How do we succeed in mobilizing a worldwide movement to protect the environment? Just how much is the environment being polluted around the world? And what can we do to help reduce the pollution? Questions like these have been addressed each year since 2009 at the worldwide One Young World Summit, which is held every year in different cities around the globe. The International Sustainability Forum provides a space for talented young people to discuss economic, social, and political issues such as these. In this context, leading figures from business, politics, and humanitarian organizations act as coaches and advisors. They encourage and challenge the young visionaries. The summit’s overarching goal is to develop solutions to global challenges and to play a positive and active role in shaping the future.
The Audi Environmental Foundation is enabling scholarship holders from all over the world to participate for the third time in succession. To apply for the scholarship, the young people pitched their ideas, their startup, or their organization, and outlined the solution they developed for a specific challenge. Jacqueline Mukurakundo, who founded “Wastezon,” is one of the scholarship holders. Her app is built around the idea of “from trash to cash,” and it helps connect households and recycling companies in Rwanda to increase the amount of trash that is recycled and prevent improper disposal. “A waste-free world is our vision and what drives us. So far, our app has diverted more than 460 tons of electronic waste from landfills,” she says proudly. Another scholarship recipient is Laís Higashi from Brazil, who is competing with his project “Liter of Light.” The global grassroots movement relies on low-cost, readily available materials and creates simple tutorials so that people from regions without reliable electricity can build light sources and thus use solar-powered lighting for their everyday lives.
The Audi Environmental Foundation’s involvement in One Young World
Since 2018, the Audi Environmental Foundation has made it possible for talented young people to participate in the One Young World Summit through a scholarship program. This year, Prodip Chatterjee, cofounder of the startup Nunam and former One Young World Foundation fellow, will give a presentation about his startup Nunam together with an Audi employee. The Indo-German nonprofit is also developing innovative solutions to bring solar power to areas with a lack of electricity. Initially, Nunam developed “Smart Energy Power Storages” from old laptop batteries. Since then, the company has even deployed a prototype solar nanogrid made out of two battery modules from an Audi e-tron* battery, which it continuously tracks. “If we really want to make a difference, we need to inspire others to join us on this journey. Education, networking, and dialogue all play a key role. We want to help ensure that talented young people from around the world can participate in the dialogue about an equitable and sustainable future, which is why we are a proud supporter of One Young World,” said Rüdiger Recknagel, managing director of the Audi Environmental Foundation.
Click here to view an overview of the Audi Environmental Foundation’s scholarship recipients.
SOURCE: Audi
