The Tunza International Children's Conference takes place every two years to increase children's environmental awareness and equip them with skills to promote environmental projects in their communities.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in collaboration with the Young Agenda 21 Foundation of Norway hosted the 2008 Tunza International Children’s Conference on the Environment in Stavanger, Norway from 17 to 21 June 2008. The conference, whose theme was Creating Change, brought together about 1,000 participants (700 children aged 10 to 14 and 300 chaperones) from 105 countries. Each day begun with a keynote speech followed by presentations from children on their projects and thereafter workshops and fieldtrips related to the daily themes of Energy, Water, Biodiversity, Sustainable Consumption and Production.
A variety of workshops and fieldtrips was offered, as well as dialogue groups and activities at the “Eco Village”. Numerous Norwegian and international companies and NGOs contributed to the magnitude of the programme.
Children from around the world inspired the audience by presenting their environmental projects. Themes like recycling electronic waste, tree planting campaigns and energy consumption were addressed by children for children.
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Child Activists Tell their Story
A young Australian film maker, an Indian child combating water waste, a 13-year-old organizing clean-ups in Cameroon, and a teenage American recycler are among 700 children from around the world who attended a UN environment conference in Stavanger, Norway.
Remarkable examples include a 13-year-old in Australia who is making a documentary called 'A Kid's Guide to Climate Change', for which he interviewed a local indigenous leader, visited a wind farm and a wave generator, and built a model solar car. Meanwhile a 14-year-old in India is campaigning against water waste in his community, a 13-year-old in Cameroon is running clean-up campaigns and tree plantings, and a 13-year-old in the United States has helped organize a recycling drive and collect 100,000 pounds of e-waste.
Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "The 700 children attending the Tunza conference are a powerful sign of the creativity, energy and dynamism that children are capable of to protect our planet. We can all learn from them, and we should all take heart in the fact that increasing numbers of children are becoming a force for positive change as we move towards greener lifestyles."
This is the seventh edition of UNEP's Tunza International Children's Conference. In the last several years, the conference has motivated hundreds of children to go out and take action on the environment.
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