We’re a collective of youth from all over the globe, who inspire and support each others’ journeys as changemakers, activists, leaders, and movement builders. We want to create a world where every young person can be an agent of positive change, no matter how old they are or where they are from.
When I was 12 years old, I wished YOUTHTOPIA would have existed.
When I started my journey as a changemaker, I had no idea how long the road would be and definitely no clue on how lonely it could all get.
If only I could have jumped on a call with other changemakers who were my age, I know it would have made life a little less serious.
Melati was 12 and Isabel was 10 when they began a drive to ban plastic bags, at one point threatening a hunger strike to get the Bali governor’s attention. Now, seven years later, they have become local heroes and won international acclaim for their campaign, which resulted in Bali banning plastic bags and other such items that are intended for a single use.
The sisters, now 19 and 17, are part of a young generation of global activists, including the 17-year-old Swedish climate-change advocate, Greta Thunberg, calling for urgent action to protect the planet.
Meet the young entrepreneur harnessing the power of her generation to fight against climate change
As a young teenager, Melati Wijsen and her sister rose to fame with their successful petition to ban plastic bags from their home island of Bali. In recent years, Melati has started Youthtopia, which aims to connect younger generations looking to make a positive impact on the environment around the globe.
Melati told the WEF Annual Meeting in January that a shake-up of education is needed: “The education system is outdated. It is not keeping up with the changes in the real world. It is not preparing us for the real issues, the urgent issues that are happening.”
She left the audience with a clear message: “You're never too young to make a difference, and it's not too late to take action.” This outlook led to the creation of YOUTHTOPIA, which hosts on-the-ground local workshops and training, and wants to become the global headquarters for a movement of young changemakers.
...This laid the foundations for her latest social venture, YOUTHTOPIA, a community-centric learning platform and youth empowering ecosystem that seeks to make changemaking accessible to all.
It’s doing so by offering peer to peer programmes, masterclasses, and workshops designed to prepare today’s youth for the real, urgent issues we’re facing on a day-to-day basis in a way no textbook ever could.
A big focus for Melati today is to empower the next generation of students and changemakers through her youth-led organization, Youthtopia. “I’ve had the huge honor to travel the world and share our story of Bye Bye Plastic Bags. And the number one question we always got was, ‘How can I do what you do’?”
“We believe every single person can create change, but not every young person knows where to start,” Melati said.
Through Youthtopia, Melati aims to teach young activists how they can make a difference in the world.
Today, the inspirational 20-year-old, long-time vegetarian and star of the 2020 documentary Bigger Than Us, is focused on another initiative she founded, called Youthtopia, which empowers frontline young changemakers to create the impact they want to see.
In this insightful interview, Melati talks to Green Queen about her activist journey and her work today, and shares her hopes for the future as well as her advice for other budding changemakers out there.
YOUTHTOPIA Shift offers a transformational framework designed for corporations and industry to connect with Gen Z and their vision of a fairer and greener world.
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