During the weekend of July 26th-28th, the Laura Turner Seydel Living Legacy Fund granted over $39,000 to 27 FIRE Summits across 13 countries and 4 continents. Over 2,000 young people gathered to engage in meaningful discussions about a local transition to renewable and clean energy, hear from subject matter experts, and consider how they can drive change in their communities.
Captain Planet Foundation’s Planeteer Alliance powers youth-led Summits every summer by providing grants and mentorship to young leaders around the globe. Each summer, the Summit centers on a different element: WIND, FIRE, WATER, or EARTH.
The 2024 FIRE Summit focused on the rapid transition away from fossil fuels and encouraged the development of climate solutions campaigns advancing renewable energy.
Youth members of the Planeteer Alliance platform were invited to apply to host a FIRE Summit in their communities. Each of the 27 accepted host teams organized successful events complete with media elements, marketing and branding, keynote speakers, activities, and purposeful discussions.
“It was so impressive to see these young people put on such successful and well-rounded events. They each organized, managed, and designed their Summits with care and attention to detail,” shared Captain Planet Foundation team member, Anna Carter, “It’s such a testament to the reality that youth are not only capable of making an impact, but that they’re doing it in such creative and innovative ways.”
Solomon Ekundayo hosted the FIRE Summit with his team in Kaduna, Nigeria. This Summit brought 130 young people together to hear subject matter experts speak about Nigeria’s Energy Transition plan, transportation, clean cooking fuels, and implementing renewable energy practices in homes. This Summit included in-depth discussions and demonstrations of technologies to help transition to renewables and clean cooking fuels. Although Solomon acknowledges that this transition in a developing country comes with obstacles and challenges, his Summit emphasized the importance of educating community members on actions they can take NOW to create positive change.
In addition to support from Planeteer Alliance, hosts were encouraged to raise matching funds through local partnerships to help execute their Summit. Host Lakshika Khurana in New Delhi, India, partnered with sustainable small businesses, printing services, and the Summit’s venue to receive nearly $2,500 of in-kind support. This Summit, which had 198 attendees, provided t-shirts, recyclable notebooks, tote bags, hats, and more to their participants – made possible by the many partnerships they pursued.
“We encourage hosts to find partner organizations to help support their FIRE Summits not only to help reduce the costs associated with this event but also to help develop these young people professionally by teaching them to manage and navigate partnerships,” shares Robin Okunowo, Planeteer Alliance Program Manager.
Many of this year’s FIRE Hosts participated as attendees in the 2023 WIND Summits. One major goal of these annual Summits [and other Planeteer-sponsored events] is to ensure that individuals who attend events will gain enough knowledge and experience to serve as leaders for the next opportunity. For example, this year’s host team for the Atupa FIRE Summit in Lagos, Nigeria was composed primarily of Planeteers who attended previous Summits in their community. After being inspired and empowered by their peers, they took over leadership and hosted this year’s successful event with 80 participants.
Planeteer Alliance is currently welcoming new users from the summer FIRE Summits onto the PlaneteerHQ platform and encouraging them to participate in upcoming opportunities including Bootcamp, Meetups, and the Season of Solutions crowd-funding platform to finance their FIRE campaigns. As these youth begin their journey in climate activism, Team Planet remains deeply committed to shaping this next generation of superheroes for the planet.
