BLUEPEACE blog

Do you care about the impact of Climate Change on people and the environment? Do you want to make a difference? Here’s an opportunity to prove your dedication and commitment.

British Council is now inviting applications from Maldivian youth for the 2010 International Climate Champions programme. Three Maldivian youth will have the opportunity to join the existing champions from Sri Lanka and India and be a part of the growing global network of over 3000 dedicated Climate Champions across 60 countries.

As a British Council International Climate Champion, you will raise awareness, address impacts through a project and contribute to the growing international consensus on the need to tackle climate change. British Council will support you with training and guidance, as well as opportunities to meet with decision makers, but the ideas and time will come from you.

WHO CAN APPLY?

If you:
– are a Maldivian citizen
– are aged between 18 and 25 years as at 7 October 2010 and have a climate change project idea that could make a lasting impact on your community, nationally or internationally

HOW TO APPLY

Please go to this page on British Council website to find details of applying online or offline.

A briefing session on the application process and other details of the programme will be held at British Council in Male on Thursday, 30 September 2010 from 10.30 am – 12.30 pm. The address is:
British Council, 1st Floor, National Library (located in the new museum building at Medhuziyaaraiy Magu behind MNDF Headquarters. It is not the main museum building at Chandhanee Magu)

For more information on the International Climate Champions programme please contact Ms Thushara Gunasekera, Assistant Manager, Programme Delivery, British Council. email: thushara.gunasekera@britishcouncil.org, tg193@hotmail.com

Update: (7 October 2010). The age limit for application has been extended to 25 now. The application deadline has been extended to October 10.

VULNERABLE, the Bluepeace exhibition on the vulnerability of Maldives to climate change, will be hosted by The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies on Monday, September 20, 2010. The exhibition will be part of an event organised by the school and named VULNERABLE MALDIVES which will also feature a conversation with Dr Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, Vice President of the of Maldives.

“The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies is privileged to host a conversation and reception about climate change and its effects on a sinking nation with Dr. Mohammed Waheed Hassan Manik, Vice President of the Republic of Maldives. Rapid seas level rise caused by global warming threatens the very existence of the Maldives, being the lowest country in the world. Talks by the Vice President will be accompanied by Vulnerable, a photography exhibition documenting the plight of the fragile coral islands of the Maldives, a nation subject to being erased, as it tries to safeguard an age-old culture and its beautiful atolls.

Yale University students have had the honor of working with the Maldives government, aiding in international environmental negotiations and climate change issues. Dr. Manik’s visit to Yale is testament to this relationship as well as a commitment to maintain an open, action-oriented, and progressive dialog about climate change and the its detrimental impacts on nations and people around the world – and none so much as small island states such as the Republic of Maldives.”

VULNERABLE exhibition documents the vulnerability of the fragile coral islands of the Maldives to climate change, through pictures from talented Maldivian photographers. Bluepeace appreciates the work of the students and the management of The Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies in setting up the exhibition.