The urgency to address the challenges of climate change, requires innovative approaches of partnerships where multiple actors collaborate in an effective way. It also requires real youth engagement and inclusive leadership. Much can be learnt if we look at what has happened in the past few decades in this field when we look at a specific context.
The Earth Charter states:
The choice is ours: form a global partnership to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the diversity of life.
The partnership of government, civil society, and business is essential for effective governance.
What does it mean? And how can we envision making this happen?
In this Masterclass, key learnings from 20 years of experience advocating for social and environmental change on both local and international platforms will be shared. We will look specifically into the context of implementing projects in Africa to explore what we can learn.
This Masterclass will address the following questions building on the experience of Wanjira Maathai:
- What kind of leadership is required for building a more sustainable and equitable world and what is the one that has not been effective?
- What leadership capacity is needed to make faster progress towards sustainability?
- What is inclusive leadership and partnership?
- How can we strengthen more effective local, regional, and global inclusive leadership and partnerships towards sustainability and planetary well-being?
- What has worked and what has not in terms of multi-stakeholder partnerships?
- As we move ahead in the crucial work of social and environmental advocacy for social transformation, what are the lessons we can draw for the past three decades?
Wanjira Mathai
Read more
Close description
Wanjira Mathai is the Managing Director for Africa and Global Partnerships at WRI – World Resources Institute.
She formerly served as VP & Regional Director for Africa, Co-chair of WRI’s Global Restoration Council and a Senior Advisor to the Global Restoration Initiative. She is also the current Chair of the Wangari Maathai Foundation and the former Chair of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya.
An inspiring leader, Wanjira has over 20 years of experience advocating for social and environmental change on both local and international platforms. Over the years, Wanjira has also served important strategic and advocacy roles raising the prominence and visibility of global issues such as climate change, youth leadership, sustainable energy and landscape restoration at Women Entrepreneurs in Renewables (wPOWER), the Wangari Maathai Foundation (WMF), and the Green Belt Movement (GBM) the organization her mother, Wangari Maathai (2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate) founded in 1977.
Wanjira currently serves on the Board of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF), as a Leadership Council member of the Clean Cooking Alliance and a member of the High-Level Group of the Africa-Europe Foundation. Wanjira is one of a few Six Seconds EQ Practitioners in Kenya and was named one of the 100 Most Influential African Women in 2018, 2020 and 2021.
What is a Masterclass?
An Earth Charter Masterclass is a two-hour class facilitated by a person (together with a moderator) on a topic of their experience and interest, with a space for questions and interaction between the participants. It offers an opportunity to get some practical examples and new insights. There is no reading or preparation requirement to take part in the Masterclass, nor homework.
Our Masterclass series offers an opportunity to expand our understanding on the challenges of our time and how to address them using the Earth Charter as a reference. The Masterclass are held live on the Zoom platform. All recordings will be made available on a special platform (at a later moment and for a limited access).
Terms and conditions
If you cannot participate in the Masterclass that you have registered and paid for, we will not be able to issue a refund.
Access to the recordings of the Masterclasses will not be offered individually.