Using British Council funds, Biodiversity Sri Lanka (BSL) is making progress on an initiative called Youth Leadership for Climate Action (YLCA), targeting young people living in the Colombo District. The programme intends to develop these young people into community leaders in climate action, through a series of residential training programs. Either individually or in groups, the candidates are expected to undertake a community intervention supporting climate action. We believe that through this programme, the young candidates will gain knowledge and skills to address local climate problems. The selected youth were provided with the chance to broaden their networks with other district YLCA teams recently at Mihilaka Medura, BMICH. Seventy-five young people from the Colombo, Gampaha, and Kandy districts attended this event.
After successfully completing the three training segments, which covered the journey of climate actions, the basics of project management, fundraising, environmental/social entrepreneurship, Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), safeguarding and gender sensitivity communicating and networking through social media, etc., the candidates developed project proposals for community interventions climate issues. They will now put themselves into action. In presenting these community intervention ideas, the British Council created a platform in collaboration with BSL and WNPS. This serves as a networking opportunity.
Through a poster presentation at the event, the youth had the opportunity to share their intervention ideas with other youth and guests, network with them, and share their experiences. Additionally, it gave them the chance to network with well-known figures in fields connected to sustainability and the environment.
