CAS 2021 Youth Newsroom: a fresh view
Active and informed involvement of young people is key to the success of climate adaptation and therefore to CAS 2021. One testament to this is the Anchoring Event on Youth Leadership, which is part of the Summit programme. Another is the CAS 2021 Youth Newsroom.
On this website as well as on the platform that is to open for participants shortly before the conference, you will be able to read, watch, and listen to productions a hand-picked team of 18 young climate journalists will have made in the build-up and during CAS 2021.
Young reporters to follow
The Youth Newsroom team members are free to choose how to share their vision, be it by written articles, videos, podcasts, or opinion pieces.
It will be well worth the effort to check out their production. Part of it will also be on show during CAS Talks and on CAS TV. Young people discussing their very future on this planet – that’s exactly our concern.
The 18 aspiring reporters were selected out of some 50 candidates and are from 14 countries all over the world, including Argentina, Kenya, Greece, New Zealand, and the Netherlands. Together they will produce news throughout CAS 2021 following each session, and share their views on the topics discussed with all participants the very same day.
Trained by seasoned journalists
In the weeks before CAS 2021, Hennah Draaibaar and Faten Bushehri hosted four training sessions for the Youth Newsroom reporters at RNTC, Radio Netherlands Training Centre. Of course they all convened online.
Youth Newsroom team members
Editors
Hennah is an experienced TV journalist, documentary maker, writer and trainer with a passion for engaging stories. She worked for years as correspondent for the biggest broadcasting company in the Netherlands, NOS. She uses her experience both as correspondent for radio, television and online media, as well as in her training for young journalists and professionals. Hennah has also directed documentaries such as ‘Marki’ (about Ronald Venetiaan, former president of Suriname), 'I Choose Me' (about children in the Amazon), Zichem (about Aloysius Zichem, the youngest bishop in the world).
Since August 2002 Hennah has been director of the foundation The Back Lot, an organisation that mainly focuses on culture, development and education. As editor-in-chief she started the 10 Minutes Youth Journal in Suriname in 2004. This program is well known in Suriname and has won many international awards.
Hennah is a member of Free Press Unlimited, an organisation that is committed to worldwide press freedom. In 2015 she - with another journalist - received the ‘Geuzenpenning,’ a Dutch award given to persons or organisations fighting for democracy and against discrimination, for her work as a member of Free Press Unlimited.
Faten is a multimedia producer and communication specialist with years of experience working as a journalist and producer for different TV and radio stations as well as a communications consultant for various NGOs. She is passionate about social justice, and human rights which are reflected in her published articles for different outlets.
Faten previously worked as a news producer and a live show producer with a focus on news and current affairs in the Middle East and North Africa. Born and raised in Bahrain and having worked and lived in the United States and the Netherlands, Faten brings her diverse professional experiences and multicultural backgrounds to her training in the fields of storytelling, multimedia production, communication, crisis communication, and strategy development.
Youth reporters
Christos is studying Medicine at the University of Crete in Heraklion, Greece graduating in July 2021. He is affiliated with several scientific students associations and NGOs, including the Association of European Cancer Leagues, the European Student Think Tank and #Students_Against_COVID and NovelMeds. He also serves as a health advocate at the EU level communicating cancer prevention messages and promoting the European Code Against Cancer.
Twitter: @chriss20x
Insta: @xristostsagkaris
Isabella is a young woman from Chile and a civil hydraulic engineer. She currently works as a Technical Advisor in Global Carbon Market project of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). She is also founder and president of the NGO CEUS Chile, which is an organization that seeks to empower young people to influence policies related to sustainability in Chile. Other related initiatives of which she is part are the Youth Climate Network and the Civil Society Climate Action.
Twitter: @isavillanueva
Read Isabella’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Kevin is a young environmental journalist, ecologist and researcher from Nairobi, Kenya. For the last 4 years, he has worked on stories that mostly unearth disproportionate conservation challenges, youth-led biodiversity action, and environmental policy. Kevin is a 2020 finalist for the Green Media Awards and a two-times nominee for the environmental blogger of the year, BAKe awards (2018 and 2019). As a United Nations Volunteers young journalist, Kevin is currently working on a story on coal mining in Kenya. He believes that access to credible and timely information is a basic human right and envisions a world where transformational empowerment is achieved through an accurately informed society.
Instagram: @kevlunzalu
Read Kevin’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Sohanur Rahman is the chief executive of Bangladesh Model Youth Parliament (Protiki Jubo Sangsad). He is the coordinator of country’s largest youth network `YouthNet for Climate Justice’; and founding member of the Fridays for Future Bangladesh movement. He has been one of the key Bangladeshi youth climate change activists who has focused on bringing youth voices to decision making processes for many years. Hence, he has sound knowledge on different thematic issues including water management, youth engagement, child rights, governance and human development, climate and humanitarian, policies, developments and international affairs. His pro- active involvement gave him a combination of skills and experiences to lead social change.
Twitter: @SohanYouthNet
Read and see Sohanur’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read and watch Sohanur’s second Youth Newsroom contribution.
Actress since the age of 3, Thaiane worked on the second largest TV channel in the world, Rede Globo. Environmental Engineer (UFRJ) and Climate Reality Leader. Creator of Canal Novo Mundo, winner of Best Film at the GreenNation Festival 2016 and co-founder of Limpar o Mundo, developed socio-environmental projects with institutions such as the Sanctuary of Christ the Redeemer. Currently an IFA (Institut Für Auslandsbeziehungen) fellow, works with Sustainable Development and Gender Equality in partnership with Pro Quote Film and creates environmental content for DW Global Ideas. She participated in the TEDx Savassi Countdown as a speaker.
See Thaiane's first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Instagram: @thaianemaciel
Twitter: @thaianemaciel
Tracy is currently a Young Leader with the Global Center on Adaptation’s (GCA) Youth Leadership team. She has extensive experience working with international, national, and local organizations in the areas of education, health, youth and climate change. Her areas of interest include, human rights, equality, accessibility to education and health services, and youth empowerment. Originally from California, USA, Tracy holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Sociology with a specialization in Political Sociology at Bielefeld University in Germany.
Instagram: @GCAdaptation
Iryna is a master’s student of the Science Communication program at ITMO University (Russia). She works as a PR manager in TeRRIFICA Belarus project and is founder of the initiative Youth for sustainable development in Belarus. The initiative promotes SDGs and tries to encourage young people to actively participate in SDG implementation in Belarus. At the same time, she is writing as a freelance for online media about science.
Instagram: @irponedelnik
Akhona is a passionate environmentalist and humanitarian. She is currently studying for her Masters in Environmental Management at the Stellenbosch University (South Africa) and also has a background in Psychology, Public and Development Management, and Sociology. She was recently recognised in the Environment Categories for the 2020 Mail & Guardian list of Top 200 South Africans and the Inside Education’s 100 Shining Stars. Akhona has been affiliated with the Golden Key International Society, Amnesty International Society and the United Nations Association of South Africa Stellenbosch branch. She has also been part of the U.N. Youngo Human Rights, Food Systems Summit and Indigenous Populations Working Groups.
Instagram: @aykay_xotyeni
Twitter: @akhona_xotyeni
At the age of 18 Hajar was elected, through a public campaign, to serve as the United Nation’s Youth Representative for the Netherlands for a mandate of two years. In the capacity of her mandate, Hajar advocated topics such as Human rights, Sustainable Development, the Climate Crisis, Youth Activism, Polarization, and Youth Participation. After those two years of UN conferences, Classroom discussions and a world full of Youth activism, Hajar’s passion for those topics had only skyrocketed and the urgency to act for the world had too. That is why she now advocates those social topics through her own organization by providing Masterclasses, Consultancy work, Public Speaking services, Keynote, and much more.
Instagram: @hajaryagkoubi
Twitter: @HajarYagkoubi
Watch Hajar’s first Youth Newsroom contribution on YouTube.
María Fernanda is a Colombian Environmental Engineer. Master’s student in Conservation and Use of Biodiversity and volunteer of the Colombian Environmentalist Movement. Founder of Raíces Urbanas, a small enterprise that arose during the confinement by Covid-19, whose objective is to promote urban agriculture and its benefits at home. María was the winner of the 2018 Youth Award in the ‘Influencers’ Category, granted by the International Youth Organization of Ibero-America (OIJ), in recognition of her initiative ‘If each one of us changes, the planet changes’ which seeks to publicize the potential of social networks as a tool to promote actions aimed at protection of the environment.
Instagram: @mafeafuentes
Read María Fernanda’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read María Fernanda’s second Youth Newsroom contribution.
Maurice is a young practitioner in environmental studies and community development. He is an Entrepreneur, Researcher, Writer, Essayist, Environmental Impact Assessment & Audits Expert and Community Development Leader based in Kenya. Maurice is a passionate conservationist, he is the founder of Youth for Community Development, Regional Coordinator Youth for Our Planet, Board Advisor of She Voices Africa and a member of many global, national and local Civil Society Organizations. He is a Pan-Africanist and he believes in good governance for community development.
Twitter: @gathumaurice
Instagram: @mauricegathu
Tshegofatso, Tshego in short, is a young woman who is passionate about justice, women’s rights and the rights of people of colour. The former Pretoria High School for Girls Head Girl is now a final year BA Law student at the University of the Witwatersrand. Tshego is also the intern at the South African Institute of International Affairs in their youth programs division and serves as a chair and a tutor for their Model United Nations programs. Tshego’s participation in several Young Leaders Conferences has molded her into the leader she is today and pushed her to fight against injustices in her community. As a result she is part of the team behind the Activist’s Hour.
Instagram: @tshegothevoice
Twitter: @tshegothevoice
Read Tshego’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read Tshego’s second Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read Tshego’s third Youth Newsroom contribution.
Vicky is studying Corporate Communication at the University of Amsterdam. As an enthusiastic communication student, she wants to put her knowledge about communication into use to share the importance of climate adaptation. As an intern of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs she previously worked on projects, such as the international MHPSS conference and the Dutch Ambassadors conference.
Instagram: @vickyscheick
Read Vicky’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read and see Vicky’s second Youth Newsroom contribution.
Injy is a Young Leader with the Global Center on Adaptation, and is in their Youth Leadership Team. Injy’s background is in Climate Change Law and Youth Engagement. She was on the Secretariat of the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth and was an SDG Advocate for the Sustainable Development Solutions Network. She is a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand, holds a BSc in Environmental Science and Economics from the University of Otago, a LLB(Hons) from Victoria University of Wellington, a LLM from the University of Colorado- Boulder and is currently undertaking her PhD in International Trade and Climate Law at Victoria University.
Read Injy’s first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Read Injy’s second Youth Newsroom contribution.
Cyerra is a Bahamian recent university graduate and an activist for climate change and sustainability work. Through her studies as an engineer, she hopes to merge her passion for building creativity in infrastructure with ‘green’ building and sustainable design. Her public outreach and work includes co-organizing the Sustainable Lifestyle Panel Discussion in January 2020, moderating the panel discussion on Improving Your Environmental Footprint. Her biggest motivation in advocating for climate change is because she is from an island nation that is heavily impacted by the effects of increasing storm intensity and sea level rise.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cyerragibson/
Read and see Cyerra's first Youth Newsroom contribution.
Alina is a natural communicator with an active social position. Coming from the family of video producers and having an accumulated career record in the marketing industry combined with a Master’s Degree in International Marketing Management and a Bachelor’s in Public Administration inspired her to promote the idea of climate change by creating short videos that address a problem. Alina has 4 years of accumulated experience in Marketing and Communications, of which 3 years she was working with the world’s biggest companies including the UNFCCC to address the most meaningful challenges of climate change. From the moment she moved to Germany, topics of climate change and ways to address the problem to young generations became the essential part of her life.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alina-drobyshevskaia-b70681151/?originalSubdomain=de
Read and see Alina Drobyshevskaia's first Youth Newsroom contribution