Featured Five: Youth-oriented organizations working to protect our blue planet

Check out these awesome youth organizations that have recently been featured in the Rising Blue Network Newsletter!

Along with the five organizations featured here, there are so many more working to make progress to protect and conserve our ocean and blue planet! Check out the World Ocean Day youth page to learn more. 

If you like learning about the groups on this featured list, follow us on social media to learn about others: Instagram,  Twitter, and Facebook. If you are a part of an organization or know of an organization that should be featured on our social media pages – let us know! Check out the Youth Network Map to learn about more organizations doing incredible work all over the world!

Teens Go Green Indonesia
Founded in: 2007
Location served: International
What they do: Teens Go Green is a by-youth for-youth organization based in Indonesia and focused on developing local interest in environmental issues facing their community. The group initially started in 2007 as a high school club in Jakarta, with their first program being a workshop focusing on solutions specific to local Indonesian ecosystems. Teens Go Green has since blossomed into its own stand-alone organization, establishing itself as a place for self-development for young people who are interested in learning more about actions to save the environment. The group currently has several ongoing research projects, educational events, an eco-school curriculum, and several policy campaigns to urge the Indonesian government to cut back on their production of plastic food packaging.
Learn more: Instagram, Website, Facebook

Force Of Nature
Founded in: 2019
Location served: International
What they do: Force of Nature was founded in 2019 by climate activist Clover Hogan, to combat the rise of climate anxiety in younger generations. The organization creates and distributes student programs, curriculum support and teacher resources, to help sustainability educators foster the next generation of leaders: responding to their students’ emotional needs, helping them mobilize mindsets for action, and increasing their impact as change-makers. This youth-led organization now hosts a student network in more than 50 countries. They also host a podcast and a blog that both take a deep dive into climate anxiety, its causes, its impact on young people, and how to mitigate its effects.
Learn more: Website, Instagram, Twitter

Move Green
Founded in: 2016
Location served: Kyrgyz Republic
What they do: Move Green is a youth-led environmental organization in the Kyrgyz Republic. Run by young people, for young people, in 2016 several members created an initiative called “School Breathes Easily”, after completing a research project that found air pollution levels in the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek to be among the worst in the world. They then released a smartphone app that tracks pollution levels in the city! Move Green aims to support and inspire environmental awareness and positive environmental actions through expertise, volunteering, and education. The group provides training services and consulting services for local and international groups in the Kyrgyz Republic and study tours for foreign universities and school students. They are also beginning to work in a new sphere: citizen environmental monitoring.
Learn more: Website, Facebook 

30×30 Southeast Asia
Founded in: 2021
Location served: ASEAN Region
What they do: 30×30 Southeast Asia is a multi-sectoral coalition in the ASEAN region calling on their national governments to commit to protecting 30% of lands and ocean by 2030 and join the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People.30×30 Southeast Asia has several goals, including ensuring participation, leadership of and partnership with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), youth and women. They are specifically focused on getting the three mega-diverse countries in the region (Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia) to adopt 30×30. The ASEAN region as a whole is comprised of only 3% of the world’s total landmass, but contains a whopping 20% of global biodiversity. One of the foundational principles of the coalition is that amplifying and investing in IPLCs is absolutely required for successful protection of 30% of the Earth’s natural environments.
Learn more: Website, Instagram, Facebook

Arctic Youth Network
Founded in: 2018
Location served: Arctic Region
What they do: Founded in 2018, the Arctic Youth Network (AYN) is a youth-founded and youth-led non-profit, connecting young people from around the Arctic and the world, and providing them with the tools and experience they need to create change locally and internationally. They have a particular focus on facilitating and enabling collaboration across borders and cultures. AYN has several online resources and platforms designed to connect young people and to share opportunities for learning, advocacy, and personal growth. They have an Arctic Youth Oceans working group, host virtual discussion groups, webinars, educational trainings, and more.
Learn more: Website, Instagram, Facebook