ITRI Visionary Young Leaders Awards 2023 Recipients
Naveen Vasudevan, India
ANaveen is an educator, peacebuilder and student of Yoga. Since a very young age he has been engaged with the questions: "What does it mean to live meaningfully in the world ‘and ‘How may I offer the best of myself to life?’. The journey has been richly rewarding and fulfilling. He is a co-founder of Ritambhara, a place for dialogue and deep conversations on human wisdom and culture. His interests include evolutionary leadership, psychology and process work.
He works closely with young changemakers, designing educational courses and programs for those interested in bridging spirituality and social change. He is a fellow at the Sumedhas Academy for Human Context and the steward of the Re-Engaging with Gandhi program that has enabled more than 150 people over the last three years to self-reflectively engage with Gandhian thought
Reem Al-Mealla, Bahrain
I am a nature lover by default, a climate advocate by concern and the first Bahraini woman field marine biologist. My love for ocean exploration and research has taken me to work on reefs and other ecosystems in countries such as Bahrain, Indonesia, Madagascar, the Seychelles and South Africa. These experiences have allowed me to witness first hand the negative impacts of climate change on marine ecosystems and on the coastal communities that rely on them. Our oceans and seas have always been a source for life for species across time and space and hence for survival and for us humans to maintain our humanity, our oceans must be protected and restored especially that almost half the world's population relies on them for survival.
My work focuses on marine conservation specifically on coral reefs and pearl oyster beds in Bahrain and the fight for survival in light of climate change. I also deeply believe that for future generations to exist on a healthy planet, it is mandatory for all to cultivate a culture of sustainability and environmental consciousness. When I am not in the field, I work on spreading awareness, by making data and information freely available. When I first began to study marine biology in Bahrain, I realized there was no source of information on the state of my country’s natural heritage and state of the environment and so in 2015 I created BNature, Bahrain's environmental encyclopedia, built by the people for the people.
This helps to educate the public on the environmental challenges the world is facing. In 2020, I founded the Gulf Women in Environmental Sustainability (GWIES) which is a network of women from across the Gulf region in the environmental field enhancing collaborations, opportunities and providing support to young women entering this sector as well as giving women a role in environmental decision making and implementation.
This year, my journey has led me to creating Nuwat (launched on World Oceans Day 2023), a think-tank, education provider and consultancy which specializes in environmental research and conservation to create a hub for brilliant minds and passionate hearts to come together, co-create, build and implement grassroot projects. Nuwat is the Arabic word for nucleus, the heart of every living cell. Hence, Nuwat operates from the concept that embraces the need to channel our inner wisdom that is passed on from our ancestors through our being and combines the knowledge we gain today through science to create a more sustainable and healthier future.
Thao Ngo (Kin), Vietnam
Thao Ngo (Kin) is an ecology and environmental trainer. She has an academic background in Sustainable Development in Ecology and a heart for compassionate space holding. Ms. Thao Ngo has experience in many areas of education including non-formal educational projects in Vietnam as a coordinator, trainer, facilitator, and course designer. She is a practitioner of Deep Ecology, and is trained as a facilitator in ‘The Work-that-Reconnects’ a way of deepening our relationship to nature that was begun by the Buddhist teacher Joanna Macy. Her deep wish is to bring back the love of nature to human consciousness through educational and life experiences.
She founded Project Awe in 2022, an eco-community in the North of Vietnam. Thao Kin is also the Network Coordinator at Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) Oceania and Asia and is a member of the Network Stewards Circle of GEN.
Project Awe aims to foster a community space for deepening the connection with ourselves, other humans, nature & the great mystery of life. Currently, Project Awe is cultivating a simple, resilient, responsible, and eco-lifestyle that is in harmony with local people and the environment on mountainous land in Hoa Binh Province. This learning community invites others who wish to explore self-sufficient living to visit the community and join in the work of helping to restore the local ecosystem. The project is now in its second year.
Shipra Agarwal, India
Shipra has field experience in the areas of responsible solid waste management, advocating for reusable options and reusable and sustainable products wherever possible to cope with sanitation issues affecting India. Currently, she leads the Zero Waste Offices and Sustainability workshops at Skrap, a sustainability startup. She has facilitated over 500 hours of sessions with over 10,000 children and adults, teaching ways in which to lesson our trash footprint on the planet. Her example has inspired many other young people to adopt a zero waste lifestyle.
Shipra is also a part of the Eco jam team, a gathering that brings together young changemakers to rekindle their energies towards their work in the world.
Shipra works to create opportunities for other young people from underserved communities to experience and participate in the Jam and ecology meetings and roundtables. Shipra has witnessed first hand the impact of inadequate sanitation and waste disposal in her native India and dreams of access to clean air, soil, and water for all living beings and for humans irrespective of their socio-economic background. For her, dignified living and working conditions are closely tied to safe sanitation and responsible waste management. This contributes to the health of children, the community and the planet.
Angchuk Jora, Himalayan Tibetan / Ladakh
Angchuck Jora was born to a family of rural farmers in Lalok Changthang, Ladakh, near the Tibetan border. Though his parents and many in the area could not read, he was fortunate to receive his education in Jammu, Kashmir. His aim was to return to his village to help his people adjust to modernization while preserving their traditional way of life. He took a position as a teacher and principal of a local school and began to work with the Chilam Cultural and Welfare Association. Here he trained young people in ecosystem restoration and he coordinated the planting of 1000 Sea Buckthorn and 16,000 Willow trees in remote Ladakh is 2022-2023. Anchuck oversaw with his team the needed irrigation, fencing, transportation of seedlings and protection of the trees.
There has been a 99% survival rate of the trees planted and it is slowly transforming the valley and enriching the ecosystem. He is currently exploring how local people can increase their barley grain harvest to produce ‘Tsampa, a staple food of Tibetans that is in high demand in the lowlands of India. Barley grows well in this region at 13,000 feet and two stone mills produce the ‘tsampa’ as they have for more than a thousand years. This enterprise will help local families and young people with income generating projects that do not harm the fragile ecosystems of the region and encourage young people to stay, not migrating to the cities for work.
Laura Retrepo Alameda, Colombia
Laura Restrepo Alameda is an environmental engineer committed to advancing climate action and promoting a culture of peace from a nonviolent perspective in her homeland of Colombia. Since 2013, she received an environmental education and bridges her climate work with building peace between various sectors and finding ways to implement projects in a decolonized way in accordance with human development and climate negotiations.
Laura is an Earth Charter Young Leader and currently is the Special Projects Coordinator at Climate Reality Latin America and co-founder of the Colombian Platform for Children and Youth, as well as the regional coordinator for Earth Charter International Youth Network.
Gabriela Sarmiento, Dominican Republic
I'm 26 years old and a native of the province of Samaná, Dominican Republic. I have training in environmental sciences (degree) and agricultural production (technical). I have oriented my professional career to the management of projects for the conservation and restoration of ecosystems linked to community development and indigenous wisdom. I have worked in different sectors (private and non-governmental) collaborating in the caring of natural resources and conservation through environmental education.
During the exercise of my work I have witnessed how irresponsible development can be and bring with it great environmental degradation. This is why I seek to collaborate in improving the regeneration of natural resources through the integration of people and territory. For this reason, I am planning to develop a water regeneration project in Las Terrenas, Samaná, with wide involvement and education of the population, especially children and youth.