ICIMOD’s Youth Initiative – Youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD): A legacy of its own

ICIMOD’s Youth Forum timeline:

2010: SERVIR-Himalaya Youth Forum on Empowering Youth with Earth Observation Information for Climate Actions 1-6 October 2010 in Kathmandu, Nepal

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2011A: Asia Pacific Youth Forum on Climate Actions and Mountain Issues, 8-12 August 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2011B:  SERVIR-Himalaya Sub-regional Youth Forum (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) on Climate Actions in the Himalaya at Bhutan Climate Summit, 14 – 19 November 2011 in Thimpu, Bhutan

2011C: SERVIR-Himalaya National Youth Forum on Climate Change, 5-8 December 2011 in Islamabad, Pakistan

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2012A: SERVIR-Himalaya National Youth Forum on Climate Change, 23-26 January 2012, Dhaka, Bangladesh

2012B: Global Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions at Rio+20 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

2012C: Asia Pacific Graduates' Youth Forum on Green Economy, 25-29 September 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2012D: South Asian Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions in Islamabad, Pakistan (planned)

Other Major Youth Activities:

2009A: E-discussion on The Young Can Do! Let's Protect Forests with Our Hands, 29 April to 27 May 2009, Kathmandu, Nepal

2009B: Beginning of the youth for Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD) initiative at ICIMOD, with launch of the special report ‘The Young Can Do!’, 12 August 2009, Kathmandu, Nepal

2009C: Cosponsored First South Asian Youth Summit on Climate Change,  3-6 September 2009, Dhulikhel, Nepal

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2010A: ICIMOD-British Council First Café Scientifique in Asia on Climate Change Adaptation, 25 February 2010 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2010B: ICIMOD-British Council Workshop on Creating a Sustainable Network of Climate Change Champions from Bangladesh, Nepal and Uzbekistan, 19-24 September 2010  in Kathmandu, Nepal

2010C: Cosponsored International Graduate Conference on Climate Change and People, 15-19 November 2010 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2010-2011: Promoting Herbal Gardens in Schools

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2011A: Youth and Climate Change Poster Competition, January-February 2011, Kathmandu, Nepal

2011B: ICIMOD-British Council Youth Corner on Climate Change Adaptation, 12 March 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2011C: ICIMOD-British Council Café Scientifique on 'Climate Change and Water' with Dr Garrett Kilroy, 25 March 2011, Kathmandu, Nepal

2011D: South and Central Asia regional virtual consultation on youth perspectives on Rio +20, 9-29 May 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2011E: Asia Pacific Youth on Green Economy-Special Side Event at the UNEP-TUNZA Conference, 27 September 2011 in Bandung, Indonesia

2011F: Contributed to Panel Discussion on Youth Engagement on Climate Change & Rio+20 Processes at UNFCCC COP17, 8 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa

2011G: ICIMOD-CONDESAN-SDC and VerbierGPS: Engaging Children and Youth in Mountain Development (Asia, Europe and South America) – Test launch of the World Mountain Forum, 11 December 2011 in Kathmandu, Nepal

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2012A: Earth Debate in the Hindu Kush–Himalayas - 'Ecosystem economics – can we put a price on nature?', 24 February 2012 in Kathmandu, Nepal

2012B: Youth and Adaptation panel discussion at the 2nd Asia-Pacific Climate Change Adaptation Forum, 12-13 March 2012 in Bangkok, Thailand

2012C: Youth Perspectives on Promoting Green Economy in South and Central Asia at Planet Under Pressure 2012, 26 March 2012, in London, UK

2012D: Formation of ‘Asia Pacific’ and ‘Nepal’ task Forces on Rio+20 and advocacy in Nepal, HKH and globally, January-August 2012 (http://nepaliyouthrio20.blogspot.com/,http://rioplus20.blogspot.com/ and http://www.facebook.com/APY.Rioplus20)

2012E: ICIMOD Funded Youth Alumni organised ‘Youth and Green Economy’ and ‘My sustainable dream and practice’ side events at the UNCSD MGCY Youth Blast Conference, 8-12 June 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

ICIMOD Publications on Youth:

2009: The Young Can Do! Let's Protect Forests with Our Hands : e-discussion summary, 12 August 2009 (International Youth Day)

2010: Asia-Pacific Mountain Courier : Special issue on youth and climate change

2011: Asia-Pacific Mountain Courier : Special issue on youth action for climate change through art (International Youth Day)

2011: Asia- Pacific Mountain Courier : Special issue on youth perspectives on Rio+20

2011: Conserve, Construct and Celebrate Mountains: Test Launch of the World Mountain Forum (WMF) for Sustainable Development, 11 December 2011 (International Mountain Day)

ICIMOD Multimedia Products aimed at Youth:

2011: Herbal Gardens in Schools

2011: The Hindu Kush-Himalayan approach to conservation, construction, and celebration

2011: Prakriti Prem (Nature Love)

2012: Sights and sounds of the mountains

For more information:

Tek Jung Mahat, Team Leader and Utsav Maden, Events Manager at youthmedia@icimod.org.

Sharing Workshops on Rio+20 : Flash Back-Youth Perspective, Biratnagar

-By Kabita Gautam

On 14th August 2012, a one day sharing workshop on Rio+20 was organized by Nepal Youth Task Force on Rio+20 in with support from UNESCO, SEN and ICIMOD. There were around 18 youth participants from the regions who have been working on the environment and social issue and some students from conservation science background. The workshop was one among the series of the programs organized in Kathmandu and Pokhara.

Sharing Workshops on Rio+20 : Flash Back-Youth Perspective, Pokhara

-By Kabita Gautam

On 13th August 2012, the regional level sharing program was organized in Pokhara in collaboration with HRELIC-Kaski with support from UNESCO, SEN and ICIMOD. In the program, a representative from youth organizations, media persons, human rights activists, and students were involved. Nepal’s green economy sectors and their status, Nepalese youth position as compared to the international youth, Nepal’s voice in Rio+20 and major achievements from the Conference were shared among twenty six participating youth.

Call for applications for the Asia-Pacific Graduates' Youth Forum on Green Economy 25–29 September 2012 Nepal

Through its Asia-Pacific Mountain Network (APMN), the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has been engaging youth and building their capacity to bring about positive changes in society through several different initiatives. Since it began in 2009, the global membership of the Youth Engagement in Sustainable Mountain Development (Y4SMD) initiative has grown to 2,000 members, a majority of whom are from ICIMOD’s regional member countries – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan. In 2010, ICIMOD started organizing youth forums in member countries to build the technical capacity and leadership skills of youth in the region as well as enhance their knowledge on the most burning issues in mountain development. In 2011, these forums were expanded to include the entire Asia-Pacific region, and the recent Global Youth Forum on Mountain Issues and Sustainable Actions, held in conjunction with the Rio+20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, included participants from around the globe.

Sharing Workshops on Rio+20 : Flash Back-Youth Perspective, Kathmandu

- By Kabita Gautam and Shreejana Bhattarai

Welcoming and remarking the International Youth Day 2012, Nepal Youth Task Force on Rio+20 organized “Sharing Workshop on Rio+20: Flash Back- Youth Perspectives” at NEFEJ Hall, Thapathali. The program was supported by UNESCO, SEN ICIMOD, WWF and NEFEJ. The program was organized to share the experiences, learning and key messages of the youth who participated in the Rio+20 Conference with the youths and media persons. Twenty eight youth from different educational background and media persons participated in the program.