Conscious and empowered youth can make a better world through their successful engagement in social work. For raising awareness among the young generation in protecting the environment a national level workshop titled “Engagement of Children and Youth to Save Environment” was held on 2 May 2017 at LGED, RDEC Conference Room (Level-12). It was jointly organized by the Department of Environment, UNDP, Save the Children and Green Savers Association. The workshop was attended by representatives from different environmental advocacy agencies, government organizations, and students of public and private universities as well as various schools and colleges. Professor Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, C3ER, BRAC University graced the event as a special guest. The main objective of the workshop was to create the awareness among the children and youth that must be made to protect the environment. Ms. Sbarna Ershad, Environmental Economist, C3ER also attended the workshop. The workshop was introduced by the opening remarks of the CEO of Green Savers Association, Mr. Ahsan Rony. In his speech, he stressed on the relevance of the topic for mitigating environmental risks caused by pollution and outlined the event schedule for the day. The panel discussion was declared open by the chair of the panel Mr. Jiaul Haque, Director Department of Environment, Ministry of Environment & Forest. The panel consisted of Dr. Ainun Nishat, Professor Emeritus, BRAC University; Ms. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive, BELA; MD. Mostak Hussain, Humanitarian Director, Save the Children and Iqbal Habib, Joint Secretary of BAPA.
Dr. Nishat started his speech by defining sustainable development and environment. He explained the main ideas for sustainable development and the importance of biodiversity for development. He suggested planting native trees for supporting the existence of different local species as well as increasing greenery. He also accentuated the importance of involvement of youth in protecting the environment and reducing pollution in all forms. He encouraged the youths to go to unbiased sources for any information regarding pollution and to think of innovative solutions to solve environmental challenges. He believes that stopping harmful acts against the environment is not enough; activists should also focus on finding alternatives. He exemplified that by saying that BRAC University Environmental Club had put pressure on the street vendors to stop throwing organic waste onto the road by threatening to stop frequenting their shops. He ended his speech on this note of hope that the youth can and will come forward to stop pollution.