Meet our winners !
As the Global Youth Climate Summit begins October 6, 2025, NBRACER is proud to announce the winners of the Gathering Voices of the Youth: Transformative Storytelling Contest. This initiative gave young people the opportunity to share their visions of resilience, creativity, and hope in the face of climate change, using the power of storytelling and art to inspire transformation. We’ve received many inspiring submissions, and the selection of the final winners was a difficult task.
Stories can reveal new perspectives and connect us with different lived experiences across the world. Through this contest, we invited young people aged 18–29 to share a personal story supported by photography and handmade art about how we can live and thrive together with nature.
Let us introduce the Winners :
Iván López Rojo, Spain – Between Pavement and Water
Iván turned a forgotten stream on the edge of Madrid into a place of community resilience. By restoring pathways, clearing waste, and building compost plots with friends, he shows that even small acts of care can transform neglected spaces into living corridors.
Maryam Nama Hussaini, Afghanistan – Forbidden Life, Free Hope
Maryam’s story is one of courage and resistance. Despite barriers to education for girls, she nurtured hope through secret drawings, planting trees, and art. Her words reflect resilience in the face of silence, carrying a vision of peace and a better future for women and nature alike.
Mike Tembo, Kenya – Planting Hope Without Soil
Mike’s journey demonstrates innovation in the fight against climate change. Through hydroponics, he transforms recycled cans into planting stations, proving that food can be grown without soil, with less water, and with creativity. His vision is to empower youth to see agriculture as a path of opportunity.
Nayama Elsa Christy, Germany – The Rose that Stayed
Nayama shares the story of a rose plant that survived years of devastating floods in Kerala, India. For her, this rose became a symbol of resilience – a reminder that nature, like people, does not give up. Her reflection highlights the quiet yet powerful persistence of life.
As the Summit unfolds, we celebrate not just these four young pioneers but all the voices that we’ve heard and all those we’ve yet to hear from. We, in turn, commit to amplifying youth-led solutions for a climate-resilient future.
Discover their submissions
About the Contest
We invited young people from 18 to 29 years old to share a transformative story of how we can live and thrive together with Nature. Participants submitted their story supported by a photo or handmade art — something created by hand using pencils, crayons, paintbrushes, and similar tools.
Participants shared a personal experience in their region that is important to them or had an impact related to one or several of the following topics:
- Being climate resilient,
- Applying solutions that work with nature,
- Finding ways of restoring relationships with nature,
- Reconnecting to (human and non-human) communities around us.
Context
Stories and art have the potential to create meaningful connections and provide insights and inspirations about living in harmony with nature and the communities around us. Stories can engage us in a felt experience moving beyond abstract concepts of climate change and transformation helping us relate to current issues in a deep, personal way. Stories and art can stimulate surprise, wonder, courage and hope — ingredients we desperately need to adequately respond to the challenges of today.
The Gathering Voices of the Youth: Transformative Storytelling Contest is an NBRACER initiative that aims to understand and give a voice to the values and perceptions of young people to support more inclusive and collaborative approaches to current social-ecological challenges.
Important dates
Jury and evaluation criteria
The stories and accompanying artworks and photos were evaluated by an international jury composed of experienced researchers and practitioners in the fields of sustainability, climate resilience, Nature-based Solutions and design. Particular attention was paid to:
- The ability to communicate a personal experience, a feeling or a practice through a story ;
- The originality, visual impact, technique, and ability to communicate a message through an illustration or photo ;
- The adherence to the topics climate resilience, solutions that work with nature, and connection to human and non-human communities.
Submissions were assessed in two rounds. The first round awarded submissions that have been evaluated as excellent by the Jury, while the second round selected three winning submissions. The authors of three winning submissions were invited to participate and present their work (online or in person) to a large international community at the 4th Global Youth Climate Summit at Klimatorium, Denmark.
The winning submissions as well as awarded submissions were invited to publish an illustrated e-book with us.
Evaluation Commitee
- Julia Bentz, cE3c – University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Kiat Ng, cE3c – University of Lisbon, Portugal
- Megan Bickle, Climate KIC, Germany
- Ingrid Coninx, Wageningen Environmental Research, Netherlands
- Bertram de Rooij, Wageningen Environmental Research, Netherlands
- Sarah Lund, Klimatorium, Denmark
- Charlotte Rosenkilde Sørensen, Klimatorium, Denmark
- Jelena Ristić Trajković, University of Belgrade, Serbia
- Natalia Brack, Sustainable Innovation Institute, France
Contact address
External collaborators
