World student community for sustainable development / YOUTH AND GREEN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA NICKSON OTIENO, B. Arch (UoN), MSc. in Sustainable

world student community for sustainable development / www.wscsd.orgworld student community for sustainable development / www.wscsd.org

YOUTH AND GREEN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA NICKSON OTIENO,

B. Arch (UoN), MSc. in Sustainable Urban Development (UoN), President, World Student Community for Sustainable Development (WSCSD-KENYA),

Director, Trine Architects Ltd. and NIKO Tours and Travel Ass. Lecturer, Technical University of Kenya

P.O. Box 4892-00100, Nairobi

Email: [email protected], [email protected]: www.wsccsd.org, www.nikotoursandtravel.com

Tel: +254(0)722612841, +254(0)773135547

Green Tourism Summit & Mazingira Awards 2015, 11th – 12th June 2015, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi


Presentation Outline

1. What is Green Development Agenda? 2. What is the current status of youth engagement in

Green Development Agenda?3. What are the gaps that need to be addressed in

empowering and mobilizing youth to drive the Green Agenda?

4. How can we address these gaps? 5. The case of WSCSD-Kenya?


What is Green Development Agenda?

Green Economy, Blue Economy, Circular Economy, Sustainable Development or a Transition Culture, a Paradigm Shift? Principles1. From “anywhere” to “here”2. From “theirs” to “ours”3. From "divest" to "reinvest”4. From "someone should" to "let's”5. From "Old Boys Network" to "Everyone an Investor“6. From niche to mainstream7. From "not again!" to "never again“8. From 'Clone Towns/Villages' to 'Places of Possibility'


Is GD relevant for the Youth?

How can Green Development improve outcomes for young people? Jobs and employability - enabling participation in the green economy, and

using environmental activity as a stepping stone to employment Resilience, health and behaviour - green exercise, active travel and

structured programmes in the environment to turn around disaffected young people Personal responsibility - empowering young people through environmental

action and volunteering

Youth as BENEFICIARIES

Youth as ACTORS

Youth as PARTNERS

YOUTH AS CHANGE MAKERS

For Peace and Sustainable Development

-Large population- Vulnerable to unsustainable development

-Large population- Vulnerable to unsustainable development

- Green champions- Green volunteers -Green Activists-Greenterpreneurs ..

- Green champions- Green volunteers -Green Activists-Greenterpreneurs ..


Holistic youth engagement in order to unlock their potential?

Axis 1

POLICY FORMULATIONWith the participation of

youth

Axis 2

CAPACITY DEVELOPMENTFor the transition to

adulthood

Axis 3

CIVIC ENGAGEMENT, DEMOCRATIC

PARTICIPATION and SOCIAL INNOVATON


Current Status

A number of youth organizations focusing on environmental sustainability being formed. Both a strength and weakness

Government and policy-making organizations acknowledging youth participation and youth empowerment: Department dealing with youth affairs, national youth council, youth

enterprise fund, 30% procurement policy, national youth policy being developed

How about mainstreaming sustainability in departments? Many organizations like WWF, NEMA, UNEP; NGOs having youth programs Student councils, unions; what about sustainability? Attempts to encourage youth service – NYS, volunteer works Attempts to provide incentives for youth engagement (Mazingira Challenge,

Miss Environment, Nature Challenge, Green Innovation Awards)


Gaps

Limited awareness on Green Agenda (concepts like ESD, Social/Green Entrepreneurship … not well understood)

Limited platforms for youth to share their innovative ideas for advice and support to develop them further

Few Green ‘stars’ – both at national and grassroots level Inadequate resources and capacity – financial, technical Interventions focused on environmental sustainability yet many youth

think more about economic sustainability – securing their own sustainable livelihoods

Disenfranchised youth (shifting priorities, youth organizations often competing rather than building synergy)

Youth not integrated into institutional governance


Addressing the Gaps


Suggestions for Addressing the Gaps

Target all young people (all students, NEET and young professionals) Forming youth SD alliances that engage in developing practical green initiatives

addressing both the real needs of the youth and sustainability goals (umbrella youth SD networks)

Raising youth SD experts and role models; building their capacities; organization models that reach out to the grassroots

Providing incentives for youth (Internships, scholarships, attachments, awards) Creating long-term and holistic opportunities for environmental volunteerism in specific

local communities: Competitions, challenges (coordination), National youth-led and elderly-steered Consumption campaigns Establishing a Youth Green Fund/Green Fellowships – incubation, mentorship? Integrate youth leadership into institutional governance: Youth representatives in

organizational sustainability committees Greening the National Youth Service Promote service-learning, transdisciplinary education and research, living laboratories,

learning centers and online education


Case Study: WSCSD-Kenya

Projects/Initiatives Youth Encounter on Peace

Student Summit for Sustainability Adopt an Ecosystem Initiative

Adopt a forest initiative Adopt a river initiative

Nyakongo Water and Sanitation Project Sustainable Village Initiative

Sustainability Training Program Green Entrepreneurship Workshop

ESD Networks Kenya Green University Network (KGUN)

RCE Kenya Youth LeagueProposed Initiatives

National ESD Barazas



Masterplan of Nyakongo Center for SD


S3-2012


Sustainability trainings

Adopt a river initiative

/ www.wscsd.org

Adopt-a-Forest Initiative

Scenario 1: Indispensable Resource •Forest ecosystems in Kenya range from montane rainforests, savannah woodlands, dry forests to coastal forests and mangroves.•They rank high as the country’s natural asset and play critical ecological, social, cultural, and economic functions.

Scenario 2: Dwindling Resource •Deforestation is estimated at 50,000 hectares annually, with a consequent yearly loss to the economy of over USD 19 million• Current forest cover is 6.99%, which falls below the constitutional requirement of 10%

Scenario 2: Dwindling Resource •Deforestation is estimated at 50,000 hectares annually, with a consequent yearly loss to the economy of over USD 19 million• Current forest cover is 6.99%, which falls below the constitutional requirement of 10%

Scenario 3: Untapped Resource •University enrolment in 2013 was 324,600 (Kenya Bureau of Statistics, 2014).•On the other hand, the combined university land resource amounts to thousands of hectares


Scenario 3Scenario 2

Scenario 1

Adopt-a-Forest Initiative



Key Components

1. Production: Establishment and management of tree nurseries in all universities

2. Outreach: Planting in targeted ecosystems and community awareness

3. Research: Forest cover surveys, carbon footprint measurement and survival rate studies


Delivery Mechanism

I. Campus Afforestation: Each university buys seedlings from the student -run tree nursery for greening the campus. Proceeds used for the day-to-day operations of the student association.

II. Freshman Orientation: Each freshman plants a tree at a designated spot within campus during the orientation week and commit to nurture it till graduation.

III. Student-led Forest Ecosystem Management and Conservation: Each student association adopts a forest ecosystem of preference, undertakes its long-term conservation and restoration with the support of external stakeholders while creating awareness and involving the communities living adjacent.

IV. Carbon Offsetting: Each university commits to offset carbon emissions accrued from air travel by its top management through planting a number of trees equivalent to their yearly emissions at the university’s ‘Green Zone’


Achievements in the pilot phase (2013-14)17 universities reached out to and at various stages ofimplementing the initiative17 universities reached out to and at various stages ofimplementing the initiative

Inspired formation of new environmental student associations in 4 universitiesInspired formation of new environmental student associations in 4 universities

Notable university land contributions to their student associations for establishment of Green Zones: Moi University (20 acres), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, JKUAT(2 acres), Mount Kenya University (8.5 acres)

Notable university land contributions to their student associations for establishment of Green Zones: Moi University (20 acres), Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, JKUAT(2 acres), Mount Kenya University (8.5 acres)

Led to formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WSCSD-Kenya and universities for long-term collaboration in Greening of their campuses. MOU signed with JKUAT in 2013,draft MOU with Moi University and University of Eldoret

Led to formal Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WSCSD-Kenya and universities for long-term collaboration in Greening of their campuses. MOU signed with JKUAT in 2013,draft MOU with Moi University and University of Eldoret

Inspired formation of the Kenya Green University Network for championing the greening of Kenyan universities (to be launched inJune 2015)

Inspired formation of the Kenya Green University Network for championing the greening of Kenyan universities (to be launched inJune 2015)


Prof. Ogechi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Student Affairs, Moi University (assisted by WSCSD’s President, Mr. Nickson Otieno) plants a tree as he hands over the 20 acre piece of land to Moi University

Environmental Club (MUEC) to establish a botanical garden/Green Zone.

world student community for sustainable development / www.wscsd.org

I, ME, MYSELFWE, US, OURSELVES

So who is responsible for achieving the Green Agenda?

Together, let us empower and mobilize youth in Kenya

Documents

World student community for sustainable development / YOUTH AND GREEN DEVELOPMENT AGENDA NICKSON OTIENO, B. Arch (UoN), MSc. in Sustainable