After the success of two previous editions of the Youth Energy Academy, the Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific co-organized a third YEA in collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Youth Network (SEYN), Yunus Thailand, and other partners thanks to the support from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS). YEA gathered 20 young women and men connecting in six teams, from five countries for an innovative programme that combined theoretical and technical virtual sessions and tours with practical, in person, do it together activities. The week considered the concepts of decentralised renewable energy technologies and their contribution to address energy-related challenges in communities. This year, YEA also awarded a small grant prize of 1000 euros to support one of the teams’ project idea.
On the week from 11 to 17 October 2021, YEA participants discussed various aspects to co-design, organize, and build small- scale solar energy systems with the goal of fostering leadership and a can-do attitude for youth-led projects in communities. With support from YEA Alumni Mentors on-site, participants engaged different tools and exercises to understand the real problems of communities, explore solutions, design business models, and look into financing and mobilising resources to implement their project ideas. The workshop challenged participants to work as a team, be creative and try new things without the fear of failure. Virtual tours to projects in the vicinities of AIT helped teams to gather insights (business model/challenges/success) from real projects implemented in communities.
The YEA Small Grant Award
On the last day, participants were invited to pitch their refined project ideas using the tools learned during the academy and competed to win an award. With a jury panel including practitioners from GIZ, C40 Cities, Yunus Thailand, and Grameen Shakti, the Pico Streamers team was awarded the prize for their project on the Design and Implementation of Pico-hydro Turbines in Utror Valley, Pakistan.
The YEA Participating Teams and their Project Idea
Teams | Project Idea |
PicoStreamers (Pakistan) | Design and Implementation of Pico-hydro Turbines in Utror Valley, Pakistan |
Hope (Myanmar) | Enhancing Urban Safety by Solar Lighting System in Yangon, Myanmar |
Youth for Energy Discourse (Nepal) | Integration of Clean Cooking in Rural Livelihood |
ReVI (Vietnam) | Summer Camp for High School Students to Raise Awareness on Renewable Energy and Technical Skill |
Energy Maniacs (Pakistan) | Biogas Powered Electricity and Cooking System for Remote and Off-Grid Communities of Balochistan, Pakistan |
Electrici (Philippines) | Water Waste Collector Powered by Hydroelectric Energy: A Proposed Solution in Waste Management Issues in Laguna De Bay, Philippines |
Learn more about the YEA here.