CLIMATE LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

Climate Leadership

Program

Training youth leaders for building a climate resilient world!

In 2017 SUSTERA Foundation curated the Climate Leadership program, a fully-funded, 10-week intensive leadership training program for passionate youth from diverse backgrounds who want to work on climate action. SUSTERA's pioneering initiative intends to create a corps of climate leaders to combat climate change, better communities' lives, and work with the government and other stakeholders to fix the issue.

Worldwide, millions of families are currently facing climate-related challenges. Tens of millions of people are being forced to relocate, and those unable to do so must struggle. For a very long-time, climate change was regarded as a global problem, but now more evidence showcases the need to consider climate issues as a local problem, especially regarding implementing resilience strategies.

When a disaster strikes, the first to respond are the local government institutions and community groups. But with, a lack of knowledge and resources available in the local language, fewer educational institutions that offer courses on climate action, and a lack of capacity-building efforts by the government is making it difficult for local bodies to act effectively. Poor preparedness of local government institutions and the people to tackle the issues increases the vulnerability and worsens this situation.

Sustera decided to focus our expertise and network on mentoring young Indian leaders who have the potential to improve climate resilience. The effects of climate change differ by place, necessitating local specialists rather than a generalised group of young people to handle local challenges. We created a 10-week fully funded leadership training programme to prepare future climate leaders who can work with the government and other stakeholders to fix the issue.

These leaders would play an active role in awareness, advocacy and transformation in the proposed states through local engagement, research and adding capacity to urban and rural local governance. CLP is being planned to be organized in every state in India in association with various research and educational institutions working in the climate change space.

Objectives

To train the next generation of climate advocates, practitioners, entrepreneurs, community representatives and engaged civil servants who will work towards a fairer and ecologically sustainable future.
Create climate leaders from different regions giving mentoring and support to take up mitigation and adaptation projects.
Establish a climate leaders community and create a support system for the ecosystem in the proposed states.
Improve collaboration amongst corporations with various stakeholders working in the climate change sector.
Improve job opportunities in the climate change sector.
Provide capacity building for young government officials to tackle climate change.

Twenty-Five extraordinary individuals will be given advanced training in climate change and sustainability. The program aims to provide an open and inclusive platform for youngsters to get together to think, collaborate and take action towards minimising the impacts of climate change. The training involves cutting-edge theory and practical sessions.

Benefits

Fully funded program
Individual guidance and mentoring from eminent scholars and practitioners in the field.
Technical and monetary support for future initiatives.
Hands-on experience working on projects related to climate change and the environment.
Leadership Training by individual mentors assigned each leader to work related to climate action.
Mentorship from the SUSTERA foundation
Opportunities for interning with eminent organizations working in the area.

As opposed to a traditional all-India programme, we concentrate on conducting training on a state-by-state basis because each state in India has a unique language, distinct culture, and—most importantly—various degrees of the climate issue. To build a network of youth leaders and develop new leaders every year, we intend to extend the programme to every state in India and run it annually.

Over the last four years, we have professionally engaged and instructed approximately 600 young leaders. Our skilled leaders assist the community at various levels with mitigation measures and resilience development.

Some of our previous CLP events