Back in 2017, we co-founded Green Box at the Social Venture Weekend at Cambridge Judge Business School, UK. We wanted to create an organisation which will help young people in Pakistan become environmental citizens and understand the changing dynamics of the world through building better skills mix and contribute towards the sustainable change in Pakistan which we all talk about every day. Initially, we thought the launch of Education for Sustainable development (SD) program in Pakistan which schools will subscribe and pay us an annual subscription fee.
We pivoted the idea to create an educational game which young people can play to learn the concepts of SD. As we moved along the course of our journey, we did a lot of market research and talked to young people and even adults working for youth engagement across Pakistan and at bi/multilateral organizations like UNESCO, UNDP, SDSN youth, etc. and finally came up with the working model which we are currently implementing.
We successfully pilot the Sustainable Impact Partner Program in Pakistan with 30 young social changemakers in 2018. The partners have co-created and are coordinating community projects for environmental action. All these projects are aiming to engage at least 200 community members i.e. women, children, teachers etc. We also piloted the ‘Footprint’ curriculum allowing students to learn about sustainable thinking, project management skills, community action, stakeholders’ engagement, etc. We have so far engaged 1000 young students between the age 18-29. We got a chance to present the program design and seek support from UNESCO HQ, Paris. We also championed the consultation for youth citizen engagement in Pakistan amongst all key stakeholders including UNDP and UN Volunteers, getting recognition as market leader in Pakistan.
Green Box Explained:
Green Box is a youth-driven engagement lab nurturing sustainability leadership in Pakistan. We are developing a community of young people for environmental action and accountability. We are doing this through tools, practical experience, and network to drive change nation-wide.
We wish to enable young people become a key part of the solution to environmental challenges in Pakistan
Our Vision
To emerge as a living lab which is developing a youth-centred open-innovation ecosystem for environmental action
Our Mission
To enable 50,000 young people to become powerful engines of environmental action and accountability for local sustainable development in Pakistan by 2030
Our Approach
We combine three innovative strategies to help young people forge their own sustainable futures, leveraging opportunities for environmental action and becoming leaders who can positively impact community systems:
Footprint ® Curriculum
A simulation-based curriculum to engage tertiary level students across Pakistan to receive approximately 100 credit hours of training on sustainability leadership skills. Moreover, in order to facilitate the application of this learning in real, local community settings students can choose to customize their program by selecting one of the four practicum schemes offered including Environmental Sustainability’s nexus with Health, Green Technologies, Governance & Leadership and Social Innovation.
Environmental Sustainability Lab
A keyspace for young people to access tools and resources to co-develop evidence-based, innovative capstone projects addressing local environmental sustainability challenges.
Data for Environmental Accountability
A technology-based accountability initiative to crowdsource data to hold community systems, policymakers and community members accountable for their actions impacting the environment.