Meet Almaaz:
Almaaz is a 14-year-old student and climate activist from South Africa. She is the high school liaison for the youth climate action plan at the’South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). Almaaz won the Eskom Science Expo in South Africa for her original creation of a sustainable cooler for food. She is also passionate about the agricultural sector and is committed to solving the problem of water scarcity in South Africa. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the piano, tennis and baking.
To find out more about the 2021 edition of the #LearningPlanet Assembly, click here.
Read Almaaz's first interview with #LearningPlanet here
Discover Almaaz's contribution to the 2021 edition of the #LearningPlanet Festival here
What are the main lessons you've learned from the #LearningPlanet Assembly? What were the most inspiring moments for you?
The whole #LearningPlanet Assembly was very informative. I've attended many conferences, sessions and webinar series because I'm interested in climate change. I can confidently say that #LearningPlanet events are at the top of my list most of the time. People are often working towards the same goal, all over the world, and the #LearningPlanet Assembly brings these people together. It offers a great diversity of people of all genders, ethnic groups and ages. During the Assembly, I heard about projects similar to mine, and this gave me a unique opportunity to make important connections and accelerate the progress of my projects. I would love to see events like the #LearningPlanet Assembly on a large scale in my community because it creates a sense of unity and a positive outlook that encourages people to work and be inspired to bring about positive change.
How can we create a meaningful and resourceful mentoring space between young people and adults? What would be the structure of such a space?
I think the simple answer is that we need more large-scale initiatives like #LearningPlanet circles. I think we'll start to see real change when we move away from consultations where everyone prepares a speech, gives their opinion and holds a panel to defend their points. When we start sharing experiences and stories, it can be more emotional and create empathy in people. I think the older generations need to mentor the younger ones so that we can learn from our past mistakes and not repeat them in the future. We should prioritize the creation of unique, intergenerational spaces. For example, the #LearningPlanet circles are highly interactive, bringing together people from all over the world and enabling information to be shared. I think this is exactly what we need.
How can we establish effective intergenerational collaboration between young people and decision-makers?
I think we need to put ourselves in other people's shoes and listen to each other with empathy. Teenagers of my generation and people of the previous generation should work together. The older generations have a lot of wisdom and can act as intermediaries to bring everyone together. We need to have a common vision. We also need to create space in the decision-making process for young people and older generations to share their knowledge, experiences, thoughts, desires and hopes. For example, I had the privilege of meeting some of the biggest automotive, oil, mining and energy companies who were probably also the biggest polluters in the region. When discussing the young people's views on the need for corporate responsibility, they were very hostile, claiming that we had to offer them solutions first ( ) before criticizing them. I think this is a true reflection of the need to create a diverse decision-making space involving young people.
(Photo courtesy of Almaaz Mudaly, copyright : Almaaz Mudaly)
