“I want to be part of the change!”

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“It was life-changing” is a common comment among the “Game On!” Young Ambassadors, who led workshops and panel discussions at the EU DEAR project’s concluding conference in Brussels (19-20 September). Bori Lang from Romania thus described Game On’s climate justice fact-finding mission to Guatemala. 

In the Central American country, Bori and other young participants met peers in an indigenous community and “felt the air” that they are living. They shared stories and learned about how they are suffering from climate injustice. She admired their resilience: “their struggles are much harder than ours, yet they continue to fight and do not burn out”. 

When asked about the activists’ needs, Bori expressed her powerful opinion: “We as Europeans need to listen to them, and they, from Guatemala, need to stand on their own feet. And they can! They don´t need our help, but to be seen and acknowledged. We need to stand by them.”

Bori shared her insights from Guatemala through a climate justice event she ran upon her return to Romania. Besides managing another large online “Game On!” climate change conference, she promoted the DEAR climate action project among Romanian youth organisations and participated in its wilderness camps in Romania, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria. At the project’s concluding conference in Brussels, Bori led a hybrid session on the history of plastic and the latest technologies to decompose it, e.g. via bacteria and insects. 

Another “Game On!” Young Ambassador, fellow traveler to Guatemala and climate justice advocate in Brussels, is Rūdolfs Kivlenieks from Latvia. He was a key contributor to their “Festival Greening” handbook and has since landed a job in festival (sustainable) management. He, as several others, first hesitated to consider himself a climate activist. 

He now has a broader view of the role: “Activism is more than being on the forefront, on the street.” Through Game On! he has learned - and advises others - “to be active in everything. It opens doors and invitations.” 

A “Game On!” partner from CIR (Romero Initiative), who organised the media trip to Honduras, also showed climate injustices up close. She described the story of what appeared to be a “boy”, who was receiving death threats because of his climate activism. “We have no excuse to hold back in our fight against climate injustice,” she concluded. “Our lives are not in danger.”  With European influencers and multipliers reporting on such human stories of climate crises back in their home countries, demands to support the Global South are echoed and fortified. 

Another “Game On!” Young Ambassador described her motivation to be active in the DEAR climate project: “I want to be part of the change. I want to show people that supporting the planet also comes with other benefits, such as more skills, networks and community.” Many “climate ambassadors” also shared Bori’s motivation to stay with change: “It would be great to continue to be part of the “Game On!” movement.” 

The self-described “1st Green Romanian Member of the European Parliament (MEP)”, Mr Nicolae Stefanuta summarises the shared sense of global climate responsibility at the Brussels conference: “Most issues don´t just end on one continent. The Global South and North share the same planet.” 

In terms of climate “successes”, he recounts how young people writing to their MEPs made the difference of just ten votes to pass the EU’s nature restoration law. “Thanks to you and your young peers, we can sue local authorities if poor quality causes your sickness.” 

Background: 

“Game On!” is an EU DEAR-funded initiative, led by CEEweb, that harnesses the power of gamification and youth engagement to confront the looming existential threat of climate change. “Game On!” has worked with 200+ Young Climate Ambassadors from eight Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries to develop an impressive array of gamified tools, from geocaching challenges and board games to a mobile app to reduce your carbon footprint and even climate comedy shows! 

Watch the “Game On video” to learn more.

Last, but not least, journalists can continue to brush up their knowledge on climate injustice in Central America, through the “Game On!”  media kit