Speaker: Marina Fedorina, Togliatti, Samara region, The Russian Federation
How (and why) are you taking action on climate change solutions in, for, and with your community?
Marina Fedorina: Hello, my name is Marina and I'm a university student from Russia. Although I major in pr and journalism, I've been actively participating in climate action and sustainability related events uh such as scientific conferences, youth projects and uh contests for the last three years. My interest in climate change uh stems from the hands on experience of the negative impact that climate change may have on a community. More specifically in 2010. Uh my hometown of Tie, he was stricken by terrible forest fires that were caused by the extreme temperatures as a result of the heat and the change of the climate. And so uh those disastrous events led to the destruction of the 90% of our forest territory and the loss of the natural habitat for the endangered species of animals and plant. Back then, I was so taken aback by the insufficient response of the local community that I became beyond, motivated to learn as much as I could about the climate activism and the ways and tools for me to make a meaningful contribution to the global climate movement. Uh Hence why today I am actively participating and engaged in uh various contests and events, as I mentioned, um I participated in 2002 in the ESG Solution Cup. It is a contest designed to bring together students from all over the world to work in the solutions for topical issues. And also in that year, I participated in the GCAU dialogue and adaptation action. And uh I learned a lot about the Glasgow Climate Pact and current policies in the sphere of climate action. Today I work as the pr head for the energy sustainability program and educational student project uh for students from all over the world.
Who or what inspires/inspired you to care about climate change and climate solutions?
Marina Fedorina: I would say my main source of inspiration is people peers that I meet as a part of the uh climate and environmental projects and initiatives I'm involved in. For instance, in 2023 I participated in the International Youth Scientific Conference organized by the Kazan Federal University and Youth Academy of Diplomacy. There. I presented my research on sustainable principles of communication design and I didn't quite expect it to get any attention. Uh Yet there are so many uh youth climate activists in attendance and they all were so supportive and kind. Uh They endorsed my research and shared their piece of advice on uh the ways that I could proceed with my research and expand it. Uh I was extremely beyond grateful for this and it serves as just one of the examples. Besides, I cannot emphasize enough how mesmerized I am by the participants of the energy sustainability program, an educational International Youth project that I've mentioned earlier and I'm head of the pr team for this project. So each year I meet uh incredible, wonderful youngsters from various parts of the globe and I learned their stories and the hardships that they face on their path to uh the wonderful transformations that they make in their local communities in terms of environmental engineering and renewable energy. And they said the bar is so high for, they always motivate me to be the best version of myself. And uh they remind of how important my contribution to the global climate movement is because I help them find uh this and create this platform for them to uh network and to build connections, which is so important. So I do believe that people are the heart and soul of the global climate movement and initiatives such as project drawdown and the Climate Diary.
