Parami and CMA students collaborated to empower youths' leadership in environmental issues

Parami and Cherry Myay Academy student discussing plan for environmental awareness project

The student-led Environmental Club from Parami University met with the student-led Environmental Club from Cherry Myay Academy, a community-based school in Taunggyi Shan State. The collaboration meeting is the first step to nourishing the capacity and learning limitations for further youth empowerment across the Taunggyi region and the larger southeast Shan state. 

"We aim to exchange our interests and missions despite our differences to strengthen each other on available resources. This meeting is a great opportunity for our Club to strengthen community participation in underrepresented areas in response to environmental literacy," said Shaw La Mun, President of the Parami Environmental Club. 

The activity primarily focused on building a bridge between two clubs comprising young individuals who were deeply concerned about environmental change and had a strong passion for making a positive impact in their respective communities. Given these two clubs' nature and geographical location, they could work together to serve their community and bring about a positive shift in the area where they are based. This was the sole objective of this activity. The members openly discussed their plans for environmental efforts, shared resources, identified potential limitations, and discussed the challenges they may face in achieving their goals.

According to Myo Myint Maung, Deputy Secretary of the Parami Environmental Club, "the activity aimed to create a platform for young individuals to come together, share their experiences, and collaborate on environmental issues to bring about positive change in their community. The three-part structure of the activity ensured that all members had the opportunity to get to know each other, build relationships, and contribute towards achieving their common objective."

During the meeting, the members of the Parami Environmental Club led a demonstration on how to approach environmental issues through critical and systematic thinking processes. Four groups were separated and engaged in practical systems thinking under four different issues. They shared their discussions as well as the results they discovered from the workshop. Eventually, the members from both environmental clubs discussed future activities related to environmental issues and how to enhance collaboration between the two schools to take effective actions to conserve the environment. 

A coordination team has been formed for further activities and to ensure each Club's capacity and available resources for collaborations in Taunggyi City. 

"We are taking visions to empower the youths regarding environmental literacy, climate change innovations, and youth leadership in environmental issues." Said Khin Yadanar Kyaw, a Secretary of Parami Environmental Club. 

Environmental Club was founded in the 2023 Fall semester. The Club launched its first campaign called 3Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle in our daily lives to reduce plastic at the individual level, encouraging the Parami community to participate.

About Environmental Club

Environmental Club means to be a network of students on campus to dive into those issues outside of the classroom. It is Empowering, Engaging, and Uniting the power of the youths, community, and the people. This includes not only the environmental conservation from the upper layer of the iceberg but also the deep layer of the environmental issues, applying the lens of critical thinking and system thinking. Environmental Club's objectives are to encourage the youth to become responsible and critical citizens in environmental issues, raise environmental education awareness, and lift the role of youth in environmental challenges and changes.