YOUTH4NATURE

STORYTELLING CAMPAIGN
2020-2021
ABLE OF CONTENT Behind #YourStoryOurFuture 3

What We Are Looking For 5

Who Can Submit to The 6

Campaign?

Benefits of Submitting 7

Storycrafting 101: Tips to get you 9

started

Still, Do You Have Any Quick 10

Advice?

Learn More & Submit 11

2
BEHIND
#YourStoryOurFuture:
WHO?
Youth4Nature (Y4N) is a youth-led, international organization that educates,
empowers, and mobilizes young people to lead on solutions to the ecological
and climate crisis that are ambitious, backed by science & community, and
grounded in justice. Our vision is a world where communities thrive with nature
across generations, and we work towards that through knowledge-sharing,
storytelling and capacity-building.

WHAT?
At the heart of Y4N there are two things: people and nature. For us, both are part
of the same whole that needs and drives transformative change. Key to our work
is making this whole visible & harmonious by harnessing the power of a tool, a
tradition, an art form, used for generations
around the world: the telling of stories.
Storytelling is integral to part of our
three-fold mission: to elevate the
voices of youth by providing a
platform to share their
stories and have them
be heard.

Photo: Danilo Ignacio De Urzedo

Story: Community-based Forest Landscape Restoration in Brazil
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 WHY?
Despite the momentum
for climate & nature
generated by youth, our
voices & initiatives remain
tokenised, underrepresented
and poorly resourced. There is also
still a dominant narrative & approach to
the climate and ecological crises that 1)
focuses more on the problem than on solutions, 2) is
often gloomy, paralysing &/or delayist, and 3) privileges
siloed individual action over systemic collective transformation.

To counteract this, Y4N aims to platform, scale-up and inspire holistic climate-
nature action that benefits biodiversity and human well-being, sustains collective
youth leadership, fosters a hopeful and solution-oriented narrative, and upholds
social and environmental justice.

HOW?
Following the successes of our first Storytelling Campaign in 2019, ‘Your Story,
Our Future’ launched in November 2020. This second campaign aims to amplify
the urgent messages, community-centred action, and solution-oriented work
that youth are leading around the world for nature and for climate.
We welcome stories on a rolling-basis up until the end of 2021,
although occasionally there will be special call-outs with set
deadlines and thematic focus. All approved stories will be
shared on our online digital Story-map and storytellers
behind them will become members of our Global
Storytelling Community.

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 WHAT WE ARE
LOOKING FOR
Young people's personal experiences with the land and
water they live on and how those lands and waters have
influenced their climate actions.

Especially, stories of youth engaging in solutions within

the “climate-nature” nexus, including action that
simultaneously addresses climate change, biodiversity loss
and environmental degradation.

Climate-nature actions are covered by terms such

We are seeking young
people's personal and
locally-based narratives
with compelling and
strong voices that
communicate urgency,
are specific to
communities and regions,
and foster solutions!
as traditional ecological knowledge, nature-based
solutions, ecosystem-based approaches,
biomimicry and green/blue infrastructure.
Examples of actions behind these concepts include
conservation, restoration, protection,
regeneration, expansion and sustainable
management of biodiverse natural ecosystems
& carbon-rich land
from woodlands and grasslands to wetlands
and oceans to urban, rural and peri-urban
green spaces.

We welcome diversity in storytelling! This includes

diversity in ecosystems, location, actions, geographies,
subtopics (in relation to wider climate, environmental and
social issues), and co-benefits (for human well-being).

Stories can be action-based or reflective, and can be

shared as short videos, photography, text, audio, and
forms of art like illustrations, poetry, spoken word…

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WHO CAN SUBMIT TO
THE CAMPAIGN?
Participants should be between 18 and 30 (inclusive) years old. If under
the age of 18, parental or guardian consent is required.

Submissions can be made by both individuals or youth/ intergenerational

groups (at least 50% youth, as described above).

Stories must include a clear title, a short written description, a short

biography and a picture of the author(s) (if possible/if not anonymous).

Stories must normally be the original work of the author and non-
fictional/grounded in reality.

The working languages of the

campaign are English, French, Arabic,
Swahili, Spanish and Portuguese.
Nevertheless, stories in other
languages are welcomed.

For more details on

Submission Guidelines, visit:
youth4nature.org/guidelines-eng

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BENEFITS OF SUBMITTING
Everyone whose submitted story is approved for our Your Story Our
Future campaign will:

Be featured on our digital multimedia Story-map, a virtual global

map that showcases & categorises all the accepted stories to date.

Be highlighted on Youth4Nature's social media platforms,

website and newsletter, with a diverse international audience
spanning the climate, biodiversity, climate-nature, youth and
sustainable development movements.

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Become a member (for individuals) and a partner
(for organisations/groups) of Y4N's Global
Storytelling Community, a global supportive
network of young activists, project leaders,
experts and professionals that offers:

Training and capacity-building

opportunities.
Photo: José Jorge
Connections to key organisations and Enríquez Wasmuth
institutions, experts, and other youth Story: Good Actions from
storytellers. Paraguay

Access & speaking opportunities at relevant events,

both virtual and on-the-ground
Previous opportunities for storytellers have included engagements
with high-level partners such as UNDP, UNEP, IUCN, March for
Science, the Global Centre for Adaptation, and national
governments.

Funded expenses to engage in the Community's activities and be an

ambassador/partner of Youth4Nature's Storytelling Campaign.

Financial and non-financial support to further own climate-nature

action on-the-ground.

Priority access to Youth4Nature's "Ground-Up" Storycrafting Lab,

including training on storytelling and microgrants to
support storytelling efforts.

Priority access to our upcoming

pilot "Scale-up" micro-grants
programme, which will offer
Community members seed and
growth funding for youth-led
climate-nature projects on-the-
ground, coupled with
mentoring and training
opportunities.

Photo: Vouofo Gapgueu

Brondon Niguel 8
Story: Reforestation: Photo
Essay
STORYCRAFTING 101:
Tips to Get You Started
WHAT IS STORYTELLING?
Storytelling is the sharing of fictional and non-fictional accounts of events,
situations and experiences. According to context, storytelling can be seen as a:

ADVOCACY TOOL KNOWLEDGE +

COMMUNICATION
MEDIUM LEARNING

CULTURAL CREATIVE
TRADITION POLICY ARTFORM
NARRATIVE

HOW IS IT CONNECTED TO CLIMATE AND NATURE/BIODIVERSITY?

Storytelling is a multifaceted skill & tool which young activists can use to: record
their journey, reflect on their experiences & actions, communicate their concerns
& solutions, influence policy and decision-making, and showcase their work &
expertise. Stories can be powerful devices & examples of the learnings, change &
mobilisation needed to tackle the climate & ecological crises.

IS THERE A TEMPLATE TO FOLLOW?

As a storyteller, you retain creative and narrative control over your story. We don't
offer a detailed & rigid "step by step" guide, as we hope stories can be as unique
and personalised as possible. For those new to storytelling, we do offer
workshops and capacity-building activities, as well as direct support and
resources to bring your idea to life. Visit www.youth4nature.org/storytelling for
more information.

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STILL, DO YOU HAVE
ANY QUICK ADVICE?
BEFORE STARTING TO CRAFT:

1
Choose a format and medium
Think of your intended audience
Set a focus and an objective/purpose
Pick a tone and style: emotive, humourous, lively, critical,
inspirational, moral, suspenseful...

WHILE CRAFTING, CONSIDER:

2
Characters: who is in it and in which role?
Setting: where does it take place? Can you describe it?
Plot: what issue are you addressing? Will it attract your
target audience?
Structure: does it include an intro, a main body (i.e. issue &
solution) and a conclusion?

FINALLY, WHEN EDITING, CHECK IF:

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Is the story personal and based on your own
experiences/reflections?
Is the story focused and does it flow as a narrative?
Does the story have a strong call to action, useful
takeaways and/or a clear message which is simple to
understand and carry forward?

ALL IN ALL, TRUST YOURSELF AND ENJOY THE PROCESS!

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EARN MORE & SUBMI Your Story Our Future
Urgency | Community | Solutions

Visit our website and submit your story!

www.youth4nature.org/storytelling
This is also where you can learn more about our
first Storytelling Campaign, "Raise Your Voice"!

Engage with our stories and activities through

#YourStoryOurFuture #Y4NStorytelling

Follow @Y4Nature on Facebook, Instagram,

Twitter, and @Youth4Nature on LinkedIn

Contact the Storytelling team at

storytelling@youth4nature.org

Photo: Iris del Sol

Story: Could Ski Resorts Coexist 11
With Climate Change?