The most populous city in Nigeria, Lagos, has been steadfast in addressing climate change through its institutionalised climate governance; however, the government alone cannot address the climate issues that beset the city.  Collaboration, Innovation, and Technology are tools that strengthen the ability to address issues in today’s world for individuals yearning to make an impact in their communities. With the countless opportunities that the climate economy holds for cities in emerging economies like ours, only a fraction of the Nigerian youth are equipped with adequate education, skills, and training to respond positively to the challenges.

In response to the gaps that exist, three Alumni of the Beahrs Environmental Leadership Program (Adedoyin K.S Lasisi, Titilope Akosa and Yewande Seriki) from two different years (2009 and 2023) collaborated to create a Youth Summer Camp to nurture and train youth ages 13 - 25 through facilitator-led trainings, group projects, and field visits. The summer camp program is dubbed “Young Leaders for Sustainable Environment Program”, and it’s a week-long hybrid program which involves virtual facilitator-led training, group activity & presentations and physical field visits to selected sites to equip youths, nurture their environmental consciousness with knowledge, soft skills, and training. The theme of the maiden edition, “From Awareness to Action: Leading Sustainable Change” was chosen as we are aware that knowing about a problem and being desirous to address it are both not enough to facilitate the change we want in our societies without a combination of the right skills.  Thus, the Young Leaders for Sustainable Environment Program is committed to instilling lifelong values of environmental responsibility while promoting action-based learning that aligns closely with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Participants of the program were selected through a competitive application process, which admitted twenty-five youths in the maiden edition, with 48% representation in females and 52% representation in males. The distribution of participants aged 13 – 16 years was 28%, 16% for ages 17 -20 years and 56% for ages 21 – 25 years. The program was thoughtfully curated to ensure balance between learning, feedback, mental wellness and discussions was achieved. Each day commenced with a reflections session where the participants shared their learnings with the group, this was particularly done to encourage and develop the participants communication skills. The selected facilitators are experts in their respective fields and interestingly, another Beahrs Alumni (Dr. Ngozi Ogoguah) facilitated the learning session on Pollution.

The field visits involved visits to a city (Gracefield Island) that’s being developed in Lagos with sustainability at the core such as Non- Motorised Transportation, Sustainable Urban Drainage and Landscaping. Here, the participants got to plant trees as part of the field visit. Additionally, participants visited the Lekki Conservation Centre, which hosts Africa’s longest canopy walk. Asides from experiencing the canopy walk, the participants also learned Plant Identification and Air Quality Monitoring to help them understand the need to protect natural capital.

At the end of the six-day summer camp, participants were awarded Certificates of Completion to reward them for their commitment, resilience and engagement during the program. The success of the program was anchored on collaboration from Lagos State Ministry of the Environment, Gracefield Island, ÈKÓ EnviroTalk and Centre for 21st Century Issues.

[Blog preview photo credit: blog author Yewande Simiat Oluwadamilola Seriki]