Spring 2025 Youth Program Milestones Highlighted
In a remarkable display of passion and dedication, young leaders across Canada are making a significant impact in environmental conservation, social development, and health advocacy. Here are some of the inspiring projects that have captured the spotlight this year.
Barbara, based in Montreal, QC, is championing the importance of traditional practices and their role in supporting the environment through her project, Plants Guide Us. The initiative aims to strengthen connections to land, culture, and community for BIPOC and diasporic participants, fostering intergenerational learning, uplifting ancestral knowledge, and creating space for healing and environmental justice. Barbara's project has already reached 80 participants and has grown an engaged online community.
Similarly, in Ajax, ON, Jacob is reconnecting youth with Ontario's wetlands through hands-on learning. He has created nearly 150 Wetland Edu-Kits, which are being distributed to schools and libraries, teaching local wildlife ecology and will be used at an upcoming wetland cleanup.
Ethan, from Unama'ki / Cape Breton, NS, is creating a digital cookbook, Mijipjewey Wejiaq Apaqtuk ("Food from the Sea"), through the Eco-Action Accelerator. His project celebrates sustainable harvesting practices and reflects values like Netukulimk and Two-Eyed Seeing. The website for Ethan's project is aqaptuk.ca.
Stephanie is bridging mental health and ocean conservation by organizing Shoreline Cleanups paired with mindfulness, eco-grief workshops, and planetary health education. Her initiative aims to embed planetary health into clinical thinking and build a resilient, sustainability-minded medical community.
Kit, in Nova Scotia, is restoring the province's disappearing kelp forests using a blend of science and art. His project involves crafting ceramic vessels from wild clay to serve as kelp-growing substrates.
Eric's project, Seaweed Chronicles, is a 25-minute documentary exploring the cultural, culinary, and ecological potential of seaweed in BC. The short film spotlights kelp farmers, harvesters, chefs, and coastal communities.
The upcoming wetland cleanup aims to get young people outside and into action, encouraging them to take an active role in preserving and protecting their local environment.
Moreover, the 2025 youth-led projects highlighted across various youth programs focus on local development, health equity, social development, and environmental advocacy. These initiatives collectively demonstrate youth leadership in these areas, with structured programs that include mentorship, policy influence, and measurable outcomes.
The United Nations 2025 International Youth Day (IYD) platform emphasizes recognizing youth as key local development partners by elevating youth-led initiatives' visibility and impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) implementation. It celebrates young innovators and leaders contributing locally and encourages governments to integrate youth initiatives into development frameworks, promoting policy coherence and institutional support for youth efforts.
The AstraZeneca Young Health Programme Impact Fellowship supports youth advocates implementing 6-12 month projects targeting non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in underserved communities. Projects focus on preventing NCDs by promoting healthy lifestyles and equitable healthcare access, policymaking for young people, especially vulnerable groups, with clear advocacy strategies and measurable impact reporting.
Youth TICAD 2025, part of the Youth Agenda 2055 Project, gathers 100 youth changemakers from Japan and Africa to showcase achievements and formulate future 30-year action plans aimed at addressing youth unemployment, education, and social challenges alongside sustainable development. This ongoing collaboration aims to realize a jointly envisioned future through policy proposals and implementation projects with private sector involvement.
Paola is designing an interactive Shoreline Cleanup map for the Ocean Bridge project in Vancouver, BC.
The Estuary Youth Council's 2025 cohort engages eight youth in a six-month hands-on environmental education and mentorship program focused on local ecology, environmental history, and health of the Estuary. Participants develop and present capstone projects addressing environmental issues, culminating in a celebration of their accomplishments.
In total, 193 youth have participated in five youth programs this year. These projects collectively demonstrate youth leadership in social and environmental development, health advocacy, and intercontinental collaboration, with structured programs that include mentorship, policy influence, and measurable outcomes. The 2025 initiatives emphasize inclusivity of marginalized groups, integration into formal policy, and long-term impact planning.
- Barbara's project, Plants Guide Us, is not only focused on environmental science but also promotes education-and-self-development by fostering intergenerational learning and uplifting ancestral knowledge through online-education resources.
- Ethan's digital cookbook, Mijipjewey Wejiaq Apaqtuk, is an example of environmental-science education blended with cultural preservation and serves as a significant contribution to learning about sustainable harvesting practices and Netukulimk values.
- The Estuary Youth Council's program offers hands-on learning and mentorship opportunities in environmental science, providing a platform for youth to develop and present capstone projects, thereby advocating for the preservation and protection of local environments.
