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Dunja Trifunovic, a 19-year-old girl who started her journey in climate activism as a Pre-COP26 delegate has been active in promoting climate-smart agriculture as a Chairperson of the Children and Youth in Agriculture (CYA) flagship of the Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN).
As she leads preparations for the Youth Circle – a flagship event of the Children and Youth in Agriculture (CYA) program to be held virtually on the 18th of August 2022, the GCSAYN Executive Director, Mr. Ntiokam Divine nominated the youthful sustainable development advocate to serve as GCSAYN Liaison Officer to the World Food Forum (WFF) Secretariat.
Dunja is also a Liaison Officer to the European Union (EU), an EU Climate Pact Ambassador, Co-Founder of the European Observatory on Sustainability and Co-Creator of the EU Youth Dialogue on Sustainable Consumption which took place in the EU Commission in Brussels. She is also a Vice Lead Coordinator for YES Europe-Serbia and she has experience in climate education being the youngest Climate Heroes WWF Adria Trainer. During the ChangeNow event in Paris, the biggest gathering for the climate in the world, she was the youngest jury member. Currently, she is leading the CYA program within GCSAYN.
The Youth Circle event on 18 August 2022 aims to put youth in front of COP27 preparations; open the dialogue on the COP26 outcomes, and food system developments, and come up with recommendations for the upcoming global summit so as to foster intergenerational and intercultural knowledge exchange.
Participants will be drawn from representatives of UN Bodies, NGO representatives, decision-makers, independent researchers, civil society representatives, and youth advocates.
The Flagship event consists of three major parts, taking part from 10.00h to 14.00h CET:
- Reflection on the past achievements of the international negotiations
- Sharing good practices implemented in different countries which contribute to global climate action efforts
- Mapping the road towards COP27, major focus points for the discussion, and hopes for the upcoming conference in terms of the adopted agreement
Youth Circle is envisioned as an open space for collaboration, a platform for multigenerational dialogue and therefore, the organisers put emphasis on providing participants with an interactive learning experience in a digital environment.
The event has three main objectives as outlined below:
- Informing the general public about the international agreements, their implementation, climate negotiations, as well as the current developments in the Food and Agriculture sector
- Empowering young leaders to contribute to the creation of public policies through dialogue with decision-makers, civic activism, and cooperation with peers from other parts of the world in climate action.
- Opening intergenerational dialogue, sharing good practices, and sending clear recommendations to decision makers before the COP27 summit
A number of activities are lined up for the event. There will be addresses from experts followed by an open discussion with participants on the specific topic. This will be coupled with interactive sessions reflecting on the previous panels allowing participants to share their views among their peers in the breakout rooms. This will be followed by workshops fostering intercultural and intergenerational knowledge sharing.
The leading outcome of the event is that participants will have a good understanding of international negotiation processes, and current developments in climate action and are able to articulate their vision for the upcoming COP27.
They will also deepen their understanding of their role in climate action and transfer and implement the acquired knowledge through cooperation with the community in their home countries.