Youth Innovation Challenge 2021 Awardees

How can we help solve the world’s most pressing issues? The Youth Innovation Challenge 2021 gave young people around the world a chance to come up with innovative solutions to two pressing environmental and social issues: climate change and marine litter. The Youth Innovation Challenge (YIC) is a program of the Global Environmental Education Partnership (GEEP), a vibrant and inclusive learning network designed to champion environmental education (EE) around the world. In partnership with the Taiwan Ocean Conservation Administration, GEEP invited applicants between the ages of 15–30 years to propose a solution to one or both of these issues. We looked for solutions that were innovative, feasible, and informed by research.

Check out our 2021 Youth Innovation Challenge Winners and Finalists below!

Winners

Image

Winner
Zaineb Akbarally

Mangroves are critically important ecosystems for addressing climate change because of their ability to store carbon. Unfortunately, more than 50% of Sri Lanka’s mangrove habitat was destroyed in the late 1990s to establish prawn aquaculture projects.
Image

Winner
Musa Kondeh

Traditional slash-and-burn agriculture and large-scale diamond and gold mining operations have degraded the land and water quality in the project site so badly that residents are beginning to experience hunger and malnutrition due to lower crop yields and waterborne illness from contaminate
Image

Winner
Anghy Sayury Aquino Martínez

Many acres are deforested every year due to artisanal clay mining in Huancayo, Peru. This solution would establish the region’s first volunteer and community service project to educate and engage students and artisanal miners in reforestation efforts on abandoned mining sites.
Image

Winner
Chen Yu An

With growing interest in marine litter in Taiwan, Chen Yu An’s project would establish a website and a network of locations in Taiwan’s coastal villages to hold regular beach cleanups, collaborate with artists to turn the collected litter into art, and provide a platform for the artists to

Finalists

Image

Achare Elvis Ayamba

Abandoned, lost, or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is a significant source of marine debris in Cameroon.
Image

Alison Wenzel

A large roadblock to positive, international change that exists in many countries is a lack of environmental literacy around issues like global warming, CO2 emissions, and waste management.
Image

Andrew Chikaoneka

As the demand for firewood and charcoal has grown in Malawi, there is increased pressure put on the surrounding natural resources.
Image

Cheng, Po-Yuan

Growing interest in addressing marine litter and debris issues in Taiwan is leading some professors and research scholars to collect robust marine debris research and data that can be used to develop more effective mitigation and education programs.
Image

Christianna Paul & the Eco-Defenders

As global consumption increases, many consumers are unaware of the environmental issues that face Dominica. Christianna Paul and the Eco-Defenders would address pressing climate change issues through their solution, WePlanet!
Image

Juinn Sheng, Na and Sze Yie, Na

Juinn Sheng Na and Sze Yie Na aim to fill the general public’s knowledge gap on the hidden impacts of climate change and marine litter solutions by creating an action-based card game that awards points to players that save animals vulnerable to climate change and/or marine litter.
Image

Luke Draper

Working in partnership with Two Ocean Aquarium, Luke Draper’s project would develop entertaining, immersive, interactive digital educational materials to raise awareness, showcase the beauty and diversity of southern Africa’s oceans, and encourage students to pursue marine studies.
Image

Maria Kameta

Plastic pollution is a growing issue in Malawi, and the country’s education system often faces challenges implementing robust environmental education on this issue.
Image

Mugwanya John Mulo

In Lwera, Uganda, sand mining poses a threat to critical ecosystems, especially contributing to steadily deteriorating wetlands. Often, community members are unaware of conventional legal instruments that might aid conservation efforts in this town.
Image

Silvia Fátima Loayza Solórzano

The Melipónidos, a species of stingless bees native to Ecuador, is one of the many species at risk from pollution, development, and other environmental factors.
Image

Taimoor Siddiqui

The Climate Risk Index Report ranks Pakistan 5th in terms of climate vulnerability, and in Taimoor Siddiqui’s province of Sindh, climate awareness is essentially non-existent in the population.
Image

Tarun Bothra

Approximately 21.8 billion disposable sanitary pads are used in India each year. These pads, mostly made of plastic, contribute to more than 100,000 tons of marine litter.