Introducing our team
Simona
Hi,
My name is Simona. I just turned 19 and am currently attending my final year of high school at a local grammar school in Bratislava, my hometown.
Seeing how the interest in activism has increased among young people within the past decade gives me great hope for the future. Still, there is a vast space for improvement in this aspect, with many urgent present-day topics not receiving enough public attention.
More often than not, Slovakia has been labelled as a conservative country with a narrow-minded population that hasn’t quite outgrown its hangovers and wounds from the past. We have come a long way as a nation, but we still need to find more opportunities to discuss issues such as global warming and human rights.
My journey with activism (and volunteering, for that matter) began when I became interested in the topic of fast fashion and found out how the fashion industry operates. At that time, I started looking for an alternative to my previous shopping habits and was introduced to the concept of swaps. Ever since, I have attended a number of those, also helping to organise some of them as a volunteer. Making a slight difference in our everyday lives and letting it shine as an example is one of the easiest ways we can impact our community.
One of the best things I find about volunteering is the omnipresent sense of togetherness. Participating in such projects always presents some of the most significant experiences a young person can gain. I hope that this platform does just that – it creates space for people to enrich one another and act together for a brighter future.
Elena
Hi,
I am Elena, an 18-year-old coming from North Macedonia. I am currently finishing my final year of high school where I studied IT. Along with my academic pursuits, I also have an interest in art, design, and environmental activism – a cause that now holds great relevance to me.
Not long ago, in November 2021, I was first encountered with a subject matter that is going to leave a continuous impact on my life. After attending a series of six online lectures on the concept of sustainability, zero waste, recycling, and the climate crisis, I became familiar, for the first time in the actual sense, with the seriousness of the topics mentioned. Moreover, the urgency and the need for change as far as is within our hands. Hence my interest in environmental activism and motivation toward being more involved in this field.
Since then, I constantly try to find activities, books, or projects through which I can improve my knowledge and impact in this field. The most recent one I participated in is ‘Econnected’ – a series of International Debates composed of 3 Virtual conferences held this January. During the discussions, we learned and discussed a variety of sustainability topics including International Diplomacy, green businesses, consumerism psychology and behavioral difference between cultures, developing countries, and ethics of sustainability.
Moreover, these experiences taught me that better education and raising more awareness on the issues we are facing are the only step away from making us realise that environmentalism and sustainability is not a career for a handful of people, but a responsibility of each of us. Working on this platform fills me with hope, as its ongoing development reinforces my belief in our ability to create meaningful change, and with each milestone we achieve I am more confident in envisioning a future where our impact is substantial and far-reaching.
Eirini
Hey!
My name is Eirini, I am 16 years old, and I live in Athens, Greece. I am currently in 11th grade, at a local public school in my hometown. Along with my academic interest targets, I am interested in humanity and social studies.
My first interaction with activism was when I started becoming interested in the topic of social rights, such as women and LGBTQ+ rights, and the realization that my country was quite behind in this field. Since then I have taken part in many actions and protests with the aspiration to defend the rights of these “vulnerable” social groups. I have also been part of the Hellenic youth parliament and other courses, in order to interact with people around my age and through discussion exchange opinions and broaden my horizons.
Having these experiences behind I realized one thing – youth is not properly informed about both global and local issues, and therefore becoming indifferent citizens. As a result, many young people tend to believe that they are not able to make a change.
Therefore, I decided that I want to see and help people around my age get more involved in activism by contributing through this platform. During the UWC short course “Building a sustainable future” where the three of us met and for the very first time discussed about creating this platform, I thought it was a great and unique idea, and seeing it being put into action really makes me happy and ambitious about its further development.