56 participants comprising youth participated in the 7th Green Leaders Camp organised by Green Brunei from 5 – 8 August 2019. This year’s theme focuses on climate change with the hashtag “#ThinkClimate”. One of the main objectives of this camp was to enable participants to critically assess environmental issues in Brunei and subsequently find possible solutions for these issues through discussions and activities.
On the first day, participants had a field trip to the Mangrove to witness wildlife living amidst the mangrove such as the proboscis monkey, eagle and crocodile. The participants were then brought to Kampong Ayer to visit the Kunyit 7 Lodge. Kem, the owner of Kunyit 7 Lodge, shared the importance of recycling and upcycling, and proceeded to show different ways she has contributed towards the environment. She gave the participants a chance to have a tour around the lodge to see a number of furniture, tools, and decoration that was made out of recycled materials.
The field trip continued with a tour around the vicinity of the old and new houses of Kampong Ayer. The participants were able to observe the differences between the old and new houses as well as the issues that are present. Lastly, they visited the Kampong Ayer Cultural and Tourism Gallery before leaving for lunch. In the afternoon, participants had their ice-breaking session followed by project grouping and idea development. After that, participants attended a workshop regarding “The People Manual by Epipeople Consultants”. The day ended with making preparations for climate change campaign that took place the following day.
On the next day, participants carried out their climate change campaign at Bandarku Ceria. The participants asked a series of questions to people present at Bandarku Ceria regarding climate change. After the campaign, participants proceeded to have a field study visit to the Bus Terminal in Bandar, where they were able to see a close-up of how daily operations were carried out at the Bus Terminal. After that, participants were given time to have group discussions, which was then followed by project idea validation.
Next, participants departed from Bandar Seri Begawan to Eco Ponies Garden in Tutong. The purpose of this trip was to expose them to nature and culture, and the concept of farm-to-table living. They also had the chance to experience authentic kampong delicacies cooked by the community mostly using fresh ingredients produced in the garden. Before leaving, Eyon Ukoi, the co-founder of Eco Ponies Garden, did not forget to show us their handmade Pizza Oven that was made out of mud and clay.
Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, participants attended the Mentor Clinic at Pusat Belia where the mentors gave their feedback and advice on each group’s idea. At night, participants made their final preparations on their group’s idea for the project pitching to be held on the last day of the camp.
On the last day, participants headed to Berakas Forest Reserve for the tree planting activity early in the morning. Each participant planted approximately two trees. In total 112 trees were planted by GLC participants and volunteers from TreePlanting.bn.
Then the participants went back to Pusat Belia to attend the last workshop by Hanis Osman from Generasi Bekarih called “Leadership and Communication”. In the afternoon, participants departed to Rimba Garden Central, where the closing ceremony took place. Before the closing ceremony, participants were given the opportunity to pitch their project ideas to all the groups for a duration of three minutes. The closing ceremony then commenced. The highlight of the ceremony was the youth dialogue with Ministers, whereby several participants had an opportunity to relay their questions regarding climate change to the panel of Ministers.