Breaking Barriers, Building Leaders: Insights from the new “Breaking Barriers: Climate Leadership & You” Project

A transformative project for equitable climate leadership, Breaking Barriers: Climate Leadership & You centres the voices and leadership of Global Majority and under-represented communities. This pioneering initiative equips changemakers to become more confident, conscious climate leaders, shaping just and inclusive futures across key areas of climate and sustainability, including research, international diplomacy, global policy, and advocacy.

Why Climate Education and Justice Matters & The Important Role of Young Leaders

Climate change is one of the key defining challenges of our time but its impacts are disproportionately felt across the globe. Communities from the Global South and marginalised groups often face the harshest consequences, despite having contributed least to the climate crisis. Addressing this climate and social emergency requires more than technical solutions, which is commonly dictated and led by the privileged few. It demands leadership that is diverse, inclusive, and grounded in lived experience and actions that have real benefit to affected communities.

Young leaders are at the heart of the climate movement. They bring fresh perspectives, innovation, and an urgent passion for change. Yet, for many young people and changemakers, especially those from historically marginalised backgrounds, stepping into leadership roles is fraught with additional barriers, from the lack of access to resources, networks and mentorship to systemic exclusion in key decision-making spaces. Addressing this requires more than awareness. It calls for intentional actions that equip individuals and groups with the skills, confidence and opportunities they need to lead. This includes changing the very structures and systems that have created these barriers and disproportions in the first place.

That’s why climate and sustainability efforts must be rooted in justice and equitable education and development, education that empowers young leaders to not only navigate but transform the systems around them, creating spaces where they can truly thrive and shape the future. Engaging, supporting and empowering young people, particularly those who have been historically sidelined, is essential to building the equitable climate future this crisis needs.

Breaking Barriers: How This Project Is Addressing the Challenges

Breaking Barriers: Climate Leadership & You was born out of the urgent need to create inclusive pathways and equitable development opportunities for young leaders from the Global Majority and any marginalised community. This participant-tailored workshop series is designed not only to equip participants with essential leadership and advocacy skills but also to create a supportive, empowering environment where their voices are centred and celebrated. Recognising that systemic barriers cannot be overcome by individual effort alone, the project takes a more holistic approach to climate education and personal development.

• Building Crucial Practical Skills: Through interactive workshops and practical activities, participants develop core competencies across areas of communication, negotiation, public speaking, policy, translating science into policy, and advocacy, all of which are vital for effective climate leadership.
• Tailoring Learning to Needs and Experiences: The workshops centre the unique experiences, identities, needs and goals of participants, ensuring the content is relevant and responsive rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Creating Safe, Inclusive Spaces: The project fosters an environment where participants feel seen, heard, and respected. We facilitate a space that encourages authentic dialogue, peer learning, and confidence-building, breaking down feelings of isolation or exclusion.
• Connecting with Experts and Networks: By facilitating meaningful interactions with professionals from government, UN-based international diplomacy, climate advocacy, and academics the project helps students access unique learning and perspectives of leaders working across sectors, build lasting networks and gain insights that are often difficult to access.

Our Impact: What We’ve Achieved Together

The pilot of Breaking Barriers: Climate Leadership & You project has created a space for real transformation, both in the skills participants have gained and the confidence and connections they have built as emerging climate leaders. Across all feedback, participants described the experience as deeply empowering, intellectually stimulating, and personally inspiring. Many noted lasting shifts in their mindset and a newfound belief in their ability to lead and make change.

Participants developed a broad range of practical and leadership-based skills, all within a dynamic, supportive environment that connected theory with real-world application. Interactive sessions and guest speakers were especially valued for bringing complex topics to life. Guest speakers from academia, UN diplomacy, government policy, and advocacy sectors brought invaluable insights. All attendees expressed feeling better equipped and more confident to apply their new skills in academic, professional, and activism settings.

“Each session brought a different perspective and valuable insights, which kept me engaged and interested throughout.”

“I feel inspired and empowered to continue with the final exercise after the course and start researching around my passions and my community”.

“I CAN BE A CLIMATE LEADER!!”

“There are many ways in which I could act-I don’t have to feel helpless.”

What’s Next: Building on Success to Expand and Deepen Impact

Building on the strong foundations and transformative impact of the pilot project, the Breaking Barriers: Climate Leadership & You project is gearing up to scale our work in the coming months. We plan to expand our reach by offering tailored sessions/workshops to diverse groups and communities nationwide, both in academic and non-academic environments.

To achieve this, we are actively exploring funding opportunities, business development ideas and partnerships that will enable us to deepen our impact and maintain the inclusive, needs-based approach that makes this project unique. This will allow us to adapt and tailor content for different contexts, ensuring that more young leaders from the Global South and other marginalised communities can access the tools, networks, and support they need to thrive. We are also committed to continuous learning and development, listening closely to feedback, incorporating new climate justice frameworks, and integrating innovative facilitation methods. Our goal is to build an equitable climate education and justice model that not only equips young leaders with essential skills but also contributes to the reshaping of broader climate leadership landscapes-toward equity and inclusion.

Ultimately, we aim for Breaking Barriers to be a catalyst for change, supporting a growing community of conscious, confident climate leaders who will drive just and inclusive futures at every level. The Future of climate leadership should belong to us all.

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