When we think about climate education, the classroom is often the first thing that comes to mind. But for a new generation of young climate educators, learning about climate change is happening in communities, through technology, in conversations about mental wellbeing and even through children teaching other children.
The 12 young people selected for UNICEF Innocenti's 2026–27 Youth Fellowship on climate education offer an interesting glimpse into what this could look like.
Coming from countries including Nepal, Indonesia, Morocco, Nigeria and Zambia, the fellows are already developing different ways of helping children and young people learn about climate change and participate in solutions.
Connecting climate change with how children feel
In Nepal, 23-year-old Aakriti founded ReGen Climate Lab, a youth-led initiative working at the intersection of climate disruption, emotional resilience and children's ability to continue learning in vulnerable settings.
Her work brings another dimension into climate education: how climate disruption affects children's resilience and ability to learn.
Teaching children the science of climate change is important. But extreme weather, displacement and uncertainty can also affect how children learn and how they feel about their future. Climate education therefore cannot always be separated from resilience and wellbeing.
Turning waste into a learning opportunity
In Indonesia, Reissa, 17, is connecting sustainability with STEM education and youth-led action.
Through initiatives called SciFun and EcoKom, she has mobilised hundreds of young volunteers and developed school-based projects around the circular economy and waste management in underserved communities.
Waste becomes something students can investigate. The circular economy becomes something they can apply. And young people become participants rather than simply recipients of information.
Taking climate learning beyond cities
For Nidal, 29, in Morocco, the challenge is also about who gets access to climate education.
A rural engineer and social entrepreneur, Nidal's initiative MIRRIAH turns climate technology into community learning hubs for rural young people and women. Her work brings together climate adaptation, technology, local leadership and education in communities that can be harder to reach.
It raises an important question: as climate education expands, who is it designed for?
If new approaches only reach well-resourced schools and urban communities, many of the young people most exposed to climate impacts could be left out.
And sometimes children lead the teaching
Perhaps the most striking member of the cohort is Moono from Zambia, who is just 10 years old.
Moono founded Eco Future, a child-led initiative that uses community activities, informal learning and child-friendly awareness campaigns to make climate education more accessible to other children.
Her story challenges another assumption: that adults teach climate change and children learn about it.
Children and young people can also help shape how climate issues are communicated to their peers and communities.
Climate education is getting bigger than the classroom
What connects these very different approaches is the idea that climate education should not stop at understanding the problem.
UNICEF Innocenti describes climate education as extending beyond formal schooling into communities, Indigenous knowledge systems and digital spaces. Through the fellowship, the young participants will document their approaches, contribute to youth-led research and engage in policy discussions about the future of climate education.
Young people certainly need to understand why the planet is warming and what its consequences could be. But they also need opportunities to understand what they can do about it, develop solutions relevant to their communities and participate in decisions that affect their future.
The 12 fellows are taking very different routes to get there.
One is connecting climate disruption with emotional resilience. Another is using waste management to teach circular economy thinking. Another is taking climate technology into rural communities. And a 10-year-old is helping other children see themselves as part of climate solutions.
Together, their work suggests that the next phase of climate education may be less about simply teaching young people about climate change and more about giving them the tools to respond to it.
Learn more
Meet all 12 members of the 2026–27 UNICEF Innocenti Youth Fellowship.
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