PROJECT VOCAL: PITCH YOUR VOICE
Pitch Your Voice Mentorship Program - Is Now Happening!
What's New?
We believe that providing a good communication tool is one way to convey the message of climate-related issues to the younger generation especially VOCAList in order to empower our youth to use their voice towards a larger cause. Our latest project highlight in Pitch Your Voice is an interactive yet helpful playbook that acts as a learning tool with better communication in climate change.
Meet the Youth Groups!
*Please play the drumbeats, VOCAList*
Introducing to our youth groups from Pitch Your Voice lineup: KakaCacau, The Planet Prodigy & The Rimba Project 2.0!
The KakaCaucau Eco Hub
The KakaCaucau Eco Hub is a varied group with backgrounds in interior design, media journalism, and environmental education. In Malaysia, there is a scarcity of easily accessible environmental information platforms.
This group internally “kacau” (mix and work together) to create more eco-contents and externally “kacau” the community by sharing and promoting the information. Within their goal of “Reconnecting Us for Sustainability,” they hope to raise awareness about current challenges and eventually develop a community that cares and acts for the environment.
The Planet Prodigy
TPP, or The Planet Prodigy, is an entirely student-run environmental organisation based in Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Science. Through environmental advocacy, they hope to build bridges between communities. They believe that by raising environmental awareness through social media, environmental education, and community and stakeholder engagement, they can encourage more students, youths, and communities to care for the environment.
TPP offers its members and participants a learning platform to help them improve their perspectives, perceptions, and sense of social responsibility toward the environment.
The Rimba Project 2.0
The Rimba Project 2.0 is a continuation of the initial Rimba Project, which began in 2014. This project is run by Universiti Malaya and is led by Dr. Sarah Razak. Its goal is to promote biodiversity and build a community that values the natural world. The name Rimba Project is derived from the Rimba Ilmu Botanic Gardens of Universiti Malaya, where “Rimba Ilmu” means “Forest of Knowledge” in Malay.
Their prior activities have included guided walks in Rimba Ilmu Botanic Gardens and BioBlitz, one of the nature education outreach programmes.
Congratulations to all team!
We hope to connect these youth groups to a larger network, as well as provide visibility and opportunities for them to grow in their respective grassroots climate action movements. We know from their credibility that these local youth groups are already working harder on the ground to address the various aspects of climate-related issues today.
Stay tuned for more information from our side. In the meantime, sign up to be a VOCAList for free to gain access to capacity-building programmes, events, and roundtables aimed at empowering youth to lead environmental advocacy in future generations.
CALL FOR SUBMISSION
Project VOCAL is calling for all youths in Malaysia who are currently working on grassroots, on-the-ground work tackling climate issues to submit your project proposal to us!
Pitch Your Voice is Project VOCAL’s next capacity building activity, which is a mentorship program that aims to elevate and enhance the work of our youths!
If a majority of your team/group/organization members are within the age of 18-35 years and your current work focuses on (1) Deforestation, logging or tree planting, (2) Climate education, (3) Water-related issues, (4) Air-related issues, or (5) Waste Management, we want to hear from YOU!
Background & Objectives
Project VOCAL is hosting the ‘Pitch Your Voice’ mentorship program to elevate the work of youth members in Malaysia who are currently tackling issues relating to climate change topics. From this mentorship program, the selected youth members will gain opportunities to directly engage with our ensemble of sustainability experts and youth ambassadors to bring their voice towards a larger cause.
Project VOCAL is also looking for existing or new policies in Malaysia that could be improved or implemented to address these issues. We recognize that there are a lot of existing local youth groups and youth organisations who are already working on the ground to tackle the different aspects of climate-related issues today, hence, we are looking at enhancing these work in accordance with relevant policies.
Overall, the main aspiration for this mentorship program is to mobilise and enhance these grassroots level initiatives, led by groups of young people who may need additional support e.g. on (1) funding opportunities, (2) experts consultation and interventions, (3) manpower assistance, as well as (4) capacity and knowledge resources. Additionally, this program will also amplify their work through strategic partnership and networking with relevant stakeholders, policymakers and decision-makers.
In your project proposal, tell us more about what you need for your project:
- Funding* Opportunities (*Terms & Conditions Apply. Please refer to the Call for Submission Information Pack for more details)
- Experts Consultation and Interventions
- Manpower assistance
- Capacity and Knowledge Resources
The proposed project must cover ONE of the five themes below:
- Deforestation, Logging, Tree-planting
- Climate Education
- Water-related Issues
- Air-related Issues
- Waste Management
Note: The funding opportunity provided under this ‘Pitch Your Voice’ mentorship program is solely provided to the selected youth group(s) in order to meet the objectives of Project VOCAL under GEF SGP. Hence, this is not a grant/sub-grant by the funder of Project VOCAL initiative.
What will you get from this mentorship program:
- Monthly mentoring sessions with the Project VOCAL Youth committee (advisors and youth ambassadors of various fields)
- Interactive training sessions hosted by the organizer with topics including (though not limited to) youth leadership, design thinking, elevator pitch & presentations, creative & communications, branding & marketing, public relation, proposal/grant writing, etc.
- A Hackathon program in August/September 2021 focusing on training relating to (though not limited to) governmental protocols, formal setting etiquettes, mock presentation to government officials, and more.
- Opportunity to network and meet other youth groups in Malaysia as well as industry players within the climate action sphere.
- Opportunity to meet relevant policymakers and/or government officials via roundtable meetings aiming towards a more strategic policy-making in climate-related issues.
- Handover of a document outlining the recommendations and proposed solutions on the policies relating to climate action, collectively done by the youth group, supported by Project VOCAL committee.
Eligibility
We encourage youth groups from states all over Malaysia to apply, with diverse backgrounds, age and gender
- You must already be a youth group working on climate-related issue, based on the five themes.
- A majority of the team members must be within the age of 18-35 years (for example, if you are a group of 6 people, 4 of you are to be within the age range to be considered as the majority).
- Team members who are within the age range (18-35) can register as a VOCAList member for FREE here. As a member, you are also eligible to retrieve information on future climate-related events and activities.
- A minimum of 5 people in a group.
- Project leader must be Malaysian.
- Project leader should have considerable experience and exposure in delivering programmes, minimum 1 year of project management OR at least have handled 3 projects.
- Youth groups or youth-led organizations are encouraged to apply (e.g. university groups from Malaysia, NGOs/CSOs).
How To Apply
We encourage you to read the (1) Call for Submission Information Pack, (2) Narrative Proposal and (3) Budgeting Template documents before applying. You may find the full documents below.
Submission documents MUST include the following:
- Proposal Submission Form (Online)
- Narrative Proposal
