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The youth challenge Engaged with the oceans (Comprometidos  con los Océanos) launched by UNESCO, Ashoka and Socialab in partnership with National Geographic which aimed to highlight the work of youth addressing the challenges faced by our oceans, has now concluded. Get to know the three final projects.

During the last years, youth have achieved major impact on the regional public agenda, collaborating to transform their communities’ realities. The Engaged Initiative  – co-organized by , and UNESCO – considers youth as changemakers and leaders of social transformations.

This year, the Engaged Initiative jointly with National Geographic invited youth from Latin America and the Caribbean region (LAC) to submit their innovative project ideas to solve problems to restore ocean health. Over 250 initiatives from all over the LAC region were submitted for this challenge. Each project team received online mentoring and training. On 14 October, the six finalists presented their initiatives during a public event to compete for seed funding for implementing their projects.

“For me and the rest of the team participating in the Engaged with the Oceans Initiative has been a great opportunity for growth and development. Thanks to the support of mentors, the application process and the award, we have advanced our project, and this opens several doors for us.

Personally, since I was a child, I have had a very special closeness to dolphins and oceanic life, which to this day inspires me to fight for their protection. As for the team, we all want to contribute where we can for achieving healthy and protected ecosystems. We are passionate about enacting change for having a planet where all lives are respected and protected.

I believe that the role of youth in LAC is to be a factor of change for justice. We are the ones who inspire and fight for social and environmental issues, who have the energy to fight for what we deserve in the face of the inequalities and plundering that we experience as Latin America and the Caribbean.”

“Participating in the Engaged Initiative was a huge pleasure for our team. We had the opportunity to mature not only our project, but at a personal level as well! It was an honour to have had capacity development sessions with our mentors, who guided us so well and showed us the best path forward. We are very grateful to everyone involved.

Even being a small project, it is possible to see the positive impact it has. That is the goal of Mar á Vista: to cause an impact on more and more kids so that we can positively transform our future. Therefore, to see a kid singing one of our songs about not stepping on coral reefs, or understanding the importance of environmental preservation, makes it all worth it.

Youth need to be more engaged with environmental causes, which begins at home. Rethink your consumption patterns, get informed and spread truthful and fact-checked information. Given the difficulties of growing up in a country from Latin America and the Caribbean, youth must seek ways to transform their spaces, so as to continue moving forward as a society”

“The Project Renaissance team is beyond grateful for the opportunity to participate in the Engaged Initiative (Comprometidos) challenge, Engaging with the Oceans. By facilitating youth empowerment, it gave a voice to us in a Small Island Developing States (SIDS) especially in this time of COVID-19. It meant so much to represent our small Caribbean island and present an initiative that showcased our innovation and enthusiasm for change, in recognition of the challenges faced by SIDS.

We are ocean activists passionate about marine conservation. As students of marine science, specifically in a SIDS, we have learned about the irreplaceable roles coral reefs play within the daily lives of many citizens and especially the importance of stakeholder awareness. We realised the need for an education program and campaign based on coral reefs to encourage needed conservation efforts which continue to motivate us!

To be creative and innovative in establishing sustainable practices, optimistic of the future yet realistic of the situations. In Latin America and the Caribbean, most of the countries are developing which leaves even a greater challenge for the youth, but also a greater opportunity to be changemakers. The youth are the heart of the region, from which comes new, inventive ideas, activism and a wave of hope!”

The Engaged Initiative (‘Comprometidos’) is organized by Ashoka, Socialab and UNESCO since 2015. It convenes young changemakers from Latin America and the Caribbean who lead innovative initiatives that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. Over 10,000 youth have participated with over 3,800 proposals throughout its six editions. This 2021 is the seventh consecutive year in which Engaged is carried out. It is the first year that the initiative is scaled up to include countries from Caribbean Small Island Developing States.

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