#WeGotThis: we’re envisioning a youth-led community movement to raise hope and empower a generation of connected sustainability doers to lead change and amplify their voices of influence for a better world. If that sounds right up your alley, then join us for a new youth sustainability incubator we’re launching: packed with masterclasses starting in two weeks, a bootcamp after, and a six-month-long exclusive mentorship to round it all off. Read on to find out more.
WHAT
We Got This, launched by WWF, in collaboration with Green Is The New Black and Grey Singapore, presented by Temasek Foundation, is a 6-months practicum and mentorship incubator for sustainability doers and better world seekers to learn about climate and sustainability, innovation, conscious living and digital advocacy. Participants of the incubator will learn through skills-building, hands-on projects, industry mentorship, and purpose-driven career coaching. We’re bringing on board international and national speakers, trainers and mentors, who are prominent movers and shakers in sustainability, to help youths realise their sustainability aspirations.
The goal? We want to provide youths with the knowledge, skills and tools to design and execute strategic sustainability advocacy campaigns on their chosen topic of interest and action to build and drive change in their own social advocacy following and community.
WHO
We’re looking for the next generation of changemakers. Are you an 18-25-year-old English-speaking youth based in Singapore, South Korea, and Southeast Asia? Are you a sustainability geek who’d like to become an influencer in your field? An activist who wants to launch a micro-revolution? An artist who wants to use your medium to spread the word about sustainability? An innovator with an idea for a sustainable product? Or an influencer who wants to step up into the sustainability world? We’re looking for you.
WHY
Where did We Got This come from? The idea for this incubator came from millennial Singaporean Janet Sarah Neo’s journey as a ground-up sustainability advocate, activist and practitioner. Recognising that community activism in Singapore and Asia will look different from going on the streets to protest, she saw an opportunity to focus instead on doing, trying, testing and speaking up, building small wins one after another.
Janet was joined by like-minded changemakers like our very own Green Is The New Black founder Stephanie Dickson, and the WWF Singapore team, led by Robin Carney (Head of Philanthropy) and Chitra Venkatesh (Head of Education). Soon, Climate Reality Leader, Konstantin Popovic, founder of Sustainably Grey, came on board, seeing the urgent need for marketing and storytelling to become a force for climate positivity. And so the team was born. And We Got This followed after. Today, We Got This comprises almost 50 professionals contributing and getting behind this much-needed skills gap in sustainability advocacy and activism. It only takes a spark to get the fire going. Now, we’re looking for more fire-starters, to launch more communities and spaces everywhere to be the change.
But enough talk—let’s get to the programme.
TO KICK THINGS OFF: THREE FREE MASTERCLASSES OVER THREE WEEKS
Over three weeks, we’ll be conducting three free, live masterclasses. The masterclasses are designed to take participants on a journey. But they’re no-commitment: meaning that if you sign up, you don’t have to apply for the bootcamp and mentorship programme. You will, however, gain access to the exclusive network on our Circle online platform. (Think social media, but just among participants! This means you’ll be able to network with other participants, form connections and communities, all while discussing your learnings with each other as you go along.
BIG PICTURE & STARTING A MOVEMENT | 29TH JUNE, 7-9PM (SGT/GMT +8)
The first We Got This masterclass features two changemakers we, at Green Is The New Black, have known for a long time now. And we’re starting off with talking about the big picture, and how to start a movement.
Chad Frischmann, one of our Green Warriors, is the lead architect of the Drawdown Solutions Framework. Those of us who work in the environmental space may probably be familiar with Project Drawdown. The Drawdown team annually assesses high-level environmental solutions from around the world to find the top ones. Why? To help the world reach “drawdown”—the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. Chad will be giving us an overview of the global environmental problems, and the solutions that we already have to solve them. He’ll then help us choose our own adventure in the solutions each participant wants to be a part of, and provide us with the next steps.
Following that, we’ll have Vikas Garg, one of our 2019 Green Warriors, who heads up abillion. abillion is on a mission to use social media for social good. It’s an app to find vegan food, sustainable beauty and ethical fashion reviews from everywhere in the world. With every review, more people can live more sustainably, and more businesses get inspired to do more. To top it all off, for every review made, abillion donates $1 to one of its partners, including the world’s leading conservation, education and diet change initiatives. Vikas will be sharing secrets from his change-making journey, and how to leverage small steps towards collective, global impact.
FINDING YOUR MISSION & SHAKING THINGS UP WITH DESIGN | 6TH JULY, 7-9PM (SGT/GMT+8)
The second We Got This masterclass features two expert designers and communicators, and focuses on conscious living, something Green Is The New Black is extra passionate about.
To start, we have Leyla Acaroglu, another one of our Green Warriors this year. Leyla is the founder of the UnSchool of Disruptive Design. But that’s a fraction of who she is. Leyla’s a sociologist, sustainability expert and designer. She combines all of these aspects into her work to lead the transformation to a better, more sustainable economy. Her main interest? Shaking things up by design. In fact, she’s the mastermind behind the UNEP Anatomy of Action. In short, it’s an action map connecting tangible everyday actions to the UN SDGs. Which is to say: individual actions matter. So she’ll be sharing about just that: how to live more consciously, and how to develop a systems thinking mindset to connect individual actions to greater impact.
Then, we have Rohan Chakravarty. Rohan is a cartoonist, illustrator, and creator of Green Humour. Green Humour is a series of cartoons, comics and illustrations on wildlife and nature conservation. You might have seen cartoons from Green Humour appear in newspaper columns, magazines and journals. And various global campaigns and projects on wildlife awareness and conservation. What will Rohan be sharing with us? Well, he’ll be talking about how he found his niche. About how he managed to combine environmental protection, conservation, art and humour onto one platform. And he’ll be teaching us how to find our own niche in the sustainability space.
A LOUDER VOICE FOR A GREENER WORLD | 13TH JULY, 7-9PM (GT/GMT+8)
For our final We Got This masterclass, we’re featuring content-creating, community-building masters. This final masterclass focuses on online and content marketing, and campaigning, essential skills you’ll need to start a revolution.
To kick it off, we’ll be having the humans in our very own We Got This team, from WWF and Grey Singapore, to give us an overview of the various social media channels. They’ll contextualise the social media game in Asia, and provide high-level tips on mastering the game, and reaching a wide audience. To follow, we’ll have Bernadette, from the BTS Army Philippines. Korean pop fanclubs have made a name for themselves in recent years. And not just for the reasons you’d think! Besides being loyal fans of talented artists, K-pop fanclubs have leveraged social media for good. They’ve mobilised towards social justice, and become involved in climate activism too. Bernadette will share with us tips on how to use social media for good. How do we pitch, campaign and mobilise masses around issues we care about?
To round off the session, we turn to the fastest-growing social media platform: TikTok. And who better to learn from that Singaporean TikTok rising star, Nurul Syafiqa, better known as @syapls, or just SYA. SYA is a relatable Gen Z TikToker who’s mastered the art of TikTok comedy. All of her TikToks are hits, and she covers relatable topics for everyday Singaporeans. She’s also a Content Creator at SGAG. Naturally, the viral master will be going over the ins and outs of the platform, talking about what goes viral, how to go viral, and how to stay viral. Whether you’re a TikTok beginner or TikTok addict who just can’t stop scrolling, this will be a masterclass for anyone and everyone.
Are you in? Sign up now.
AND THEN WHAT? A BOOTCAMP AND A MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME AWAITS…
What follows the three masterclasses, you ask? We Got This has lined up a five-day intensive bootcamp from 4th to 8th September. It’ll be followed by a six-month-long mentorship programme until February. The bootcamp will require an application. But we’re looking for 50 youths who will be involved in our inaugural, exclusive bootcamp.
You can expect talks from various sustainability experts, activists, youths (and opportunities to connect with these personalities, as well as with each other). We’ll be covering sustainability knowledge, digital and practical skills, and power skills, all to empower youth towards creating their own communities and starting their own micro-revolutions. To find out more about what’s to come, follow along on our website and our Instagram page… and don’t forget to sign up!
See you at the masterclasses!