Elena Baturina's BE OPEN think tank supports youth empowerment in the energy sector at SES2023 and COP28
LONDON, Dec. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As a partner of the Student Energy Summit (SES 2023), BE OPEN had the honour of addressing 650 young people from over 100 countries who gathered at the New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD). They participated in the international and interdisciplinary programme that strives to prepare young people for a career in the energy transition, showcasing underrepresented voices in the energy space and empowering youth to build important relationships with peers and industry professionals.
From November 29 to December 1, united by the theme Reimagining the Future, SES 2023 provided delegates with the knowledge and connections needed to take on local energy challenges and pursue their own projects.
It became the largest youth-led energy event in the world that provides space for hundreds of young people to collaborate on sustainable energy solutions. The organisers enabled the participation of youth from diverse backgrounds, especially young people from marginalized communities and developing countries, who had the opportunity to amplify their capacities and scale up their clean energy projects.
Founder of BE OPEN Elena Baturina welcomed the participants and stressed that BE OPEN's SDG programme clearly demonstrated the importance of new energy initiatives: "Over the five years of our competition programme, sustainable energy solutions have played a major role in achieving all of the development goals our competitions focused on". She added that "educating and motivating young people to become leaders of the energy sector by offering them a platform for discussion and exchange of ideas, a nutritious soil for growth, is the best way forward to achieving a better future for all."
To support these statements, the foundation shared the results of its SDG-themed student competition programme that chooses to focus on one particular goal every year, and has so far covered SDG12: Responsible Consumption and Production, SDG11: Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG2: Zero Hunger, and SDG7: Affordable and Clean Energy. BE OPEN invited the delegates from all over the world to develop and submit their projects to the ongoing competition Design Your Climate Action dedicated to SDG13: Climate Action.
Among the delegates of the Summit, there were four winners of BE OPEN's latest competition Better Energy by Design, their attendance being part of their award in addition to cash grants. Those were the 2nd prize winner Qin Zhou from Zhejiang Sci-Tech University in China, the Public Vote prize winners Iwana Raydan and Mirjam Hoescht from Politecnico di Milano, Italy, and the Founder's Choice prize winner Kevin Sulca, Universidad Nacional de Ingeneria, Peru.
The Summit ended with a visit to the Green Zone of the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Dubai, by far the largest and most influential climate, energy and sustainability-related event in the world. In the Green Zone the delegates attended a number of panel sections on Energy Diplomacy, Energy Security and Private Sector Action.
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