Youth Voices for Climate Resilience: Building Inclusive Solutions in South Asia
Why is youth participation critical in shaping climate resilience strategies in South Asia?
Nearly half of South Asia’s population is under the age of 24, and the region is home to roughly 300 million young people who are already experiencing significant exposure to climate change. Yet, in the UN’s own words, they remain “almost invisible” in decision-making processes. This imbalance – high vulnerability but limited voice – is not merely unfair; it is a design flaw. Resilience strategies developed without the involvement of those closest to the challenges they seek to address are often less effective and short-sighted.
There is a second layer specific to the region: climate stress interacts with existing resource competition and geopolitical tensions, potentially transforming underlying pressures into conflict. Young people are positioned at precisely this intersection, but they also bring urgency, creativity, and a willingness to imagine cross-border solutions, as they are the future of the region. As rights-bearing citizens, they have a legitimate claim to shape the decisions that will define their future.
How does Sangam create spaces for young people to contribute to sustainability and climate conversations?
Sangam – meaning “the festival of confluence” – is built around the idea of connection. Its core approach is to bridge local and traditional knowledge with scientific understanding, rather than treating science as something that arrives to correct local wisdom.
Unlike initiatives focused solely on awareness-raising or tree planting, Sangam explicitly connects climate change with conflict and peacebuilding while maintaining a genuinely two-way exchange of knowledge and perspectives. This space is created through deliberate choices: cultural diplomacy through storytelling, art, and ritual to make climate action emotionally meaningful and rooted in local identity; co-design with the Young General Assembly to ensure that themes are genuinely youth-driven; and direct engagement with policymakers, enabling participants to co-create recommendations rather than simply learn about existing policies.
The outcomes demonstrate the value of this approach: 90% of participants developed concrete action plans and policy recommendations. Sangam also prioritises long-term impact by ensuring that each participant commits to sharing their learning through a dissemination pledge linked to their year-end evaluation, allowing the influence of a single event to continue creating positive change long afterwards.