Big emphasis was put on unity and optimism in the 2nd Academy celebrated in Pakistan!

The 2nd Plant-for-the-Planet academy in Pakistan was organised with the participation of over 80 Young Climate Justice Ambassadors at Mufti Mahmood Public School and College at Dera Ismail Khan on 12th May 2018 with the collaboration of Gomal Daman Area Water Partnership (GDAWP) and the Pakistanese Youth parliament for Water .The aim of this Academy was to engage and empower the youngsters in Climate Crisis resilience, mitigation and adaptation by planting trees.

The Program Coordinator, Mr. Wasif Bashir, gave a welcome speech to get the Academy started. During his speech, he gave a detailed introduction of Plant-for-the-Planet’s mission and vision. He stated that young children aged between 8-14 years are making their biggest efforts to mitigate impacts of Climate Crisis in the world.  

After the welcome ceremony, the participants took part in the World Café. They were divided into different groups Each group was assigned a group moderator and had to tackle a specific theme among four different themes, namely: how to reach the media, how to reach the adults, how to engage other children and how to organize planting events.

During the activity some discussed multiple assumptions and perspectives on the role of the media, how to involve the Media in raising social awareness on Climate Crisis, plantation and advocacy. Meanwhile, other groups worked on the importance of tree plantations, the role of the seniors/ adults, the parents and other children in this campaign. Some ideas put on the table where to put emphasis on becoming environmentally involved since a very young age.

After the World Café and the lunch break,  the Planting Party started. Almost 150 trees were planted as each one of the students who attended, planted a tree with their names but also school administration staff, the media personal, the management team and the guest of honor also planted trees. The youngsters also convinced their teachers to plant more trees in other city areas and they also pressured to organize a meat-free day at the school canteen to reduce the carbon emission level and paying a small contribution to help achieve a desirable global temperature.

Afterwards, the Rhetoric Training took place, the students had 10 minutes to prepare their presentations. This activity was meant to improve the presentation and public speaking skills of the future Climate Justice Ambassadors. During their presentations before a public composed of the teachers, parents and other children, the students firstly talked about the two sources of carbon emission: natural and manmade, the latter being more dangerous. They pointed out that we shouldn’t be pessimist, because the climate originated disasters, such as heat strokes, uneven weather footprints or global warming are feasible to combat with the help of multi-stakeholder’s involvement the youth, the media campaigning and the educational institutions. The Academy concluded with strong commitments from the new young Climate Justice Ambassadors to mobilize these different stakeholders, and to urge for a massive plantation in Pakistan as we are all responsible of the day of today and the day of tomorrow.

At the end two new Plant-for-the-Planet Clubs were created, with 5 members each. These clubs were trained to continue similar activities in the short and long term focusing in the organization of tree plantations, raising awareness campaigns and ensuring at least one meet-free day at school canteen. Mr. Wasif Bashir concluded the session by thanking the principal of the Mufti Mahmood Public School and College for teaming with of Plant-for-the-Planet and making possible to successfully carry out this academy at his school. Mr. Aslam Khan stated that the Youth, the Water and the Climate form a very interesting triangle.  Finally, the guest of honor handed Climate Justice Ambassador Certificates and Plant-for-the-Planet books to each student.

Do you want to see more pictures? Click here! And if you also want to take part of such a fulfilling and fun experience, you can apply to become a Climate Justice Ambassador by clicking in the following link.