Plant-for-the-Planet comes together: “Global Roots, Local Resilience” 

From the 9th to the 12th of July, our team came together for our bi-annual in-person Global President and Ambassador Council’s Meeting 2026. This year, it was hosted by Plant-for-the-Planet Czechia in the beautiful, quiet city of Broumov, which gave us the perfect space to share thoughts and find new synergies. More than 20 colleagues, including members of our worldwide entities and youth representatives from the Global Ambassador Council (GAC), joined the gathering and brought the climate justice movement together. We come from different parts of the world, but we share the same approach: thinking globally and acting locally. 

Meeting face-to-face like this is about much more than just ticking off strategic tasks, even though that’s also what we did. For many of us, it is a deeply personal reminder of why we chose this path and why we dedicate ourselves to climate action. As our international manager, Patrick Begann, puts it: “It’s not only an operational meeting, once it begins it becomes very emotional. You’re meeting people again that you’ve known for years, and you’re reminded of the development and the changes and challenges. You get a sense that what you’re doing has an impact and purpose. You’re working towards something not alone but together.”

Over those four days, we took that collective strength and channeled it directly into our roadmap for the future, focusing on how we grow, organize, and empower the next generation to lead.

Strategic Alignment & Youth Climate Leadership

To lead effectively in the climate space, we have to constantly adapt our energy and our goals. As Šimon Michalčík, the director of Plant-for-the-Planet Czechia, emphasizes, these in-person gatherings are crucial for us to ground ourselves in what unites us while aligning our ever-developing strategies: “It means that we get to grow, as the world of the climate crisis and ecosystem restoration changes, we need to stay up to date, and not just keep up with the field, but be the leaders of the field.”

With this focus on leadership, our goals for the meeting were clear. We wanted to strengthen our sense of togetherness, map out our actual needs and capacities, and build closer connections across Plant-for-the-Planet to fuel future work and cooperation. But beyond the strategic planning and skill-building, this meeting was fundamentally a space to support one another through the heavy, day-to-day realities of climate justice work. It allowed us to align on concrete, practical strategies while leaving plenty of room to simply reconnect. Because at the end of the day, sharing these values is the real fuel that keeps our global momentum alive.

“Global Roots, Local Resilience” 

On the last day, the journey moved to Prague for “Global Roots, Local Resilience”, an open-air public gathering hosted at the Střecha Radost rooftop terrace. The afternoon was designed to turn ideas into immediate collective action through guided networking, hands-on workshops, and inspiring keynotes.

The event kicked off with perspective-shifting talks from our four keynote speakers. Pavlína Louženská, trend forecaster and mentor, brought ecosystem and long-term thinking to the forefront, while Dan Wood, motivation expert, helped us turn ideas into actionable items. They were joined by Jule Schnakenberg, Public Policy Advisor at Plant-for-the-Planet and leader of World’s Youth for Climate Justice (WYCJ), who addressed legal pathways to climate justice and the realities of climate movements, and Šimon Michalčík, director of Plant-for-the-Planet Czechia and climate storyteller, who challenged our current relationship with nature.

Plant-for-the-Planet is built on active participation, and we didn’t want this to be a one-way presentation. Through various formats, the event broke down the barrier between “experts” and the audience to ensure everyone could contribute. Participants were challenged to work through a series of conversations designed to tackle the root of the ecological and climate crisis. And you can ask yourself those questions, too. 

What do we envision the future of humans and nature to look like? What does the path to that future look like? What role can I play in this movement? How do I take the first step and keep going? 

Motivation within the Climate Movement

So, in a world defined by the climate crisis and endless day-to-day tasks, keeping our motivation alive is a constant battle. How do we take climate action and actually keep going?

The key lies in shifting our perspective from “The Great Unraveling”, a doom-laden narrative of a dying world, to what eco-philosopher Joanna Macy calls “The Great Turning,” a story of human and ecological renewal. While global crises feel too daunting to tackle, ecosystem restoration gives us a tangible, local way to rebuild our relationship with nature. As Šimon Michalčík points out: “We are Generation Restoration, and our task is to restore systems where humans and nature mutually support one other.” 

When we asked the question “How do I take the first step and keep going?”, the answers included: get a mentor to guide your early path, find just two people who believe in your idea to get started, and don’t be afraid to be daring and ask questions. Your idea doesn’t have to be perfect on day one, it is simply about pursuing it, stepping out into your community, and finding your allies. Above all, keeping momentum requires patience through the systemic hurdles of this long and hard journey to climate justice. But as Mohammed Rabiu Dannakabu, director of Plant-for-the-Planet Ghana, reminded us: “It is our collective endurance together that moves us forward.”

Many Roots, One Forest

By the end of our time together, we had successfully moved from the abstract space of ideas to a practical set of new connections, shared ownership, and concrete steps that we can take tomorrow, next week, and far into the future. A shared global Plant-for-the-Planet strategy keeps us all moving toward the same goal, at the same time, it comes to life through local, hands-on action. The message remains clear: we may act in our own local grounds, but we stand together as one global network.

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