Emerging Earth Leaders: A Global Training Programme for Teens

ONLINE & FACILITATED. Enhance your skills and knowledge to be ethical and effective sustainability leaders contributing towards a more sustainable and peaceful world.

A change of worldview has been increasingly seen as crucial to move away from the environmental and civilization crisis we are living in and to enter a space of contributing to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. This change of worldview involves examining and rethinking the values and cultivating certain skills, attitudes and knowledge associated with sustainability.  Young people are key actors in the process of social transformation, as they are effective change makers to change the course of our current situation and how our choices today will impact future generations. This is affirmed by many UN agencies.  

Humanity depends on the boundless energy, ideas and contributions of youth everywhere. Today and every day, let’s support and stand with young people in shaping a just and sustainable world, for people and planet. –António Guterres, UN Secretary General 

Aligned with this understanding, over the past 20 years, Earth Charter International has been engaging, educating, and empowering young leaders to be ethical leaders, conscious, and capable of driving progress in a good direction. In this context, The Earth Charter Education Center, host of the UNESCO Chair on Education for Sustainable Development with the Earth Charter, has been working on developing and implementing trainings for young people on sustainability from an ethical perspective, fostering leadership skills to be agents of change in their communities and areas of influence.  This new course, designed for teens ages 15 to 18, creates a space for participants to foster skills, values and principles associated with sustainability, in an environment of interculturalism, optimism and innovation. 

Facilitators

Amanda Bennett

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Amanda Bennett is the Programme Manager of the Youth Programme at the ECI Secretariat and the Center for Education for Sustainable Development at UPEACE. She co-facilitates the Earth Charter Education Center’s youth courses, as part of her role in the youth programme.

She was born in Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and grew up in South Carolina, United States. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Experimental Psychology at the University of South Carolina, and a Master’s in Public Policy at the University of Maryland. While studying in Maryland, Amanda interned at the National Center for Healthy Housing and the Fundred Dollar Bill Project. After graduating, she moved back to Costa Rica and taught English in San José and briefly in Cusco, Peru. Amanda is currently pursing a Master’s Degree in Environment, Development and Peace at the University for Peace.

Sam King

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Sam King serves as a Research Associate for the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology and a Teaching Assistant for the Yale course on Asian Religions and Ecology. He is currently a graduate student in Religion and Ecology at Yale Divinity School, while also completing a Master of Arts in Creative Writing at Dartmouth College. At The Hotchkiss School, Sam taught courses in Philosophy and Religion, developed curricula for the interdisciplinary Humanities program, and organized a project-based learning trip for students in Sri Lanka and India. He was also a Fulbright Scholar in Sri Lanka, where he taught English at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura and conducted research on agrarian Buddhist rituals. Sam earned a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Environmental Studies from Bowdoin College. He enjoys spending time in the outdoors, practicing meditation, and writing creative nonfiction.

“We know that the crisis is getting worse every single day, and many of us are losing hope for our future. But despair is not an option. We must rise up to meet the greatest challenge of our lives with stubborn optimism.” -Xiye Bastida, Mexican climate activist and member of the Indigenous Otomi community