. Each participant brought a unique landscape approach from around the world, and the organizers designed the workshop to create friendships and solutions that will last beyond Paris and 2015. From the first day, teams had to practice and prepare to represent young people at the 2015 Global Landscapes Forum.
See our “build your skills” section for our webinar recordings and useful resources.
Youth in GLF and Dragon’s den panel (5-6 December)
But the involvement of youth didn’t stop there! After a successful pilot ‘Youth in GLF’ program in 2014, youth delegates at the GLF also participated in:
Mentoring:
Senior GLF delegates and youth delegates with similar backgrounds were paired and encouraged to attend a GLF/COP session together. Read more about the mentoring program here.
“Meet the leader”:
A small group of youth was given opportunity to meet high-level plenary speakers in a one-on-one setting.
Youth leadership roles:
Youth delegates were asked to moderate sessions, act as rapporteurs, and take on other roles.
Dragon’s den:
The dragon’s den, challenging young innovators to pitch their ideas to experts, took place on 6 December. Meet our dragons here!
