Youth-led and co-created initiatives have enormous potential to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), yet young people often face barriers to funding and opportunities. Through the Youth Empowerment Fund, established under the EU Youth Action Plan and delivered by the Global Youth Mobilization (GYM) and the Big Six youth-led organizations, these barriers are being broken down. The Fund empowers young people to take action on issues like climate change, education, and equality. This helps in building local solutions with global impact.

In Zambia, this vision is being realized through the Tishange Project. Launched on International Forest Day, the project set out to equip young people with the knowledge, skills, and platforms to lead climate and education initiatives in their communities. Just months later, that vision is taking shape in inspiring ways across three Award Centers: Holy Cross Girls’ Secondary School, Amos Youth Center, and Kabulonga Boys’ Secondary School.

Youth-Led Ideation: Turning Vision Into Action

At each location, youths participated in ideation workshops to develop practical solutions under SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 13 (Climate Action). The ideas ranged from sensitization campaigns and reforestation drives to waste recycling projects and community awareness programs.

• Holy Cross Girls’ Secondary School: Students generated diverse ideas, with many committing to tree planting and community education initiatives.
• Amos Youth Center: As part of the Tishange Youth Climate Action Project, participants developed tailored climate interventions and explored ways to integrate them into local contexts.
• Kabulonga Boys’ Secondary School: Learners built on the momentum of the launch event by proposing projects that address pressing environmental issues in urban settings. They agreed to establish a climate demonstration plot with tree nurseries and smart agriculture initiatives.

Expert-Led Peer Sessions: Skills for Real-World Impact

Expert-led peer sessions at all three centers deepened participants’ understanding of climate resilience and green entrepreneurship.

These sessions included:

• Hands-on climate training in tree planting, waste management, and environmental stewardship.
• Role plays and dialogues exploring community climate resilience and adaptation strategies.
• Urban permaculture demonstrations at KIA Garden, showcasing keyhole gardens, vertical gardens, and other scalable climate-smart techniques (Amos Youth Center).
• Fruit tree planting, symbolizing participants’ commitment to long-term environmental stewardship.

Expanding Action Beyond the Workshops

The young people at Amos Youth Center have also taken climate action into the wider community. They led a peer-to-peer sensitization session at Mutendere Secondary School in Kafue, engaging 151 peopple in climate change awareness and tree planting activities. On World Environment Day, they further demonstrated leadership by organizing a community clean-up and garbage collection drive, showing that their commitment goes into real community transformation.

Planting Seeds of Change

The Tishange Project is more than just workshops and training. It is a movement led by young people who are determined to build a greener, more resilient future. With every tree planted, every clean-up carried out, and every peer engaged, these young changemakers are proving that youth-driven action can spark lasting change. Together with our partners, we look forward to seeing their ideas continue to grow and flourish.