THE 20th ASEAN Youth Day Meeting (AYDM) kicked off yesterday morning with a “sharing session” by the recipients of this year’s ASEAN Youth Award and Ten Accomplished Youth Organisations (TAYO) ASEAN Award. A total of 35 delegates from ASEAN countries respectively are currently in the country to attend AYDM which will run until October 11. Themed “Youth as an Agent of Change Towards Development of Community and World Peace”, the sharing session was held at the Youth Centre in the capital aimed for the awardees to share their experiences and inspiring other young people in making a difference in their community. The recipients for the ASEAN Youth Award and TAYO ASEAN Award for Brunei were Khairunnisa Ash’ari and Kumpulan Putra Seni (KPS). Khairunnisa, who is actively involved in Green Brunei,…

FOUR Bruneian youths yesterday departed for Beijing, China to address environmental issues at the International Youth Organisation Forum and Beijing Sister City Youth Camp. Rodziah Hj Adnan, Stephanie Yong, Mohd Khairullizan Mohd Yussof and Firdaus Ismail will participate in the forum and camp held from October 20 to 26. The youths are representatives from the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation (JASTRE), Green Brunei and Beach Bunch. Rodziah, an officer at JASTRE’s Environmental Planning and Management Unit, said the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports extended its invitation to the department as environment will be one of the issues discussed during the forum. Firdaus from Green Brunei said the programme would benefit him in terms of knowledge sharing in aspects such as urban enviroment management and sustainability. He further said…

NON-governmental organisation Green Brunei is pushing for all schools to teach environmental education. Community Engagement Director Khairunnisa Ash’ari said the Ministry of Education should make sure recycling and waste management are incorporated into the school curriculum. In an interview yesterday, she said one of the ways youth can practise environment conservation as part of their lifestyle is when they are made aware from a young age. “For instance, if schools do not make it a culture for students to recycle, then it is more challenging to get the students to participate in green community activities.. “As a habit, students should be encouraged to switch off the lights and fans when not in use,” she added Although the Ministry of Education, through the Science, Technology and Environment Partnership (STEP) Centre, has…

GREEN Brunei is keen to strengthen its initiatives on environmental education and conservation next year. The initiatives include holding more green camps, school talks and encouraging more people to take part in tree-planting, said the non-profit organisation’s community engagement director Khairunnisa Ash’ari. She said through its activities this year, she realised there is great potential in engaging more young people. “So far, all our programmes have been short-term, and we want to look into having more long-term programmes which are sustainable,” she said. This year, it initiated two tree-planting activities in Bengkurong apart from other conservation activities. However, Khairunnisa said plans are under way to turn them into long-term programmes by having them more frequently. “We still have a lot to do in terms of reaching out to the community…

GREEN Brunei recently attended Singapore Power Shift, a kickstarter workshop aimed at building up climate knowledge as well as knowledge on how to run successful campaigns. The Bruneian non-profit organisation was represented by its Community Engagement Director Khairunnisa Ash’ari, with support from the British High Commission. Organised by global climate movement organisation 350.org, Singapore Power Shift was part of 350.org’s second phase of the Global Power Shift (which took place in Turkey last year). The two-day workshop saw participation from over 50 youth from Southeast Asian countries, and focused on topics relevant to climate change movements around the world. Participants were also exposed to a wide range of campaigning skills and techniques through case studies, which were presented by different non-government organisations within and outside Singapore. Five campaign proposals were…