The heated debate sufficed to warm the chilly morning; it was quite animated and thorough, and it all centered on the relevance of international conferences to the lives of people. As diverse as the opinions were, there was consensus on the fact that it is our role to implement the policies agreed upon at such conferences with regards to our target community's context. This was the morning of April 22, 2012: Earth Day.
Members of Kenya Youth Climate Network (KYCN) and African Youth Initiative on Climate Change Kenya (AYICC-K) left together for Thogoto Center, on the outskirts of Nairobi, to spearhead Earth Day celebrations. The main event that marked this day was the Earth Race, a cycling event aimed at creating awareness on the need to conserve our environment and engaging the relevant authorities and local communities in environmental governance.
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| All was set for the event |
The event commenced with a tree planting session where all the participants in the event planted trees. This is a cliche act, but it is nonetheless one of the most important ones.
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| AYICC-K members prepping for tree planting |
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| (Me) Investing in natural capital |
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| Nurturing young people to take are of their environment |
Later on, the Earth Race took place, and it was very competitive and attracted many people. Different age cohorts were represented, and this was very important because youth-led activities and projects should not exclude people from any age bracket.
Finally, the RAUKA (swahili for 'Awaken') youth mobilization project for Rio+20 was launched.
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| Launching the RAUKA youth mobilization campaign towards Rio+20 Earth Summit |
To top it up, the government and civil society were also represented at the event.
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| Provincial administration represented by the Division Officer |
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| The security agencies were also represented |
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| Politicians were also engaged |
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| Stdeunt leaders in unviversity also took part |
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| Leaders engaged in the event |
Environmental governmental from the bottom up is the most important means of engaging stake-holders in effective environmental conservation and sustainable development!
