Actions

  Actions

It is inspiring when young people from around the world use their knowledge, sense of motivation and energy to bring about action for the environment. Young people bring a fresh outlook to environmental activism. Tunza is about empowering you to act. To get involved in the Tunza Actions Around the World, contact children.youth@unep.org

Youth actions also include answering questions from the public on UNEP's online interactive feature Expert of the Day - another great way to learn about youth environmental activities.

ROAP (Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific)

Australia

Linh Do is the founder of Change & Switch, a grassroots organization. She is active in attending environmental activities including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 2020 Youth Summit. She was honored the VCAA VCE Achiever of the Year and Maribyrnong’s Young Citizen of the Year, and was also trained by Al Gore’s climate project.

Bangladesh

Belal Hossain was instrumental in encouraging his community to use land for a tree plantation. Together with other energetic youth, they convinced the local administrative and political leaders to implement the project.

Bhutan

Fourteen year old Nguyen Bich Van encourages sustainable lifestyles through sharing funny images of environmental problems to help people understand the impact of their actions and to be more environmentally aware.  

China

Linglan Zhao, the president of Lvmeng Resources and Environment Protection Association in Beijing Institute of Technology, launched a book-recycling project for each incoming session of firstyear students. “We build a platform for the students in higher grade and the new students. New students can get books for free from the older students. This is a good way of teaching how to save and recycle.”

Yuhan Rao is part of “Green Candle Roots & Shoots”, a youth environmental association in Beijing Normal University. Activities have included discouraging the use of plastic bags and  encouraging sustainable use of resources and saving energy.“

Method to reuse used paper

Lu Li, from Tongji University, has organized numerous recycling activities.  She also encouraged the use of a new method to whiten paper pulp, for which she received a city lever award.

Liu Mengxing, from Peking University in China, has continually and successfully developed series of environmental education programmes to promote garbage classification and encourage use of non-plastic bags in the 12 communities in Beijing.  Last year she was awarded the Best Green Messenger.

Fiji

Justin Hickes, a 15-year old youth, travels to school everyday along the Colo-i-Suva forest road, and was concerned with the huge piles of rubbish appearing each morning. He encouraged everyone to kick this dirty habit and create and good, clean, healthy working and living environment for future generations.

India

Vinay Sabbithi works with the Association for Environment Conservation Advocacy & Solutions (AECAS). He has organized several seminars and competitions for students and youth on the environmental issues.

 Indonesia

Vania Santoso is Indonesian Environment Envoy who first participated in the Tunza International Children and Youth Conference in 2006. One of her successful projects was making alternative energy through a box cooker to cook food supported by sun light. This allows for conserving natural resources, reducing air pollution, saving costs, and producing better food.

Syahroni advocates for sustainable energy and agriculture through research. He is also a volunteer in community development for management of rubbish in his surroundings.

Fery Hadi Mulyadi joined the Indonesian Institute for Forest and Environment (RMI) a year ago. He developed RMI's organic farming programme, under supervision of the Directorate of Environmental Education and Gender Equity. The programme is also being offered in Kampung PENDING (RMI's training center for environmental education). More than 400 participants have participated. Fery is also initiating a consultancy programme with farmers in an upstream area of Cisadane River.

 Iran (Islamic Republic of)

Mohitpour Melika and his friends advocate for addressing climate change issues, and specifically on educating students on the human impacts on climate change and weather.

Japan

Hirotaka Matsui is the leader of an environmental youth camp which gathered overa 100 students in a two-day camp to discuss environmental issues and solutions.   Wataru Miyazaki successfully established the “ COCO ka PECO” in December 2007 and aims to education people on environmental problems through cooperative learning.

 Kazakhstan

Olga Varganova heads the youth wing of the public association “Reflection”. Olga has conducted research on the "Public involvement and support of civil society in the implementation of the Aarhus Convention". Since 2002, she has also been an organizer of events to inform and educate peers on ecological actions.

 Lao People's Democratic Republic

Sengphaathith Phouthamaly is a member of the volunteer group called Social Educational Environment and Development (SEED) which participates in environmental events such as World Biodiversity Day, World Environment Day, cycling activities, and planting. She also participated in the Youth Environment Forum in Thailand in 2008 on the topic "You(th) can save the climate".

 Malaysia

Brian Chan wanted to solve an environmental pollution problem in his high school in 2008. He found that drains near the canteen were always filthy and frequently clogged due to waste mismanagement by the canteen operators. He collaborated with environmental experts outside of school to install a filtration system for the drains and gave waste management tips to the operators. Clear water was soon flowing in those drains. He spread his idea to other schools through a guidebook and encouraged fund raising.

 Mongolia

Davaajargal Batdorj is a core member of TUNZA-NEAYEN.  On World Water Day 2009, she worked to provide others with information, educated the youth and provided water to people who needed it. She also helps with translation of UNEP’s TUNZA magazine.

Nepal

Ratnesh Shashi advocates for better use of natural resources.  He was involved in a project with CEPHED (Center for Public Health and Environmental Development).

Bhuwan K.C. is the initiator of the Change the Bulb Campaign which is aimed at energy conservation through promotion of energy efficient technologies like Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFLs). An estimated 500 bulbs have been replaced since the start of the project, and awareness has been raised among 2500 households. Currently the campaign is planning to develop an energy friendly village and a Youth Carbon Fund. 

Pakistan

Mirza Mubashir initiated a Green TIRE campaign in his city to reduce pollution. He is also an active supporter of UNEP’s Billion Tree Campaign.

Kaleem Ahmad works to improve the environment of women and children, especially those affected by disasters and/or displacement. His area of focus is on improving access to water and sanitation, educating street and working children and emergency relief.

Philippines

Sapuay Reuben James, an 11-year old, works to raise the level of awareness of children on issues concerning our environment. Together with members in his organization, he has conducted seminars on environmental topics such as water conservation and solid waste management. He has also participated in global environmental activities such as Clean Up the World Weekend and Clean Up the Philippines. He and his friends have also conducted environmental fund-raising activities such as collecting recyclables which are sold to junk dealers who take these recyclable wastes to recyclers.

Samoa

Fruean Brianna Marissa intends to initiate a “Car Pool Drive” at her school by requested parents to organize car pooling for students. This programme would allow for reduced fuel emissions and help conserve the use of petrol.

Singapore

Choo Pei Ling successfully raised the project PACT (Promise to Act against Climate-change Threat), which aims to generate learning, interest in and thinking about climate change. This project is supported by the National Youth Achievement Award Council and the National Environment Agency. An important part of the project is to support environment education amongst kindergarten children.

Sri Lanka

Anoka Abeyrathne has completed a study on pollution of the Bolgoda Lake, formulated an action plan that could be implemented by stakeholders, and planted 12,000 mangrove trees in the wetlands of the Bolgoda Lake. The aim of the project is to prevent the wetlands from being destroyed, whilst at the same time supporting farmers to minimise the use of the pesticides and encouraging farmers to use organic farming.

Tajikistan

Svetlana Unru has been involved in the implementation of an international School Project on the Application of Resources and Energy (SPARE) in Tajikistan. The project focuses on energy saving, and promotion of using alternative energy sources. Furthermore, it aims to raise awareness amongst school children on energy consumption and global environmental problems.

Thailand

Weerakan Kengkaj (from Rotract Club Chiang Mai University) works to encourage environmental sanitation. He has built two toilets and a tank for a Karen hill tribe at Mae Cham district, in the south of Chiangmai. The next plans are to build a school, a kitchen and more toilets.

Uzbekistan

Povarich Aleksandra presented on behalf of youth part in protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development during the second regional youth meeting. She also organized the seminar “My own contribution in size of one degree Celsius” for students.

Vietnam

Manh Song Cao is a dynamic leader of the Bayer Young Environmental Envoys (BYEE) Club, who inspires members with new ideas to protect the environment. He has been raising ideas about cleaning the rivers in Hanoi, cycling for the environment, and co-operating with other clubs in activities. Lately, the BYEE Club has organizing a monthly programme for educating children about environment issues, with Cao designing the programme, contactings schools, and delivering messages and presentations. 

ROWA (Regional Office for West Asia)

Bahrain

Shaikha Ahmed Alolaiwi is an active delegate in University of Bahrain Students' Delegations. She was nominated to represent UOB in the first Environmental Conference for Students in The Arabian Gulf and presented her project titled "The extinction threat of the natural culture ".

Roaya Tareq is an active member of the Environmental Citizenship Program that comes under Bahrain Women Association. In the last two years Roaya and team have cooperated with the Ministry of Education in Bahrain in order to deliver workshops to schools and kindergarten to help children and teens have more understanding about environmental issues. They have covered topics including sustainable consumption, the Earth Charter and environmental friendly attitudes.

Jordan

Sara Sheyyab works on a project aiming to improve the water situation in Jordan by exploring new methods of increasing water sources, while using available water supplies in the most efficient way possible. Her involvement in this project will be applied through sharing of information, education services, and school activities. In this site project, she will implement the reuse of grey water after its treated, which is recognized as an important water resource.

Lebanon

Adnan Ammache started a club with three other students after attending a Tunza conference.  The club now has 17 members who work enthusiastically on environmental awareness raising, including educating parents and peers on the importance of individuals is persevering the planet. The two main projects are: an awareness-raising campaign on recycling batteries, and a plastic and paper recycling project encouraging students to use recycling bins properly.

Mirna Haidar is active in promoting women rights and youth empowerment. Most recently she participated is the Arab Climate Policy workshop held at the American University of Beirut where over 50 local and international policymakers gathered.

Qatar

Mustafa Al-Suayrafi participated in youth summer camp in Egypt for cleaning and environmental services. The camp was organized by Arab Union for Youth and Environment.

Syrian Arab Republic

Merna Shahin and Julie Mate work with Syrian Environment Protection Society (SEPS) on projects that encourage children to become actively involved in environmental projects.  Activities include: several campaigns and environmental awareness clean-ups, tree plantings, awareness-raising seminars and recycling projects.

United Arab Emirates

Jamal Alfalasi, a 22-year old from United Arab Emirates, went on an expedition to Antarctica with 24 scientists and 80 students from around the world. This amazing journey made Jamal see the beauty of Antarctica,  the direct effect humans are having on the continent and how it effects human’s society directly. “It is a great opportunity to meet youth who share the same interests from all over the world”, Jamal told us excitedly. “And it’s a very important conference this year, because it leads up to Copenhagen (COP15), so it would be the place to put together the voices of the youth in a global youth statement.” As the Tunza Youth Advisor for West Asia, Jamal has been largely involved in environmental activities and stayed in Tunza for two years. When asked about any suggestions to youth all over the globe, Jamal said, “Let’s learn more and read more, know what is going on around you, we do not live in a bubble; let’s not allow let history repeat itself.”

Asmaa Alkabe is involved in a variety of environmental activities including organizing electronic e-litter activities, participating in youth discussions on the best environment ideas, organizing an Environment Camp and presenting a global warming workshop to the Dubai Petroleum Company Competition. 

Yemen

Wail Al-Shami is dedicated to preserving the biodiversity of the island of Socotra, which is home to a variety of vegetation and birds. The island was recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world natural heritage site in July 2008.

ROLAC (Regional Office for Latin America & the Caribbean)

Argentina

Emilio Perez Campanelli works with Asociación Civil Red Ambiental and advocates for environmental issues.

Barbados

Mariama Branker is part of the Caribbean Youth Environment Network. 

Bolivia

Rafael Miranda works to reduce solid waste through the local production of compost, involving governments and civil society in his hometown.

Delia Ramos Cruz participated in the cleaning of Lake Uru Uru in Bolivia. She planned, organized and participated in the cleaning with the municipal government. Because of her initiative, the group of Qanrayku, which she is volunteering for, re-collects almost 8 tons of waste.

Brazil

“Plant a tree after every child born in the family” is the philosophy of Verdemais Project in Brazil. Meneses Marina got involved in Verdemais Project when she was in the forth grade. This creative project was firstly implemented in the local school in 2000 and was then supported by a governmental environment institute IEF (State Institute of Forests) which distributed along with the trees planted by students to every child born in the local hospital, with more than eight thousand trees being planted till now. Marina is also on the Tunza Junior Board. As the representative of children in region of Latin America and Caribbean, she said, “Children in our region are working hard for the environment but a lot is still necessary to be done to improve our work and the awareness of the population as well as the authorities. Earth is our home and the earth has provided us with shelter and life, now it is our turn to pay back her generosity,” When asking about her opinions of youth efforts as well as TUNZA conference, Marina said excitedly:  “With dedication and determination from all of us I am sure we can save the earth from future disasters. We have to be aware and make people aware, since very young, that even the smallest project to save the earth is representative and that a small one can became a gigantic step to preserve our home, the Earth.”

Chile

Nicolas Gonzalo Juri Rosales is a part of the organization “GEO Juvenil Chile” and works with the local communities to educate them on environmental issues.

Colombia 

Manuela Robledo said, “To me, my planet is my life, but with all the pollution, we are destroying the ozone layer. If we don’t take care of our planet, we are going to die because of the intensity of the light and the ozone layer. We can help the environment by picking up the trash that is on the floor and especially collecting trash properly: organic, inorganic and paper. We must not use sprays because we can destroy the ozone layer even more. The planet that we are seeing in this moment is a contaminated planet. If we keep behaving like that, all the inhabitants in this planet are going to die. We have to take care of the planet and the air for having a good, safe, and clean planet.

Solution: 1. I´ve been proposing and I have already started several environmental campaigns where students at C.H.L.A. are acquiring trash awareness, and they´re picking it up in all the green areas. That´s what the general services coordinator in my School has told me, and of course, we´ve seen a cleaner school. 2. We must start developing (As soon as possible) and using cars moved by sunlight not by gasoline! In Science class, I asked my teacher to provide us with a deeper knowledge about solar energy and its applications, but especially focused in how to take advantage of this kind of energy and its application and current use in vehicles. We´re going to have a contest where the best solar car model will be the winner: Not the most beautiful one, but the one that takes the greatest advantage of solar panels. 3. I´m proposing to my principal, the possibility of taking workshops and conferences given by experts, here at C.H.L.A., were people can learn how to use solar energy more proficiently, how to build up windmills, especially the farmers in the paths surrounding C.H.L.A, with the help of my peers from 10th and 11th grade who provide them with social work on Fridays and Saturdays. I´m still waiting for her response, but I´m sure I´ll receive a positive response. 

Costa Rica

Jose Humberto Paez works with Kus Kura and is a member of the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Rainforests.

Cuba

Maria del Carmen studies journalism at Havana University. Since she was 14 years old she has participated in environmental activities at the local level. She has written several reports on youth and ecology, and participated in the Clean Up the World campaign and Plant for the Planet. 

Beatriz Baeza Noriega and Marcelo Salado Lastra work across the school and community using theatre and paint education to help raise awareness of protecting water, air and botanical space. The students of elemental school Marcelo Salado of Santa Clara use the residues of paper and cartoons to make mask and figures and represent it in theatre presentations.

Dominican Republic

Claudio Cordero is the National Coordinator of the Tunza Network. He has contributed to the Plant for the Planet Campaign and the Clean Up the World campaign, as well as organizing several workshops and conferences on climate change and water management for youth and children in his community.

Ecuador

Andrea Yépez is the president of the student government of the high school “4th of July”. She is also the promoter of the project about alternative transportation “Cycle Marching”. Furthermore, she is the assistant of "GEO Youth Ecuador”. 

Guyana

Keri-Ann Agard said “In order to accomplish our goal of taking actions to conserve our local environment, we need to build our capacity to plan and conduct activities for our members and other youths in our community. The activities that we plan must be able to hold the interest of our members and other youths on an ongoing basis and also be educational. Our research revealed that the SYE methodology is an ideal initial training for providing us with the required skills and to study the environment in a way that would capture and sustain the interest of our members. The SYE methodology is particularly attractive as it is outdoor education that allows an understanding of the scientific method in way that is simple, cheap and fun. An added bonus of the SYE methodology is that it strengthens science concepts and performance in science.”

Haiti

Geetchina Eugene works to recycle boxes for use as desks in Haiti. After the hurricane, many desks were destroyed, so her initiative has allowed for more desks for the school children of Haiti.

Honduras

Dirron Wilt Orellana Schultz has been instrumental in the reforestation of the community, including the border of the river which threatens the area. He was the leader in the environment committee for the community and was responsible for the creation of the nursery.

Mexico

Ariana Pena works with GEO Juvenil and International Water and Youth Movement and advocates for better care for the environment.

Nicaragua

Carlos Avilez was elected President of National Youth Environmental Club and has participated in several environmental activities, including on topics of integrated management of solid waste.

Panama

Julio Arias was a founder of the Mission Harpy Eagle Group that aims to promote biology and conservation. One of his key accomplishments is his work with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Barro Colorado Island.

Peru

With people in Quebrada Verde, Wendy Lau has been tried to improve tourism through using natural resources. Projects include using recycled paper to make notebooks, better use of resources like wood, and the implementation of tourist circuits in order to take advantage of the natural landscapes.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Willesha London conducts clean ups of the school compound twice every week. As a result of this project, it is more far-reaching than just the schoolyard, as the local community is now disposing of waste in more environmentally friendly methods.

Trinidad and Tobago

Maurisa Roopnarine is actively engaged in a UNESCO programme entitled Sandwatch. Sandwatch provides the framework for school students and their local communities, to work together to critically evaluate the problems and conflicts facing their beach environments and to develop sustainable approaches to address these issues. Sandwatch seeks to change the lifestyles and habits of youth on a community-wide basis and to develop awareness of the fragile nature of the marine and coastal environments and the need to use it wisely.

Venezuela

Paula Chacin has created a photo gallery of polluted sites from around her city to raise awareness of community members of the environmental degradation taking place.

Alonso Lizaraz has attended the Tunza International Youth Conference in 2007, two subregional workshops and the 2008 Children’s Conference as the chaperone for two boys.

ROE (Regional Office for Europe )

 Armenia

Molorakâ Junior Team was founded after the National Ozone Unit of Armenia conducted its first awareness seminar on the Ozone Layer in 2006 at the N176 middle school. Since the initiation of the Molorakâ Junior Team, it began by developing a project which aims at raising awareness on the importance of the ozone layer, among children of primary and secondary schools of Armenia. Young people discussed the following subjects that pertain to the ozone layer: ozone depleting substances and their global warming potential, the efforts of world community to save the ozone layer, the input children can have personally and methods of protection from ultraviolet radiation. Awareness seminars previously held and those that will be conducted by the Molorakâ Junior Team resulted/will result in the raised awareness and growing interest towards the issues the ozone layer protection. Additionally, the team examined the importance of climate change in regard to the replacement of ozone depleting substances that are both ozone depletes and greenhouse gases. Children also become aware of why and exactly how they can protect themselves from the harmful ultraviolet radiation. Anna-Armenuhi Grigoryan and Otar Gharibyan, two Molorakâ members, also tell children about the Montreal Protocol and how it unites countries globally, about its input to climate protection issue by the reduction of 25 billion tones of greenhouse gases emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents up till now. 

Azerbaijan

Irade Mikayilova said, “As we know, youth organization plays a crucial role in the society enlightenment. It strengthens the knowledge of youth on climate change and protection of the environment.” 

Rufat Dargahli and Maryam Mammadova are members of SPARE Environment Club. The basic idea of SPARE (School Project Application Resources of Energy) project is to transform a global issue into practical activities of school children and other people. SPARE helps to make schools and homes more energy effective in practice. Discoveries by children in the regard to energy saving may be useful for school administration, for their parents, friends and neighbours. A number of the 0-cost energy efficiency measures have been developed for SPARE based on the slogan "Think globally, act locally".  

Belarus

Maksim Stankevich and Polina Sliunkova, two students in Minsk, work with children of all ages on ecology and environment protection. Trips are also organized for the students to visit a local natural preserve where they help maintain rare species of plants. They also write articles which are published in local press about the importance of maintaining the natural resources. A lot of attention is given to schoolyard renovations, including flowerbeds - the “Green fairytale of the schoolyard”.  Another part of their project is that during summertime our schoolchildren have to work for 5 days making the schoolyard look nice- planting flowers and trees, weeding and watering the plants.  

Belgium

Purnawati Hustina Rachman works with the International Association of Students in Agricultural and Related Sciences (IAAS) and advocates for environment issues.

Estonia

Tuuli Madiberk participated in Tunza youth conference in 2007, where she was elected as alternate advisor. She has assisted youth advisors if they have requested help and followed the developments of youth network. She is also a mentor and advisor for youth delegates to EEHC (European Environment and Health Committee) and CEHAPE (Children’s’ Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe) Task Force as she was their predecessor (youth representative 2006-2007).

France

Celine Moses is a student in business school and a new environmental activist. Diego Le Gallou has been active in civil society since 2003 where he participated in the creation of Fac Verte (environmental student syndicate). He is currently Secretary General of Starting Block, NGO approved by the Ministry of Education for the education of 11 / 18 years in international solidarity and development issues in the scholar sector.

Georgia 

Tornike Popxadze said, “I believe it is time for action. Our school is located in the center of the city and I notice numerous traffic jams resulting in air pollution for the surrounding area.  My team has constructed the following methods to help educate people on issues affecting the environment: permanent educational /informational meetings, animation shows, presentations of photos on catastrophes, internet use, printing booklets for information about danger of the dust air conditions in the nearby area of our school. We have done this for our friends, parents and our society. I hope this will work.”

Germany

Gabriela Monteiro is from Brazil and was the Tunza Youth Advisor from 2007 to 2008. In 2008, she developed and coordinated an Environmental Education project called Projeto Impactos in AIESEC Salvador (Brazil). This was a two-month long project aimed at students from 10 to 18 years old from public and private schools of Salvador. As a methodology, we worked with interactive workshops about environmental topics such as Recycling, Sustainable Consumption, Clean Technologies, and Sustainability.

In January 2007 Franziska Finkbeiner and Felix Finkbeiner began the website www.plant-for-the-planet.com. Their aim was for students to plant 1 milion trees in Germany. Thousands of students from 350 schools throughout Germany planted or committed themselves to plant 457,000 until 2009. We aspire for their goal to be reached in the year 2009.

Lithuania

Gintare Ulianskaite is involved in a climate change project. During the workshops the members discuss ecological problems and the ways to solve them. She said, “Our city has urgent environmental problems of waste, transport, energy, water and others. One of the most important problems is insufficient public education about environmental protection and how people can be involved in their everyday life to reduce climate change. The most important aspect in our community is the problem of waste. My friends, family and I decided to work in the following two categories: The home without wastes of electrical and electronical equipment (WEEE). The results of this is the understanding, that WEEE cannot be eliminated together with other wastes. We are removing it from our homes and putting it to the waste collection areas. Also, we are educating the local community about the safe elimination of WEEE. Secondly was compost valuable resource, which is a practical activity in my home. We seek to explain to our family members, that the organic wastes can be a valuable natural fertilizer. In our family garden we made the compost box. We will inform our friends and neighbors about the results of our activities. The members of the project will make the presentations about their activities in the scientific conferences at the Nature School.”

Netherlands

Anne Walraven is a Tunza Youth Advisor for Europe. Her passion is mainly on climate change: the field where she wants to make a contribution during the coming years. As a volunteer for Solar Generation International, she is the assistant of the project leader of a large Dutch research project. The project is about the impact of climate change to urban and coastal areas worldwide.

Michaela Hogenboom has participated in the following activities: conducted management simulation game (Kazakhstan), studied oil and gas policy (Kazakhstan), on the board of international student association (the Netherlands), developed performance appraisal system (the Netherlands), and made volunteer policy coherent with organisational goals in order to spur development for Enviu (the Netherlands). 

Don Gerritsen has been an official delegate for the Netherlands during UNFCCC COP 14 (Poznan) and will also participate in the upcoming COP 15 (Copenhagen).

Norway

Marte Myklebust Haugland and fellow Eco-agents attended an "info and demo day" at BIR - Norway's second largest waste handling company. She said “We were shown and taught how BIR carries out waste handling in a modern, environmentally correct and cost efficient way. I can now tell other people (family, friends etc) how they can carry out household waste handling in an environmentally friendly way in order to improve the recycling of waste processes. Furthermore, I have attended a "Walk to school" project arranged by my community environmental organization this autumn. My best friend and I walk to school every day, approx. 5 km (back and forth). We have encouraged other pupils and children to do the same. Now and then my best friend and I place notes on idle running cars making them aware of their pollution and requesting them to switch off the engine. 

Poland

Milena Florek and Magdalena Pater participate in several environment activities such as: separate waste (paper, glass, plastic, batteries), clean up our villages, tree planting, educate the adults. They said, “In June 2008 children from our school club had the honour and pleasure to attend the TUNZA Conference in Norway. After our return, on 2 October 2008, we organised a conference for children, teachers, parents and authorities from our region to report on our attendance in TUNZA Conference. Representatives from 12 schools (primary and secondary) came to our school. The Director of Department of Preservation of Nature made a speech on the condition of the natural environment in our region. Everybody went home with the list of commitments from TUNZA 2008 ICC. They promised to take them up and in May 2009 we are going to meet again and present our achievements on these environmental fields. Children from our school decided to focus mainly on saving energy and water. Moreover, we decided to support the campaign “Save Our Chestnut Trees”. This tree is being depleted by an insect called the Cameraria ohridella. Attending 2009 TUNZA Conference would give us not only an opportunity to meet other children who care about the environment and make international friends, but primarily to learn more about environmental challenges and create solutions and also to convince our local society that what we do is extremely important for people all over the World. 

Romania

Alexandru Ioan Magdau: Le passage de l'ecologie du stade de simple discipline scientifique a celui de probleme de la conscience commune, nationale et internationale, represente une realite triste de nos jours lorsque la destruction de l'equilibre naturel de la planete entiere est imminente. La lutte contre la pollution de la planete sollicite collaboration et cooperation internationale. Ca depend de nous de vivre dans un milieu propre sain et non-pollue.De nos jours, lorsq'on assiste a l'imixtion de l'homme dans la nature, on impose l'education ecologique de la jeunne generation, car "les enfants sont des messages vivants qu'on envoie vers les temps qu'on ne revivra plus". Le project ECOFEST JUNIOR a les activites suivantes: Concours de dessin ,promenades dans la nature ,actions de l'Ecologisation ,actions pour la nature ,ECO Conference ,Concours d'orientation en foret etc Les organisateurs du Festival ECOFEST JUNIOR ont un angagement professionel envers la nature et la protection de l'environnement, tout en creant la communication ECO entre les enseignants et les enseignes de notre pays et l'etranger. L'equipe de coordinateurs ECO de Simeria sont convaincus que leur travail n'est pas vain. "Sortez dans la nature! Sentez la nature! Aimez-la et respectez-la! Ce sentiment est quelque chose de vivant. C'est la signification de notre Festival, un moyen par lequel le sentiment de l'amour vivant pour la nature deviant eternal pour les autres puisse le revivre" (L’equipe ECO/ Roumanie)

Russian Federation

In 2007 Alina Bezhenar was elected for the Youth Delegate 2007-2009 CEHAPE/EEHC position, (Children's Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe/European Environment and Health Committee). She has been extremely active since then and took part in various WHO meetings during 2007, 2008, 2009 years. Currently, she is working for the preparation of the 5th Monisterial Conference in Parma, Italy in 2010. She is a good networker and was also a participant of the Tunza conference in 2007.

Narkiza Mukhametshina said, “Sustainable lifestyle is an important topic for us as a young generation; we are responsible for the future. A sustainable future would make us recognize the importance of aspects such as a healthy lifestyle. This will be achieved by eating healthy food, fruit that is rich in vitamins, vegetables that contain minerals. Eating foods such as chips, crisps, pizzas and having drinks such as cola and other products should be avoided. Children should eat healthy and nutritionally beneficial food. To highlight the importance of this topic, we are going to organise lectures by nutritionist on the significance of nutritional eating habits. We will also have discussions with local farmers about agricultural techniques and also have lectures by medical experts on eating disorders. In addition, we will have a party called the "Good Food Party" encouraging healthy eating.”

Polina Bezmaternikh and Evgenia Poskina said, “There is a river and a pond in our town choked with wastewater enterprises. There are concentrations of some dangerous materials in the water ecosystem of our town. Our main objective is to make the Beloyarsk pond and River Pyshma clean and beautiful again.

To achieve this we need to: clean the shore of the pond and the river from waste, e.g. bottles, wrappers and etc, remove water chemical and biological harmful materials, change the citizens and the enterprises behavior and treatment of the environment.

The results of our project to be the following: to have analyzed the Pyshma River system, the type and sources of its pollution, to have made a map of the river and marked the location of the towns and enterprises on it, to have conducted several public actions for the removal of waste from the river shore, to present our project to the future leaders of the Urals towns and call them to join to us. The impact of the project will be: 1. The pond and the river should become a favorite location for people and known as a place for leisure and rest as it was in the past. The river system will also be safe and comfortable for swimming and fishing.

2. The water will be return to the natural conditions.

3. Children will recognize themselves as real owners of this native place and this will lead them to be responsible and care treatment of the environment.

4. Local community will be attentive to children’s voices.

5. People and enterprises will treat the environment and particularly the water with care. 

Matvey Matveev and Tatiana Ponomareva work on a project whereby schools in the north-western part of Russia and in the northern part of Norway (the whole Barents region) cooperate in an effort to map the phrenology of selected species in the North Calotte region. They observe species of plants, birds and insects (18 objects in total) and collect data. The data is then sent to Svanhovd Environmental Centre through the Internet.

Evgeny Barannikov and Denis Davydov call themselves the “Green Teens”. They said, “We study environmental problems and ways that people can solve them. We have already learnt a lot so far, and we want to share our knowledge and our concerns with the people in our community. That is why we decided that our project should be devoted to raising environmental awareness. Our initial challenge was to find the ways of reaching out to people and to draw attention to the environmental problems on a local and global scale. How we as children and teenagers can reach out to people with environmental messages. How we can encourage the busy and disinterested adults and skeptical teens to stop and think for a moment and reconsider their current behavioral consumption. We pondered over our interest is rooted and recognized the following aspects: Social networks, music, mass media, role models, games and sport have proven to be key influencers for young people. Arts and culture engagements also have a strong role to play. Visual means of appeal undoubtedly present a unique and effective opportunity for promoting environmental awareness and action by drawing the attention of spectators. We needed to develop a strategy that would enable us to make our statements. So after a series of discussions we came up with a simple idea graffiti is the solution! We are enthusiastic, active, concerned and eager to create, so graffiti turned out to be one of the most effective and simplest methods of spreading our message. We chose graffiti because; it is a fashionable modern subculture. It is popular with both kids and teens. It requires a diverse team and would therefore team up kids studying art, languages, ecology and other things to act together. We think it is a form of art that can enable us to involve more people in environmental activities. It can be an international language for the young generation and a means of voicing their concerns about nature. Graffiti immediately catches your eye there is hardly another form of modern art which has the ability to mobilize as many people. Additionally, it lasts long, is fun, entertaining and educative. We hope it will help us highlight the most crucial issues concerning our environment and pull the trigger to start a forceful public campaign on the environment. Moreover, using the English language in our drawings enables us to broaden and strengthen our friendly international relations and thus contributes to the process of globalization. Having done a lot of prior discussion, sketching and selecting the best drawings, finding the right slogans and styles, colours and images, we came up with a few compositions. Reduce, reuse, recycle, Plant a Tree, Save Our Planet. There was a great interest in what we were doing and people seemed very approving, they asked questions and some even offered their walls for us to use next time. My friends and I have seen that small steps can lead to big changes. We hope that we have managed not just to raise awareness on environmental issues, but to change attitudes and inspire people to take action. We would really like to participate in the Tunza International Children’s Conference to share our experiences, learn more from others and to voice our concerns for a better planet.”

Renata Hasanova, Karina Farhutdinova, Amir Suleymanov, and Robert Ilyasov said, “We live in Bashkortostan, a Russian province in the Urals. Our region is rich in mineral resources, including crude oil, coal and ores. Consequently, some of the processing industries are in Ufa, the capital of the region. Very often they are the main source of environmental pollution. To preserve the beauty of our native land, its forests, rivers and lakes and to prevent ecological catastrophes we must be responsible to future generations for preservation of the land we live in. Our city is situated on the bank of the Belaya (river) which is in critical condition. The river is in danger of dying-out unless the level of pollution from the city is drastically cut. Half of the fish species in the local rivers are at levels below reproduction factor. All over the region we have problems with fresh-water springs because of their pollution. It takes water 25-30 years to restore. Much of the city’s sewage flows into the Belaya untreated. 30 % of the sewage water is dumped into the Belaya River by industrial enterprises and household waste goes there unfiltered. It is a deadly cocktail of various heavy metals and human waste. Our school has set up a club, called Rodnik (fresh-water spring). The club aims to revive littered areas as well as to improve existing water resources. Our process will be to first find an abandoned spring and take water samples for analysis. Then we clean up the litter around the spring and improve its access roads. We hope that a mutual exchange of experience among conference participants will provide us with new innovative ideas and ways of solving our local environmental problems.”

Daria Podosenova said, “The youth project "Climatic patrol" in the area I live, Sverdlovsk region of Russia. Our region leads in the emission of carbon gases.  We know that the problem of climate change is exceedingly urgent for the world and the urgent efforts of all countries and regions are necessary to resist this problem. We at the school initiated the climatic patrol.

1. We know, that because of inefficient use of energy resulting are unnecessary losses and  there is excessive carbon emissions. Therefore, we go on streets and we take note of electric lights, working during the day. Usually these lights are registered under the municipal services or publicity agents. We write down the address, where unnecessary light is burning and we inform to municipality/authority.

2. We know, that in Russia 25-30 % of emissions occur because of inefficient use of energy, therefore we utilize the energy audit of the house and schools: we consider the optimum variant of use of electrical devices. We ask parents and director of the school to change ineffective devices.

3. We know, that trees are the “lung” of the planet and they save planet’s climate. Thus we have begun to plant trees near the school and on the sites near our houses. The results of our activity are as follows:

- the deenergisation of more than 20 lamps, burning by day, the installation of energy efficient equipment at school and home and finally, 20 planted trees.

We would really like to share our experience of this activity at a Tunza conference; there we will find our colleagues in other countries together. We will decide on how best to approach the problem of climate change. It is necessary to solve climate change for the future to generations!

Sweden

Faltbiologerna (Nature and Youth Sweden) is a nation-wide NGO for young environmentalists 7 to 25 years old in Sweden. The activities range from nature studies to environmental protection. Members of Faltbiologerna that have been invited to participate in the Tunza conference hope to travel by land transportation from Sweden to Korea, in order to limit their carbon footprints and ultimately, "be the change they want to see". Salomon Abresparr is an active member of the Climate network that's running a campaign up to COP15.

Mattias Harr and Lea Simma work with an organisation that works with indigenous peoples rights, specifically the Sámi, on a daily basis.

Turkey

Bora Azaltun said, “In today’s world global warming is the most biggest problem. As trees grow they absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), the main 'greenhouse gas' responsible for global warming, thereby reducing the concentration of this gas in the atmosphere. Forests are referred to as 'carbon sinks' for this function of CO2 absorption and storage. Planting trees to bolster carbon sink area, an example of what is termed as carbon sequestration, helps offset the loss of native forests and ultimately fights global warming. Tree planting is a key weapon in fighting against global warming. So our students and teachers start planting firstly in school garden and than around the school areas. Students also started to give lectures about the importance of tree planting to their friends, their parents and also other schools students and teachers. They made announcements about tree planting and its results in many ways. These are posters on school walls, banners in the streets, lecturing in the lessons and etc. Moreover, our school arranged seminaries about global warming and the importance of tree planting. The students took to the street with their banners and placards which include words about preventing carbon emission & the importance of tree planting. Students began a campaign to raise money for reforestation in deforested areas. We reforested many areas around our school and also in different townships in our city Izmir. Finally, our students understand that sustainable forestry can provide additional climate change and local environmental benefits not only for themselves but people throughout the world. Therefore, my students and I will continue to work about planting and reforestation in every appropriate area, and deforested areas.”

Ukraine

Alina Dyachenko, Dmytro Vizer, Diana Sambukina and Sergey Shagov said, “The objectives of our project “Save Our Planet” is to raise the awareness of Odessa habitants, concerning the necessity of using dust-bins for separate garbage collection.To increase their knowledge and adherence to principles of ecological behavior by working out and producing the information booklet ; addresses to the tenants of the houses where the “broken glass” containers for separate accumulation of solid domestic everyday waste and garbage have been installed. In order to raise the level of information concerning this problem and bring them personally to the people living in the flats of these houses. Odessa citizens have already been informed about the project from the telecast “From Small to Big. Everything, possibly, only begins” - is a TV programme dedicated to the work of our Ecological Club “Kind People Planet.” It is a fulfillment of our project as well as to our participation in the 2008 Tunza International Children’s Conference on the Environment has been telecast 4 times on different days. In October 2008 we had the meeting with the First Deputy Chairman of Odessa Regional Organization of the Green Party of Ukraine, who helped us to arrange that telecast. In the summer we took part in the Action of Children’s Protest against the construction of “Water City” and “Fishing Paradise” cottage settlements and sharing a lot of information which we got from the Tunza Conference with the children of Mayaki – members of the Ecological camp and in the primary action on separate collection of solid domestic waste and garbage in the city of Odessa on the example of the experimental house. Attending the Summit will give us the opportunity to improve our knowledge on the environment, enjoy new experiences, ensure that we can voice our concerns and inspire others with our enthusiasm." 

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Eleanor Sutcliffe said, “I have adopted Llwyngwril beach under the marine conservation societies (mcsuk) adopt a beach scheme and am the organisor for beach cleanups. I arrange for local groups such as Girl Guides, schools and youth clubs etc. to attend clean up days, where we usually collect around 100kg of rubbish. I then place the rubbish into different categories and count every item. This data is sent to MCSUK who use it in their research to help cut down marine littering. I also make art and sculptures out of some of the rubbish, which I will be displaying in March in our local library to raise awareness of littering, and the damages it causes. Another project I have run is saving water. We used to have milk cartons every day in school, as we do not have plastic recycling in our area I was concerned that approximately 400 cartons a week were going to landfill sites. For a few weeks I washed all the bottles and gave them to the children to give to friends and family, with a leaflet which instructed them to fill it with water and place it in their toilet cistern saving 1 pint of water every time they flushed,now we have biodegradable milk bags so hopefully I contributed towards this change. Lately I have also been raising money to sponsor an elephant water pump from Pump Aid, which will help communities far less fortunate than my own. To date I have raised £140 and been on national radio. Not many of my friends share my concerns and attending this summit, I’m hoping will show  that I am not alone. I know I would get encouragement and support for my work and would love to see what other children are doing. I am sure there is more I can do, it would be great to learn more and share this with my school and local groups.

Ross Cochrane is from Scotland and is part of a global footprinting community project which can be accessed the following website: www.localfootprints.org

Raymond Gray, Megan Joyce and Chloe Mitchell said, “We wanted to find ways to live a more sustainable lifestyle in Scotland, humans are consuming the resources of three planet earths and this has to stop. We all need to reduce our carbon footprints, we are taking too much in term of resources from the planet. We cease this now! We have been doing this project for two years now and our work can be found on the WWF website www.localfootprints.org. Our teachers have been invited to our Parliament to talk about our project and we alongside our community are very proud of our achievements.

All the work we do is based around four questions: 1 What is a global footprint? 2 How do we measure our footprint? 3 Why are Global Footprints important? 4 How can we reduce our footprint? In our project each school measured: the energy we use, gas, electricity, we took note of our dining rooms food, the waste in our school, paper, plastic bottles, cartridges food, how much water we use and waste, the transport we use to get to school, biodiversity in our school grounds and more. I would like to represent my country at the Tunza Conference to share our project with you and people from all over the world.”

Corinne Millar said, “I took part in the Global Footprinting Community Project. The project can be viewed on this WWF web address. www.localfootprints.org. You will have heard a lot about our global footprinting project now from the other pupils in my school. Here is some more work we are doing in our community. Talks from the police about vandalism in our community and why it is a bad problem we are also making anti- vandal posters for our community.”

Stuart Close said, “I took part in the Global Footprinting Community Project. The project can be viewed on this WWF web address. www.localfootprints.org. You will have heard a lot about our global footprinting project now from the other pupils in my school but I would like to tell you about some of the new work we will be trying out soon. Our teacher Miss Shanley has been doing some work on Eco Psychology. She has her own blog with WWF and the Eco Club has been following her work as well. We have discussed Eco Psychology and realise it is about trying to make people live a more sustainable lifestyle. It is different though because usually we get told how best to do this. Eco Psychology lets the children get into the outside world and see, touch, hear, smell and sometimes taste nature. This helps us see we are a part of nature and it helps us have lifelong experiences which we can use to help motivate us to live in a more sustainable way. I have some photos of us at the river experiencing nature. We taped sounds and made sonic postcards. We watched and identified birds and plants. We used our senses to discover things. The Eco Club is going to do more Eco psychology work which should help our Global Footprinting project. In secondary schools a lot of people drop out of Eco work as they get older. We want people to try Eco Psychology to see if it will help us live in a more sustainable way throughout our lives.”

Joseph Anderson said, “Since I was six, I have become a more and more active member of Norton Wildlife Watch. Since attending Tunza in Norway, I have contacted a lady from Ryedale District Council. Through presentations we have given (based on commitments drawn up by the delegates), we have tried to persuade local people of the value of our work. I try to encourage simple things we can do to help reduce Global Warming and as a group we campaign for change. I think we should encourage the Council to concentrate on: becoming a plastic bag free zone; encourage car sharing; encourage renewable energy; promote environmental awareness campaigns in our schools, and the community; use more recycled water; encourage people to grow some of their food for the past ten years. Our group has looked after and surveyed Norton Ings - a local wetland area in the middle of town. I have some examples of our artwork such as: mosaics beside the river. My family and I have been involved with restoration of a community house which has won a sustainability award and I helped with a project which will generate hydro power and create a study centre on an island on the local River Derwent. “

RONA (Regional Office for North America )

 Canada

Ashleigh Kolla participated in the Sustainable Generations workshop in April in Nairobi. Her participation, along with her colleague Theresa Fresco, opened the door to international collaboration of the goBEYOND network. With the help of UNICEF's unite4climate web page, goBEYOND will be able to have more international ties to groups abroad. The major partnerships that would like to be further developed are between Inter Varsity Environmental Network (IVEN) and Indian Youth Climate Network (IYCN).

 In response to VANOC's U-reduce/U-produce video contest where youth (13-24) were invited to submit a 30 to 90 second video on what they can do reduce their environmental footprint, Darrick Lee and Michael Darnel wrote and recorded an original rap song and video that earned them first place. Darrick and Michael's submission of "Hurtin" - encouraged viewers to make responsible environmentally conscious choices in everyday life earned them first prize. Their video "stole the show" at the 8th World Conference. 

Joanna Dafoe is most proud of her role as organizer of the President’s Climate Initiative campaign with the Sustainability Commission. Joanna organized a team of 30 volunteers to lobby the University of Toronto to sign a greenhouse gas emission reduction pledge. The campaign mobilized students through an online and offline petition, as well as an informative youtube video that was distributed widely across campus. The campaign generated media coverage from two city newspapers and an arts journal.

Annie Collins said, “When I came back as the new North American Representative on the TUNZA Junior Board, I started the Sustainability Club as there was no environmental club at my new school. Our first initiative is becoming a Fair Trade Town. We have made presentations and received the support of numerous community organizations, including the Village Council to sell and serve Fair Trade products at all official functions. We are also giving educational presentations to all students in our school district on Fair Trade. We hope to be the first Fair Trade Town in British Columbia, Canada. Our club is also designing a school garden for the school and community and organizing for every student in our school to plant and take care of their own tree, to minimize their carbon footprint and beautify our school grounds. We are also making and having bike racks installed on the school grounds to encourage students to cycle to school. In addition, we are starting a school store that will sell environmentally friendly products such as school supplies and clothing at affordable prices. In the Spring we will be holding a Sustainability Fair to celebrate and educate all students and the community about the variety of environmental projects and encourage all teachers and their students to become involved. All these initiatives are being published in our new Sustainability newsletter to help students, teachers, parents and community members keep informed and involved in helping our school and community be focused on sustainability.”

Tery-Jordy Ndibanje said, “Our team of children is engaged to seek how to improve the quality of our environment. We need to know what other children from others countries think about environment. Also, we would like to share what we have learned with other children in our community and beyond. The statistical knowledge about environment and how these changes can help for growing children how to take care our environment and make difference.”

Clara Simpson said, “The CISV Environmental Group is making a difference to the biodiversity in our ecosystem by helping to re-establish the bur oak to its natural habitat in the Saint John River Valley in New Brunswick, Canada. Over the years, farming, forestry, urban development and river damming have destroyed much of the bur oak habitat. We have planted over 300 native bur oak trees and have collected local seed (acorns), germinated them, planted them in pots and will plant them outside when they are ready. We have also produced a brochure detailing our conservation plan for distribution to landowners and naturalists.

United States of America

Daniel Hahm is an outgoing and active member of the school community. His most noteworthy activity is his participation in his school's Environmental Interest Group, a student-run club that participates in regional service projects as well as organizes activities and programs within the school, such as a recent "Green Week," "Bike to School" Days, and the distribution of reusable water bottles to replace disposable plastic.

Judy Li is the president of a community based ecology club organization. She has succeeded in motivating and leading members to participate in national environmental competitions and execute school wide projects such as a new sustainable recycling program and construction of a native plant garden.

Nichole Alex has been instrumental in getting the Navajo Green Economy Plan off the ground. The plan would establish a "Navajo Green Economy Fund" that would generate hundreds of green jobs. Nichole has been vital in building this plan with marketing and outreach throughout the Navajo Nation, particularly by working with Navajo youth.

In November of 2008, Richard Merritt co-created the “Let's Raise a Million” project. This student-led, policy-supported, urban ecological project conducts complete energy efficient light bulb retrofits and energy audits, free of charge, for residents of modest means while informing recipients of the health, economic and environmental benefits of energy conservation. The goal is to exchange 1,000,000 "clean bulbs" within four years.

From May to August 2008, Jessica Oh interned at the Seattle mayor’s office, working on a city-based environmental campaign called Seattle Climate Action Now (CAN). Seattle CAN provides the tools and resources for local residents to reduce their personal climate pollution, and its summer campaign “Give your car the summer off” was aimed at reducing the use of single-occupancy vehicles and encouraging residents to use mass transit, bike, or carpool. As an intern, she worked on outreach.

After meeting with Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, Rina Mwiti wanted to be in an arena with other people from around the world who are working towards a greater environmental cause. One day, Rina realized that the non profit organizations in the developing countries were not as effective as they should be. She wondered why they did not come together and form a stronger organization, instead of giving only a small amount of food to the people in poverty; they could build research centres and more.

Lauren Nutter has coordinated our SustainUS Agents of Change Program. The program brings delegations of young people based in the U.S. to conferences and summits related to international policy, primarily at the United Nations. Juan Soriano is from Peru and is in charge of keeping in touch with the membership at-large and recruiting new members. He is also helping coordinate our grassroots working group and networking with youth activists from South America, to bring a youth delegation from that region to COP15.

In collaboration, Charles Grieve developed a community outreach project and educational website called “Healthy Ways~ Green Days.” Working with the Meridian Health Foundation and Whole Foods markets, who is the local sponsor, this project illustrates the link between what we eat and how this affects our bodies and our environment at the same time. The program is geared towards children and youth, and is based on the research of Dr. Colin Campbell and his work published in a book called, “The China Study.”

Gillian Hutter said, “I would like to tell you about a community environmental project called the North American Bird Phenology Program. I have volunteered for the program and would love to share information about bird migration and the impact birds have on our environment. Birds impact our environment is a big way. Birds are important transporters of seeds and plants grow from those seeds. When a bird species migration pattern changes, plants and our environment are affected severely. I am working with the information that the North American Bird Phenology Program has collected. The North American Birde Phenology Program houses a unique and largely forgotten collection of six million migration observer cards that illuminate migration patterns and population status of birds in North America. When I volunteer, I see how important it is to keep track of the world around us (especially the birds)! My volunteering (in a small way) will help scientists determine the impact that global warming has had with bird migration.”

Krishna (Dylan) Mahalingam said, “The project “Green Your Lives,” is a student-organized group dedicated to the concept of going green. The team of students united with the purpose of educating their greater community about our planet’s current environmental condition, and the growing problem of dwindling natural resources. The philosophy of the group is that going green is not a choice, but a necessary responsibility. The students’ goal is to promote greener lifestyle choices, which in turn, will result in a reduction of energy cost and carbon emissions. The students began their work within the school system focusing on energy conservation, waste reduction, and recycling. Since then they have become involved in community outreach organizing a “Give and Go” program. Thus far, the students have implemented several initiatives and numerous activities are scheduled for launch throughout the year. The team has generated an informational website (http://www.greenyourlives.org), produced public service announcements, and organized green events within the community. This fall, the group partnered with the Derry Cooperative School District to educate students and staff on ways to go green. The team believes that school is the place to start; it is their belief that when students receive quality instruction of the positive effects of green practice, they are more likely to become environmentally responsible as they grow up. To this end, the students of “Green Your Lives” have sought corporate sponsorship of educational posters and videos, which have been distributed and posted around the schools in the district. In addition to public awareness, the team of students is actively engaged in their own research surrounding lowering of carbon emissions. With the guidance of experts sought out by the team, the students have successfully built a model solar car and are actively experimenting with the creation of a fuel cell car prototype. Our ultimate goal is to include environmental education as part of the curriculum in American schools; attending the summit will help us network with like minded youth so we can grow the project to the next level. “Green Your Lives” is a dedicated group of students, working tirelessly to promote environmental awareness. For more information please visit http://www.greenyourlives.org for photos/videos.”

Anthony Hopkins aka Lil Peppi is a 10 year old child from Tampa, Florida. He has devoted the past 3 years of his young life trying to keep focus on taking care of the planet. In 2006 he released his first professional song about fighting global warming called "Mother Nature's Crying". Since then he has released another song about taking care of the planet called "Melting Ice". Peppi has also performed both songs at numerous Earth Day celebrations around the United States and even won a Sierra Club award in 2008 for his dedication to the planet.

Yong-Jai Kim said, “My brother and I investigated our city rivers. Our city has 3 main rivers, but they are dirty and smelly. We were worried about what would happen if dirty rivers end up washing into the sea. We wanted to know how clean they are, so we decided to test the river water. First, we investigated river banks and surrounding environment along 3 rivers. During the winter time, it was hard to see any flow of water. We observed some birds resting on the banks and lots of garbage, and sewage pipes. The rivers were surrounded by busy traffic roads, towns, hotels and factories. During spring and summer, we could see flowers, green weeds, grass and people strolling along the watershed. Next, we tested the water along the rivers for 66km of total length. To know the water quality, we examined ph, temperature, DO, COD, ammonium, nitrite, phosphate with using a water testing kit. After we tested the river water we thought that some people were using the rivers as a trash can. They would not know that clean water is limited. But, we also found a hope from some people. While we were testing the water, we interviewed some people who had been lived in that city since they were children. We heard how clean and deep the rivers had been and how much they missed those days when they swam in the rivers. Some people were curious about what two children were doing inside and along the river water. We explain them that we were trying to protect the river water. They were surprised and encouraged us a lot. Some of them were very interested and asked us to send them the results. We even met a gentleman who had done the same thing. We were very happy to meet many people and to find hope to share our thought. Then, we visited sewage treatment plant of our city and learned how the sewage was filtered clean enough to run into the river. Finally, we exhibited the result in our school to tell the importance of clean water. We shared our experience with teachers and friends. Now they understand how precious the drinking water is and how much energy and effort are needed to get clean water. My brother and I keep watching the rivers and watersheds. I would like discuss on water protection with friends from all over the world in the conference. I want to know more about what children can do for the water.”

Cassandra Lin said, “I'm a member of the Westerly Innovations Network (WIN team) and I started the project TGIF - Turn Grease Into Fuel in September 2008. Over the last couple year, bio-fuels have emerged as a potential solution to the climate change problem. However, the increasing demand for bio-fuels has been blamed for causing food shortages and environmental disasters such as deforestation. Meanwhile, restaurants can generate hundreds of gallons of waste oil per week, which can be refined into bio-diesel. My group has design a sustainable waste oil recycling system by coordinating the efforts of local restaurants, bio-diesel processors, and the local WARM shelters. By asking restaurants and residents to donate their waste cooking oil then working with local bio-diesel company to turn it into bio-fuel, we hope to be able to provide people in need with heat for this coming winter as well as use the bio-diesel generated by this project on school buses to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions.”

ROA (Regional Office for Africa )

Algeria

Nadir Majahdi said, “With my patrol, I run some clean up campaigns and tree planting in our region. We also did some environmental expeditions to raise awareness: we want the people to take care of the nature and the environment. Last year, I got the world scout environment Badge after testing the world scout environment programme.”

Fatima Hibetallah Benaida said, “The environment is nowadays a major issue and the environmental problems which may mark this century are the advent of genuine concerns which is raising both at the local, regional and global level. In a fact, the erosion and the spread of desertification, the proliferation of green house gases and climate change, the decline of the biological resources of animals and plants. In the other hand, the pollution of soil and ground water and the risk of depletion of the ozone layer and others are sufficiently suggestive examples. Moreover, their consequences, without any exaggeration, threaten our immediate future and that of the future generation. As a matter of fact, we need to provide training «managers» for the environment, able to control its negative factors. At the same time, we need also training in «environmental citizenship». To achieve this latter, we have to provide to the environmental education a privileged and a sustainable place in the educational systems both formal and informal. In addition, the environmental education (EE), in many African countries remains as a peripherical or an occasional activity with no significant side towards the environmental challengers. However, within our association we have made an important step with our environment activities through the centre of initiation to nature and the environmental animation for children which aim to provide training and development of youth multidisciplinary activities and also to provide environmental education via training and information. Finally through this work, we try to expose our activities in order to help in reducing environmental problems including climate change which is held as one of the most serious menaces the environment.”

Walid Amrane is a 21 year-old Algerian student. He was born in a sunny city called Algiers , capital of Algeria , where he lives and studies. He’s currently in his last year at the Superior Banking School . He recently took part to the Citizen Act III (a business game) organized by Societe Generale [Banking Group], on the Corporate Social and Environmental Responsibility, and won third prize for his teams project, consisting of creating green deposits accounts, and setting up eco-loans.

Benin

Peniella Codjo said, “Many rural people in Africa depend on natural resources for survival. The challenge for us is to safeguard wildlife resources and natural ecosystems while ensuring that the needs of local people are met. Benin Environment and Education Society environment clubs are involved in the most important concern for Benin biodiversity conservation in order to make children ambassadors to create mass awareness about the importance of environment conservation by maintaining the lama forest for the red bellied guenon saving. Endemic to the Southern forests of Benin , the red-bellied guenon (Cercopithecus erythrogaster erythrogaster) is a highly threatened primate species ("critically endangered" according to IUCN). The exact number of remaining individuals in the wild is unknown but an important decline of the population occurred during the last decades due to various threats (habitat destruction and fragmentation, poaching activities ...). Protection Providing on-the-ground protection to the monkeys was deemed an immediate priority. Awareness-raising among local communities by students about the importance of these species and measures to protect it is an important and on-going activity. The community students have an integral role in informing local people about the species and the project as well as organizing village meetings. The major concerns for the management program of this forest were:  to list the species as a protected animal by national law, to inform media for better awareness,  to obtain financial support from several international organizations for a long term protection of La Lama forest, • to petition to Unesco to get the "biosphere reserve" status for the forest, • to get the forest as a pilot example for the sustainable protection of the wildlife threatened by extinction. Thus attending the summit will help for information exchange with people from different culture and experiences and discuss about what have been done since Tunza 2008 in Stavanger , and more importantly it will facilitate the involvement of my delegates to be engaged in an international decision making mechanisms.”

From September 13th 2007 to April 28th 2008, Christelle Audrée Zomakpe actively participated to the implementation of the food and sanitation projects at the Dantokpa International Market in Cotonou , Benin . This project consisted in sensitizing female about the risk induced by lack of hygiene in cleaning the dirty places and collecting liquid and solid waste. As field facilitator, she participated to sensitization and awareness sessions and to waste collection.

Botswana

Chipego Hamaluba said, “I work with my dad through the malaria campaign www.globalalliancebotswana.org . My main vision is to help the children who are under 5 years to sleep under treated mosquito nets. My sister helps to plant trees with me. We are cleaning the surrounding of the homes in Botswana north where malaria is always there. Every year, my dad organizes national malaria campaigns and I join him to the villages to teach the people how deadly malaria is. My area in this project is explaining to people how to clean surroundings and also joining in the clean ups. I like this work very much. You can visit the website with graphics of what we did last year in August. www.malaria.org. Look for Botswana report. Through the help of my dad, we have managed to get blue ribbons which I give to my friends at school after explaining to them how deadly malaria is and also telling them what they need to do to prevent the disease. There is very good response from my school and this year in July we are having a big campaign again. “  

Burundi

Jean-Yves Gatete led the scout movement in his high school and has worked on the peace and development campaign when Burundi was still under dangerous conflict. He won a peace award for the people of South of Burundi in 2002 and was among the 48 winners of the Young social entrepreneurs competition in GKP 2007.He piloted many youth projects since 2007 and is currently leading the one on environment in the central provinces of Burundi .

Allison Niragira said, “I am an enthusiastic member of an environmental club at our school and member of national NGO called Association Burundaise pour la protection des Oiseaux-ABO. The main environmental issue in my country is the high demography and consequent high pressure on natural resources mainly on land. Burundi has a big problem of arable land with so many social and environmental problems in the country. As regard to climate change , this arable land shortage has an impact on fuelwood ,the population cannot plant their private woodlands and has a trend of cutting existing public woodlands including the remaining natural forests in an unsustainable way. For this matter, the woodlands is disappearing on an annual rate of 2% and this rate led Burundi to a bad situation and If nothing is done to reduce this rate of deforestation, so many environmental problems will arise especially related to climate change. In order to cope with climate change externalities, Burundi will have to increase wooded lands areas. In this way, I have a project of raising awareness among Burundi youth in particular my classmates and colleagues at my club on the importance of planting trees. Through my project, I will have to raise awareness among Burundi youth on the importance of efficient wood burning stoves in order to save as much as possible. Our forests will help Burundi against fight climate change. My attendance to Tunza 2009 will open my mind as it is an opportunity for me to share experience with other children from around the world .This will in turn benefit so much my country and its programme of environmental education for Burundi youth

Ella Douce Ncuti said, “In my environmental girls club we do have environment actions to fight against climate change. I want to give my hands in the protection of environment and I also want to fight against climate change with other children from all over the world. Participating in this children conference will help me in my activities of protecting environment because i will learn what other children do to make the world a better place. I want to know much more about how to stop climate change and, of course, I want to make a lot of friends from all over the world. Among other activities undertaken in my club are - trees planting - Campaign with schoolmates(Environment clubs) - sanitation - reusable energy campaign - paintings about environment. After the conference, I want be able to raise my voice and other children voices to engage decision makers to take urgent action for the environment protection in my country.”

Cameroon

Tony Richie Morfaw said, “I am Ndeh Alvine from Cameroon and I belong to the Little Angels of the Environment Cameroon -LANEC. In every community in my country and elsewhere, the problem of environmental education exists. There are a thousand and one ways in which children and adults abuse the environment in which they live unconciously or for selfish interest. It is very common to see trees cut down for wood without replacing them; animals grazing into protected areas without control, people farming right into water catchment areas amongst others. These activities by man have deteriorated the environment leading to the change in climatic conditions we now face. In a bid to secure our environment for posterity, our school environmental club has embarked on the use of theatre to educate pupils, teachers and parents on the effects of climate change and the need to preserve the environment. Through the use of sketches and songs most of the pupils are becoming conscious of the fact that they need to adopt new habits in the manner in which they handled the environment before like destroying plants, flowers, throwing plastic bags carelessly and burning fire to dispose of waste such as papers. We are also actively involved in practical exercises like the making of flower beds which have embellished the school yard with flowers. Trash cans are now properly used to dispose of all waste matters. Our activity for this school year is the making of a nursery of fruit trees to embark on reforestation of the school compound. Looking at the nature of our activities, you realise that the children are actively involved in reforestation which is important in preserving the ozone layer, vital in fighting climate change.”

Central African Republic

YADJIBERT-STEPHANIE-NGUEREGOMBA AXELLE had carried out several activities: organizing the day of the environment within its area of communication, making pleas to the local authorities to hold a day of restitution on the evils of destruction of nature, realization of the behavioral analysis, realization of educational talks on various themes pertaining to HIV / AIDS, environment and sexual violence.

Cote d’Ivoire

Naon Katiohora organised a youth camp in the topic of climate change, the youth from 19 local organizations take part of this training. The youth did presentations and played games about climate change in Africa and they were train by the members of the national office of ivory coast . The lead organization was CISV Côte d'Ivoire .

Hamed Yoro Sangare said, “We organized clean ups with the children from 10 to 14 year old. As the topic of this competition : what future for our forest. To be selected the best report would to give the real causes of the forest disappearance and give some suggestions. Five environmental organizations and ten schools were candidates 100 candidates at all. Sangare Hamed Yoro from "SAINT KALUCE SCHOOL" was the winner of this competition. his article has been appeared in our national daily press "le jour".

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Abel Tshimanga Kabasele said, “During the school year 2008-2009, we are going to begin to organize the days of retraining, housekeeping and maintenance of our heritage at least once a week and a campaign of sensitization of the population in the TV channels twice per month to continue always to awaken the population on these problems that touch our world. In developing world, the industries of paper have reached gigantic dimensions. These changes are enhancing the unconsciously consuming especially in developing countries. Unconscious consumption causes some environmental problems. This project can contribute to reduce, make reusable and recycle the wasted paper. This project can produce some solutions for the environmental problems, supplies economical profits, to be able to be applicable and be carried on for years, provides some benefits for environment and provides environmental consciousness for the society. This project participates in general in the campaign of sensitization on the environment in our community and in our school in particular. It is going to participate in the reduction of the deforestation through the country, the education and the plantation of trees like an initiative. As youth represents a quick strength to really lead this action, we are going to start with schools (class by class), then in the community. When every pupil will have understood the sense of the protection of the environment, he will have to lead an efficient action in their family and in their society. We have seen our project grow from a one school project to join school initiative with far reaching effects. With this project, we believe that we contribute to the solution of the environmental problems of our country and our world.

Egypt

Mostafa Medhat Organizing the international iEARN conference in Egypt as a member of the program committee and much more.

Joyce Raafat said, “ Every year for the past 2 years now and back when I was still considered underage to travel abroad according to the rules of the Volvo Adventure Competition, I was already actively participating in many environmental projects since I spend a lot of time thinking about my beautiful environment and how to preserve it. One of the environmental challenges facing Egypt is Alexandria which is one of the cities that might be drowned by sea water because of the global warming phenomenon due to melting of huge ice mountains found in the polar continents. I believe that if we collectively do small acts to preserve the environment we live in, we could really make a difference, so I started to think of ways to help protect my people, friends and the world we live in. With this in mind, I attended a lot of conferences, especially those that deal with environmental awareness such as a conference organized by Habi Center for Environmental Protection concerned with environmental problems. Habi is a name of a Pharonic God of the Nile who was responsible to protect the Nile from pollution. We are going to encourage our citizens and government to increase the support and encourage them to plant and have small gardens in their balconies. If each student can encourage such activity to be done in their homes, we can accomplish a lot. These plants can be productive, such as herbs, vegetables which could also be sold for profit, Also we have here in Sadat City, where we live which is practically in the middle of the desert, what is known as a Tree Forest, which is cultivated using sewage water from the city, after its treatment instead of pouring it in the sea causing the death of aquatic life.

Ethiopia

Tilahun Seleshi is one of the sound members of Tena Kebena, he started as a child coming to learn and now he actively participates in the running of the project and all of the work we do. For example promoting environmental protection, HIV/Aids prevention, clean ups in local areas, tree planting events and organizing the children’s events including our environmental sound band when the children sing, dance and play instruments to music about the environment. Seleshi helped build the youth centre and helps.

Gambia

Jallow Mustapha said, “The Children for Children for Children Organization (CFCO) advocates for issues that include and respond to the educational, social, economical, recreational, spiritual and health needs of children in the Gambia . In recent years we have been carrying out various environmental programmes and projects among them are: Series of advocacy programmes in addressing the hazardous issue of the Bakoteh Dump Site which serves as a threat to the health of the SOS children's orphanage home and surrounding. Tree planting exercise in the community, schools, mosque, church and the popular banjul children's playground in the fight against deforestation. Participation in a video conference on SAFE DRINKING WATER with various schools in Europe and the America . We also participated in the 1ST International Water and Youth Conference in Argentina in April 2007. We have also been using our popular weekly radio program to sensitize the public about the environment. In recent times, after our participation at the Tunza Regional Children's Conference on the Environment, we launched an International Environment Project called the ''Soldiers of Environment'' children from 29 African countries joined this network. During the Cameroon conference Soldiers of Environment presented Short Drama's on environment. Our aim is to strengthen the movement in the 15 countries it exists. We are currently developing an action plan which we want to implement in collaboration with the Africa Children's Environment Network launched in Cameroon . In the Gambia Soldiers of Environment has been using drama as a means of sensitizing schools and community about the environment. We have also continued to use our weekly radio program at the City Limits radio to advocate and educate children and public about the environment. We organize weekly debates and quiz on environmental issues and engage organizations working on environment in panel discussions. We plan to launch Soldiers of Environment in 30 lower and upper schools across the country before the 2009 Tunza Children’s Conference in Norway and will encourage our members in different parts of Africa to do the same. Our participation in the United Nations Tunza International Children's Conference on the Environment 2009, will help strengthen the movement of the Soldiers of Environment to other children Europe, Asia and Pacific and the America . It would create room for partnership and networking among other organizations working in the area of environment. We will use this conference to share experiences and best practice.”

Mariama Dumbuva said, “This project is carried out by Global Unification the Gambia . It grew of our strong desire to create awareness among children about the importance of the environment and need to protect our country’s flora and fauna. Also through this project, we intend to harmonized the activities of school base environmental clubs to ensure a more positive impact in our concerted efforts to discourage the rampant environmental degradation taking place in country, notably the over cutting down of trees and sand mining. The project also aims to put children in the Gambia at the fore front in decisions making regarding the future of environment. To realize above objective, we have divided the project’s activities into three components: Advocacy, Tree Planting and Cleansing Exercise. In the advocacy component, the project is embarking on a bi-monthly radio talk show at Kids with Talent Radio (KWT). This talk show allows children to discuss and share ideas and raise their concern on topical issues affecting our environment. During this program, we also organize quiz competition on issue relating to environment conservation, child rights, HIV/Aids, among others. Moreover, children participation in the project is also train on public speaking and leadership skills. By so doing, we hope to improve their understanding in various fields, thereby making them better environmental protection campaigners. Tree planting exercise is another important component of our project. In this component, students from participating schools are encouraged to plant and take care of trees in their schools. As students, we guided and taught on tree planting techniques such as when to water the plants, type of soil required for any particular plant, by our teachers and volunteers from Global Unification The Gambia. Thanks to Mr. Ebrima S. Dem, a teacher in Apple Tree School and the founder of Global Unification the Gambia, the tree planting exercise is gaining ground in that school. Students are getting more and interested in the activity by planting trees in our school campus. We also hope to plant some these trees in strategic places or streets within the Greater Banjul areas. To do this, will be working closely with the National Environment Agency to identify key streets, where these trees can be planted. This, we hope would not only beatify the community, but also compliment our Government afforestration effort. Finally, the project is also participation in our country’s cleanse the Nation Day. This activity is organized by the Gambia Government, through the National Environment Agency. It is carried out in the last Saturday of every month, in which youth groups, women organizations and community at large come out to clean their surrounding. During these programs, we also mobilize our members to take part in this noble crusade.”

Ghana

Frank Gyasi said, “Human get its living satisfactory from the whether atmosphere. it is unfortunate that, many factories, cars, animals and humans destroy the environment with pollution which affects the atmosphere. Abibimman Foundation club has found it as a bad habit in polluting the environment which is affecting the atmosphere as said above. Ozone layer is part of the earth atmosphere that has the highest number of ozone molecules. "yes it is true that, when we deplete the ozone layer, our next generation will suffer. There is another saying that " when one generation plant a tree, the other or next generation get its shed. For in 1970s and 1980s scientist began to realize that human activities were having detrimental effect on the global ozone layer. Research finders show us that the global ozone layer was been damage by increasing use of industrial chemicals call CFC's carbon. In most of our river waters, people soil the whole place with refuse and human waist. Again with people living their animals to the river side such as eg:(cows, dogs, pigs, goat and etc)they turn to destroy or pollute the river water. We here educate the inhabitants through film shows and house to house talks. We again organize a workshop for the people living in that community by educating them about the dangers of leaving their animals to destroy their waters and also advice people not to urinate and ease themselves into the river waters. Again advice those around the Coastal areas not to litter the seashore with refuse. We believe by the end of the summit, our organization will benefit with much experience of how to develop and protect the environment issues and the climate of the ozone layer. Helen Killer once said " Alone we can do little, together we can do so much". Therefore, we edge every human who understands much about the climate to educate the rest for us not to suffer as the research of the scientist states.”

Nana Ama Aboagye said, “Human get its living satisfactory from the whether atmosphere. It is unfortunate that, many factories, cars, animals and humans destroy the environment with pollution which affects the atmosphere. Abibimman Foundation club has found it as a bad habit in polluting the environment which is affecting the atmosphere as said above. Ozone layer is part of the earth atmosphere that has the highest number of ozone molecules. "Yes it is true that, when we deplete the ozone layer, our next generation will suffer. There is another saying that " when one generation plant a tree, the other or next generation get its shed. For in 1970s and 1980s scientist began to realize that human activities were having detrimental effect on the global ozone layer. Research finders show us that the global ozone layer was been damage by increasing use of industrial chemicals call CFC's carbon. In most of our river waters, people soil the whole place with refuse and human waist. Again with people living their animals to the river side such as eg:(cows, dogs, pigs, goat and etc)they turn to destroy or pollute the river water. We here educate the inhabitants through film shows and house to house talks. We again organize a workshop for the people living in that community by educating them about the dangers of leaving their animals to destroy their waters and also advice people not to urinate and ease themselves into the river waters. Again advice those around the Coastal areas not to litter the seashore with refuse. We believe by the end of the summit, our organization will benefit with much experience of how to develop and protect the environment issues and the climate of the ozone layer. Helen Killer once said " Alone we can do little, together we can do so much". Therefore, we edge every human who understands much about the climate to educate the rest for us not to suffer as the research of the scientist states.”  

Kenya

Harriet Tergat said, “Global Warming Global warming is becoming an increasingly major problem in the world today. The carbon dioxide that is being produced and pumped into our atmosphere is too much. It’s causing heat to be trapped inside the earth’s atmosphere creating a green house effect, greenhouse effect referring to the greenhouse in which plants are grown under controlled temperature. This is creating a big hole in the ozone layer, which is getting bigger and bigger each time as humans pump more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The earth’s current temperature is at 3.3 degrees Celsius hotter than it would be if we weren’t experiencing global warming, and if not stopped over the next ten years this temperature will rise. Even though it may take us ages, we can help our earth and make it a better place for mankind to dwell in. One way we can personally help is by planting trees. All the deforestation and acid rain have caused our tree population to drop, and also the decrease of oxygen in the atmosphere. Another way is by riding bikes, buses, or walking to places, instead of driving there if it is close. This way we could cut back on the carbon monoxide being produced by cars, and other machines that use crude oil. There are lots more ways to help and we should do our best to secure our beloved earth. My peers and I have taken action with this problem; we have planted a few trees around our school’s campus. We ride our bikes to near by places; this saves fuel exhaustion and our parents’ money. Attending this summit will help me be more aware of how global warming is affecting our environment, and how it can change our lively hoods. The United Nations Environmental Program can be our leader to helping us stop global warming. The world should start using alternative energy sources such as solar, wind, and geothermal power. In some parts of Kenya they are using wind power up in the Ngong Hills, they use this source of energy to power transmitters. Many countries have taken notice of this situation and are acting on it; I say we should join in and help in this truly worthy cause.”

Wendy Jepchumba said, “I have been involved in the scouts movement for 3 years. We go for a march in Nyeri where Lord Baden Powell was buried. We plant trees round the school. We visit gardens and national parks in Nairobi like the Nairobi national park. I love the environment.”

Kennedy Gacheru said, “Mathare Youth Sports Association (MYSA) started in 1987 as a small self help youth sports and slum cleanup project in the Mathare Valley, one of Africa’s largest and poorest slum. Today over 19,500 youth participate in the MYSA self help sports, slum clean up, AIDS prevention, leadership training programs, Anti child labour programme and other community development activities. In 1988 MYSA pioneered the linking of sports with development activities, it has since spread globally. For over a decade now MYSA has demonstrated remarkable capacity of even the poorest youth to organize their own sports leagues also contributing to development in their community. For example, in addition to playing matches every weekend the MYSA teams undertake Environmental clean up projects and earn six points in the league standings for each completed project. This has been through peer to peer counselling, advising the young players on the importance of a clean environment, formation of young MYSA Environmental groups in 34 primary schools, awarding 6 points to a team that participates in at least one successful clean up which translates to the MYSA scholarship/award scheme at the year end and also awarding the best zone. Problem in the slum: Lack of clean piped water in most of the schools,  Lack of storage water tanks in schools with over 1000 pupils, Lack of enough knowledge on water conservation and harvesting,  Uncollected garbage (MYSA) has for the last two years been helping 34 primary schools within with knowledge on how to conserve water in their respective school and communities where pupil come from Poor infrastructure has for a long time denied slum areas to develop. The use of excess plastic bags which end up blocking drainage systems and creating breeding home for mosquitoes. How we have managed to solve the problem: write essays and hold discussions to raise awareness on environment, practice water harvesting using tanks especially during the rainy seasons, encourage proper waste disposal to stop waste ending up in waterways (pipes), organize community service clean up on a weekly basis and campaign against littering, tree planting along the roads.”

Koli Margaret led workshops in India on youth involvement in peace and environmental issues with the united religions initiative. She also represented youth in the UNEP 25th and 24th GC/GMEF where she presented the youth statement.

Liberia

Tina Parker said “The project; Kids for the promotion of good environment was designed with a specific goal to help improve the Benson Street community sanitation effort, which was initiated by the government of Liberia . We launched this campaign in the drive to buttress the efforts of our government by providing awareness information about cleanliness and at the same time, getting rid of garbage and other wastes. The initiative has since impacted the Benson Street area by the improved sanitation the people now enjoy. At first, there were urine and other body wastes seeing all over the street thus made it difficult for people to pass-by but now, the commuters have embraced the project and are contributing to its sustainability.

Josetta Nufeville; the organizing of an environmental club in her high school and the subsequent planting of trees in a reforestation drive by the environmental club.

Madagascar

Andria Miharisoa Ramangaso Aina said, “I hope to attend this conference, so afterwards I can mobilise the children and manager of my school to do some green activities. My country is rich in biodiversity, so we can use this and to sensitize the population for this new technology to protect environment.”

Mauritius

Jesila Jugroop participates in numerous environmental activities, including recycling books and redistributing to people in the village.

Morocco

Ankouri Nessrine advocates for peer education on the environment and participates in workshops for young people.

Mozambique

Anto Ali said, “In partnership with Ministry of Education and Agriculture, the Ministry of Environment launched a project called Escola verde, Escola Gira. The project consisted of creating green spaces in 33 schools along the country. At the end of 02 years from 2007, will be evaluated and the winners will be awarded by the major mobile company MCEL, with equipped computer room. The selected schools create a group which take care of the green space, and the other students collaborate. One teacher is responsible to dynamite the activities.”

Namibia

Lydia Illeka said, “Introduction This document serves as a motivational letter for my profound interest in attending the upcoming TUNZA International Children’s Conference on the Environment scheduled for August 17-21, 2009, DAEJEON, Republic of Korea . My name is Lydia Iileka. I am 12 years old girl. I am currently doing Grade 8 at Hochland High School situated in Windhoek , Namibia . I have a keen interest in conserving nature and environmental cleanliness. I am a member of Hochland High Environment Club, very active and I was elected in September 2008, to be the leader of the school Club. Our Environment Club Commitment Re-affirmation Just like most other stakeholders, the world over, I continue to re-dedicate our unwavering commitment to further advance our continued contribution towards the UNEP’s noble cause. We actually first got on board last year (2007). Ever since, we have not looked back. This year’s edition in Norway (June 2007) was another milestone, not only to Namibia but to Africa as a continent – linking us to the whole world. We view our participation in next year’s conference as essential for our advancement of our local environmental projects that we are currently running. But most importantly, we crave to continue as part of the international team that tirelessly strives for finding lasting solutions to our global challenges, and sustainability, thereof. Environmental Club’s Highlights. 1. The Tree-Planting Project is one of many of our success endeavors. Since last year – 2007, we have been planting trees on both World Environment Day and Arbor Day. Most importantly, these trees are not only planted and left to survive on their own, but taken good care of by watering and protecting them from all sorts of potential dangers by my School Environmental Club. We have planted, in total, 236 trees thus far. All these trees are actually blossoming so well. The Tree-Planting Project primary objectives are two-fold. These are: - to establish a vegetative (green) make-up to the school premises, and - for the provision of shade to the school community members. 2. Another Environmental Club’s success story is one of continuously maintaining cleanliness on the school grounds and the surrounding areas. We use to make sure that litter bags and bins are made available and accessible to all especially during break time and social gatherings. We use to make sure that no tap should be left running throughout. Our school was awarded as one of the cleanest school in Windhoek . We also used to take part on City of Windhoek Waste Management cleaning campaign of our city on Saturdays. Potential Benefits of Korea Conference, August 2009. Attending next year’s Conference, will definitely benefit us through interactions with other partners- individuals, NGOs, governmental institutions, and so forth. By sharing ideas on how much of a difference our projects are making in our respective local communities or countries will, without a shadow of a doubt, expand our view. It will further help us all to learn from one another as to how best we could collectively address our global environmental challenges. More so, in the light of think globally and act locally adage, it will be a good opportunity for me to meet other young environmental champions in order to learn more on how do they do their environmental activities by speaking to them and looking at their projects. Of course, we all know that our environment is fragile. Therefore, it is incumbent upon all of us to continuously seek the best and sustainable ways of protecting it by engaging in both national and international interactions. These types of Conferences on issues affecting the environment we live in, will definitely help us become even more aware of any potential dangers and ultimately devise some sustainable strategies to avert those dangers.”

Nigeria

Jumbo Boma’s most successful activity is a project titled ‘Litter Free Project’ which she began in 11th Grade. The main aim of the project was to reduce the amount of litter found around the school environment after each visiting day when parents will visit their children with food items. If waste was found beside an individual/family, such a person/family will be fined a sum of money. As the student in charge of the project, she would go round to check for littered areas as well as place bins.

Christopher Anulunkor said, “After my participation at the Yaoundé Children’s Environment Conference in 2007, I stared a community tree planting exercise in Luigi Barracks Community in Abuja , Nigeria . Last year I submitted about 30 photos of the project. Over 20 other children have joined me and our trees are growing to act as wind breakers in the community. We planted both fruit trees and economic trees including flowers. In 2008, I gained admission into Austica Memorial College Nanka ( Anambra State Nigeria ) about 10 hours drive from Abuja where I did my primary school and started my Tree Planting Project in 2007. After the Stavanger Conference in June 2008, my chaperone Dr (Mrs) Uju Okoye came to my new school to explain to the Principal and the school authorities my involvement in TUNZA programme and to get them to support me in my new project in the new environment. The happily agreed to support my efforts. I thereafter started the school tree planting and environmental education project. On the World Tree Day on 27th September 2008, all my classmates were encouraged to plant at least one tree each to commemorate the day. The project in the school is that every year all the new in-takes will plant one remembrance tree each. The school club is named Young Voices for the Environment (YVE). I am involved in environmental education of my peers both in my school and outside. My chaperone is supporting me in this. During the first National Environment Summit held in Abuja 20th - 21st October 2008, we mounted a TUNZA Exhibition stand where about one hundred school children from different schools and adult participants were told about TUNZA children’s environment programme. Books and materials we got from UNEP at Stavanger were displayed for other children to see. In the New Year, we plan to reach more schools and more children as part of our enlightenment project.”

Rwanda

Catherine Uwimana works with Nibyiza Group, and her work focuses on transforming local communities surrounding universities in Rwanda into eco-friendly communities.

Senegal

Abdou Rahmane Gaye said, “Climate deterioration and the dangers it entails is a global problem and Senegal is not exempted. Being mindful therefore of the hazardous consequences our negligence and indifference to this global problem will engender in our community, we have put together the project operation save our climate to raise awareness, motivate as many as possible actors of our community and actually work together toward protecting our climate and maintaining healthful environment. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this project is to protect our climate on the one hand, and to enhance and maintain healthful environment on the other, which will in turn eradicate or reduce common diseases such as malaria and cholera This we hope to achieve by: Creating awareness in our community of the deteriorating condition of our climate,  Mobilizing, training (where necessary), motivating and facilitating as many as possible actors (Students, Parents, Teachers, leaders and entire populace of the community) to execute meaningful operations toward this noble goal, Planting choice trees in possible places to maintain greenery, clearing bushy environments, gathering and disposing off garbage, and cleaning dirty gutters periodically to improve and maintain sanity in the community. LOCALITY AND PROMOTER Operation save our climate was birthed in 15/ 01/ 2007 in the district of Fatick. Madam Mame Bousso Seye is the founder of this project. MAJOR ACTIVITIES Being aware of the fact that the success of this project depends largely on the positive conducts of our citizens toward the environment, we try as much as possible to sensitize them. This we do by mobilizing all the students in the community through their Principals, Head teachers, and teachers (These leaders automatically become partners to this project). These students, who are our prime actors due to their accessibility and their capacity to understand the values of a good environment, are then trained, motivated and facilitated to execute deliberate operations in line with our major goal. The impact of our initiated actions provides us a platform to organize seminars, workshops and forums with the society at large. At which time we sensitize and motivate the community to uphold positive conduct and patriotism toward our environment and climate. Furthermore, we reach out outside our district to the various communities in the country to make partners to the vision, and facilitate them in any possible way, thereby covering the whole nation at large.”

Sierra Leone

Joseph Kamara said, “Environmental issues in my community and how me and other colleagues are helping to solve it. This Is project that have change my local community positively and it is also a project that have fastrach development and civilization in my local community. This project is purposely to sensitize people in my local community about all the negative things that are affecting our local community, and some of this things are constant flooding, deforestation, climate change(constant raining , heavy wind blew etc) FLOODING Women children’s, youth and young people usually lost their lives in this flooding which is course by climate change in my community, some houses that are not properly constructed usually been broken which is the course of the heavy and constant flooding, properties usually been spoiled young people also have been drowned in the flooding/water that why we as young environmental activist are sensitising people in our community and we are coming up with these fantastic projects towards the development of our peaceful community DEFORESTATION In this environmental project we are sensitising people about deforestation and we are also practicing what we are preaching by sanitizing our colleagues too about all these negative things that are affecting our local community because children’s can understand children’s more more than adult or elderly people. In my community and country we are facing a big problem which is constant deforestation and they are not aforestating, so we are also sanitizing people in our project about aforestating and we are giving ourselves tax to go to deforestated areas in our community and planting trees so that people will learn from our action more than our figure because majority in my community have never been to school and they don’t know how to read and right. CLIMATE CHANGE (HEAVY WIND BLEW) In my community we are facing a big problem with climate change that why we include it in our project although we are children we are not so mature to arrange a standard project but still we are doing it our own way so changes will be in my community.”

Isata Mallam Bello has helped the organization in recent years building the capacity of our environmental project which is door to door waste collection that has created employment for 40 youth of the organization. She has increased the customer databse and has raised enough funds to pay the workers on this environmental project. Presently, working on the organization, sorting and recycling project is her belief her that recycling some waste products would be ideal to help promote employment opportunities.

South Africa

Lerato Dingane has been involved with the CEEP Wetland Studies for a year this group has been studying the wetlands, the plants, animals, birds and insects. Lerato has also been studying the weather when she has been visiting the wetland. The wetland studies include a section where the learners write a section on their communities. These wetland studies are shared with learners from around Africa who have also been studying their wetlands. Lerato has learnt about children in Kenya, Benin who speak mostly french, Seychelles where they have different birds to the birds we have here. This has resulted in the learners becoming more aware how important wetlands are for purifying water, as habitats for many birds and animals as well as places for people to get reeds so that they can make baskets. Lerato has also been attending wildlife camps where she has learned about the environment. Some of the environmental problems Lerato has been made aware of is the degradation of our wetlands and she is going to be involved in the monitoring of this wetland.

Swaziland

Harris Bonginkosi Harris as one of the hard working members of the organization, has written a very comprehensive and succesful paper on ground water utilization towards sustainable development for an international students contest organized by the International Year of Planet earth (IYPE) in december 2007. This is what made him to go and represent the organization in Paris-France on the 12th of Febuary 2008 during the Global Launch Event of the (IYPE).

Tanzania

Janeth Rumanyika has managed to successful organize the Environmental Education in more than 150 Primary Schools in all the 3 Districts here in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania . In addition to that also she coordinated the tree planting campaign in all 150 primary schools, and as that is not enough also she has managed to help the establishment of tree nursery here at the University of Dar es Salaam . Christopher Joseph has successful conducted Public education in more than 21 villages at Kisarawe District.

Togo

Honore Aholou is part of a small project of children in our locality which is to form 5 groups of 10 persons in each district in order to clean our road, school ground, market, field. It takes place every Saturday with our fathers, mothers and some volonteers, we do our effort. The objective is to build a world without any dirt and reduce diseases.

Uganda

Mugasha Donvan is currently undertaking a undergraduate study in his field on how carboon trade can be used be used as an incentive to avert deforestation of tropical high forests in a district in Western Uganda. Mugondi Kapel Jerome is a community forestry student that has a keen interest in how communities that are adjacent to forest reserves can be incorporated into the management of the forest as a resource to foster sustainable use. He did work with communities sorrounding mabira central F

Judith Gakuru is part of the club and her recent successful activity was during the cleaning of open wells (3) around the school. Each term members of the wild life club move out to the surrounding areas and do some community work. Judith headed one group of 20 students to clean the bushy and dirty water sources. The bush around the well was cleared by slashing and digging was employed to clear some areas which were badly off. An outlet was cleared to allow the flowing of water to avoid stagnant water.

Emmanuel Kyeyune Musa said, “Environmental Management for Livelihood Improvement Bwaise Facility [EMLI Bwiase Facility] Climate Change Programme EMLI Bwaise Facility’s objective is to strengthen the ability of communities to integrate Climate Change responses into the National Development Plan consistent with the UNFCCC and within the broader United Nations approach for dealing with climate change. The objectives and expected accomplishments focus on providing environmental leadership and democracy in the four areas prominent in the international response to climate change: adaptation, mitigation, technology and finance, and their interlinkages. EMLI Bwaise Facility is conducting a pilot project on integrating schools in mainstreaming Climate Change in Uganda . Currently the schools programme is being conducting in Schools located in Kampala and later the programme will be extended to up country schools. The programmes aim at; Improving understanding of climate change science: As an environment science-based organization, we make available better and more relevant scientific information on climate change impacts to the country’s decision-makers and help improve capacity to use this information for policy purposes, as well as providing scientific, legal and institutional support to negotiators and their institutions so that they can meaningfully contribute to a strengthened international regime on climate change. Communicating and raising awareness: working with partners to improve understanding of and promote action on different aspects of climate change, targeting policy-makers and negotiators, NGOs, the private sector, media, children, youth and the public at large. The reason for attending the summit is that the Child will present his basic knowledge on climate change and how best he can communicate to fellow children in laying strategies to combating climate change in the African perspective. The child’s participation shall portray an image to fellow children that aspects of Climate Change relate to them since they are also prone to Climate Change effects since it is the greatest threat against humanity.

Marion Nsimenta said, “Kanyiginya women drama actors conservation project promotes environmental education through children in primary and secondary shools in L.katwe Kasese District. This is an enclave in Queen Elizabeth National Park and therefore its is important the surrounding community including children are playing a key role in conserving this natural resources by educating the communities, tree planting, sanitation and water and general community awareness. Attending the summit will help me as a child and other children’s voices to be heard. I will also disseminate the resolutions of the children’s conference to other children in my community. It is also a way of networking and experience sharing on what other children are doing in other countries in regards to environment.

Zambia

Kachenga Lupupa, She has proven to be one of the most successful members in YEN-Zambia with her commitment towards the Think Green outreach Programme…she has participated in more than 15 schools and youth organizations we have visited whilst conducting youth led interactive talks on climate change and Global warming and mobilized young people to participate in tree planting activities and other environmental events. She has recruited a number of young people from her campus

Chola Mumba said, “In Zambia, the Green kids under YUNA-Zambia have been running various environmental projects within and outside Lusaka . Two of these are the Kids Environment TV Programme and the "On the ground" activities. Under the TV programme, we have tried by all means to bring to the level of children issues like climate change and global warming. We have been using this as an education tool for both young and old people who may have difficulties in understanding these issues. We use the same platform to refer to the many environmental challenges our country is going through. For example, we have been talking to kids and the government about deforestation and industrial pollution of water and air. As a way of helping find solutions to these problems, last year as part of WED [5th June] celebrations, we engaged kids across the country in planting 1000 trees in schools and a hospital. We have continued planting tree and urging others to do the same. We have continued to engage kids in various activities like waste collection and education on the need to dispose off waste correctly. As a member the Clean up the world campaign, we have continued to work with fellow school-going kids in various activities before after and during the Cleanup the world week. This year, we organised about 60 kids in a peri-urban area and collected garbage. It was great fun! Other similar programmes include maintaining clean surrounding at school and in our communities. Next year, we plan on expanding our range of activities by educating people in the rural areas on the dangers of unsustainable harvesting of forest resources like trees and other related products. We are also negotiating with the Ministry of Environment on the need for it to consult with young people every time developmental decisions are being taken. Attending the summit me in so many ways; I will learn what my fellow kids are doing in their countries about the environment, I also want to teach them what we have been doing in my country about the environment.

Zimbabwe

Murwira Tariro advocates for sustainable development through the Zimbabwe Youth Environment Network. His main activity is the adoption of the Masuwe River , a polluted river cutting across the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo highway, where he coordinates the project.

Mildred Hove said, “We planted many trees and flowers which surrounded the school as a sign of beautifying and we have our school orchard where we plant fruit trees such as mango, guava trees to mention but a few. Since we started out project, we have noticed a big change where by we are saving many people’s souls. This provides us by knowing how to plant trees and we may have foreign currency and we may have access to do want we want to do.”