Green School Foundations’ Youth Environmental Conference 2024: Start from within curiosity, desire to know, love, then act on it.
Back on the 21st of June, a sunny day in Coral Triangle Center, in Sanur, we held our first Youth Environmental Conference that held a theme of: “Amplifying Voices of Indonesian Youth for a Regenerative Future. This event is the first conference organized by the Green School Foundation and will continue to be held annually to encourage and empower more young people to make an impact on the environment.
The conference is conducted in Bahasa Indonesia as we want to take this opportunity to inspire Indonesian local students and future changemakers. In addition, the event provided a vibrant space for passionate young minds to connect, network, and share their dreams for a sustainable future. It equipped them with the knowledge and tools to make informed decisions and take impactful actions. Together, we explored pressing environmental challenges and brainstormed solutions to guide our communities towards a regenerative future.
Among the speakers at this conference is Joseph Wijaya, a 12-year-old activist whose captivating presence inspired all attendees. His story serves as a great inspiration, demonstrating that anyone can start making a difference at any age. Joseph Wijaya's initiative involves transforming waste into merchandise like keychains or other tools, with proceeds benefiting locals who cannot afford school fees. Other inspiring speakers include:
- Sri Auditya Sari, founder of API Institute and owner of Balini Organics
- Ni Wayan Purnami Rusadi, Professor of Politeknik Nasional Denpasar and owner of Bee Jamur
- Duhitta Hayyuardhini Group Leader of Bali Youth Parliament for Water
- I Gede Oka Adnyana Nathanjaya, a recent high school graduate from Green School Bali and founder of Umadaya Project
- Kristina Komala, founder of @teman.sayur.
The youth who attended the Conference, varied from local students and professionals, members and leaders from various non-profit sectors in the field of environmental conservation, share the same enthusiasm and passion for creating sustainable environments and communities for Bali and Indonesia. Participants built connections with one another during the event and are expected to be catalysts for collaboration and creating sustainability efforts that have an even greater impact on their environment.
As one of the speakers, Sri Auditya Sari stated, “mulai saja dari dalam diri, rasa ingin tahu, rasa ingin kenal, rasa ingin cinta, kemudian berbuat”, translates to “start from within: curiosity, desire to know, love, then act on it.” This remark is a reminder that it starts with us, there is no stopping for us to enhance our awareness, our curiosity in our surroundings to create positive change in our communities.-