Supporting youth climate action for a sustainable future
The demand to develop and put into practice new and innovative sustainable lifestyle methods that contribute towards a greener economy continues to surge, now more than ever as Sri Lanka sees itself in the wake of an economic crisis. The recent fuel hikes seen the world over along with the rise in cost of living and essential goods and services has also caused a paradigm shift, resulting in the search for alternative methods to promote sustainable living.
The Green Innovation Challenge, spearheaded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Sri Lanka, as part of its flagship youth programme, HackaDev, was launched in August this year to bring young people to the forefront in addressing these issues and creating a platform for youth to develop innovative solutions to combat the climate challenge and contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Encouraging further collaboration on the project, UNDP has partnered with Dialog Ideamart, Vibhava Solutions and Zero Plastic National Movement, three organisations that work towards a sustainable and greener Sri Lanka, to create awareness of the project, equip youth with the knowledge and skills to modify their solutions, and provide youth with the opportunity to network with domain experts. The partners met to ceremoniously exchange Letters of Engagement, before officially announcing the partnership towards the challenge.
Pictured here L-R: Mr Hasanka Padukka, CEO of Vibhava Solutions Pvt Ltd & Co-founder of Thuru and Zerotrash; Mr Nishshanka de Silva, Founder, Zero Plastic National Movement; Mr Gayan Silva; Account Manager, Ideamart; Mr Crishane Perera; Senior Business Solutions Engineering, Ideamart; Mr Dushantha Ranwala, Tech Evangelist, Ideamart; Ms Malin Herwig, Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP in Sri Lanka; Mr Kulunu Jayamanne, Coordination and Partnerships Associate, UNDP in Sri Lanka; Ms Kithmini Nissanka, Knowledge Management and Reporting Associate, UNDP in Sri Lanka; Ms Ashmi de Silva, Policy Research and Engagement Associate, UNDP in Sri Lanka and Mr Ahamed Nishadh, Tech for Development Lead, UNDP in Sri Lanka.
