Looking Back on our Malawian Climate Leader's Visit

On January 16, we welcomed our Malawi Climate Leaders Project Coordinator Promise who traveled to Scotland for a 4-week exchange trip with another Malawian youth leader, secondary school teacher Joanna. After six months of collaborating on this partnership project, 2050 Climate Group’s team finally had a chance to meet our Malawian friends and fellow climate change young leaders in person! During their visit, Promise and Joanna shared the experiences of young Malawians who are already experiencing the devastating effects of climate change on agriculture, livelihoods and water security first hand. It was an inspirational period, during which we had the opportunity to meet with various sustainability organisations in Scotland, including Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Adaptation Scotland, Keep Scotland Beautiful and the Sustainable Scotland Network. Furthermore, we went behind the scenes at Edinburgh Castle and learned about the carbon efficiency measures Historic Environment Scotland is taking to increase the sustainability of our historic sights. We visited the Glencorse water treatment plant, Loch Lomond National Park, and explored waste management and recycling at Binn Ecofarm. We learned about sustainable investments at Brodies LLP and had an in-house day at BeyondGreen Advisors. Lastly, Promise and Joanna’s visit provided an excellent moment to exchange experiences of youth engagement in climate action in East Africa with Gaia Education and SCIAF. Thank you very much to all organisations involved, it was a privilege to share knowledge and experiences and we are very excited to build on connections we have made over the last month and see the directions this project will be taking. We would like to give a special thank you to the Scottish Government for funding our first international project and providing us with the opportunity to share our progress with Minister for Europe, Migration and International Development, Ben Macpherson and Cabinet Secretary for Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform, Roseanna Cunningham. At this moment, our board member Elizabeth and operational volunteer Naomi are in Malawi exploring the country’s culture and natural environment. Please follow this adventure and meet more of our Malawian young leaders on our Twitter and through their weekly blogpost.