foundation
Understanding
Leadership starts with understanding. Participants build fluency in climate science and systems thinking through conversations with community leaders and LGU partners navigating these challenges firsthand.
Leadership
education
community
waste management
trees
Building a generation of climate leaders across the Philippines
Our Climate Leadership Program equips community leaders across the Philippines with the knowledge, tools, and networks to adapt, advocate, and act — in their own communities, on their own terms.
Project details
Inception - 2025
Status - Active
Sustainable Development Goals
why this matters
The next generation of environmental leaders exist. The systems to nurture them don't.
Across the communities on the font lines of climate change, young people are growing up — watching coastlines shift, harvests fail, and communities strain under pressures they didn't create. Many of them have the drive and intelligence to lead. What they lack is the structured, sustained experience that turns potential into capability. That gap isn't accidental. It's the product of systems that are out-dated and designed for budget cycles and institutional calendars.
it's passive
passive Classroom learning wont build leaders
knowing something and being able to act on it under real pressure are entirely different skills
▾
Leadership is formed through action and reflection — not lectures and modules
Without real-world exposure, young people gain frameworks but not the judgment to apply them
The gap between knowing and doing only closes through experience
outsourced
the philippines lacks homegrown leadership
most environmental work in the region is led by people trained elsewhere — and when they leave, the knowledge and momentum leave with them
▾
Without local leaders who are deeply rooted in their communities, environmental work struggles to outlast its funding
Sustainable impact requires investing in the people who will still be here in twenty years
High turnover in programs doesn't just cost time, it resets relationships and erodes community confidence in outside organizations
experience
confidence gap holds young people back
the limiting factor for most young leaders isn't intelligence or commitment, it's the absence of experiences that prove to them that they're capable
▾
Confidence isn't a personality trait — research shows it's built through guided exposure to real challenges
Young people from rural communities often have deep knowledge and drive, but without the experiences that show them they're capable
Potential without the right conditions to develop it stays potential
short-term
short-term programs don't produce change
a weekend workshop can inspire, but it rarely transforms
▾
Most programs are built around convenience — cohort length, budget cycles, institutional calendars — not around what actually produces change
The depth of formation is directly proportional to the quality and duration of the experience
Research on youth development shows that motivation spikes from short programs fade within weeks without structured follow-through
Note: One click to activate the accordion, a second click to operate it.
Our approach
Cultivating
leaders
through
action
The Climate Leadership Program creates conditions for leadership to develop through real work, real accountability, and sustained mentorship inside communities navigating real environmental challenges.
1
2
preparation
Building the Plan
With context established, participants design the initiatives they'll lead. They develop implementation plans and learning budgeting, coordination, and project management by doing them.
3
Action
Taking the Lead
Participants bring everything together here by taking ownership of real initiatives and discovering what leadership looks like when the stakes are real and impacting their community.
Four Program components
Built around youth,
open to all
While we're focused on working with youth ages 13-18, we're open to all ages joining our program. Previous cohorts have brought together participants from age 12 to 70: students and elders, barangay youth reps and community organizers, teachers and first-time leaders. What they share is a readiness to act.
01
Climate Leadership Sessions
(2-days)
Intensive foundational sessions covering climate science, local governance, and community project planning, laying the groundwork for every component that follows. Through expert panels, peer discussion, and hands-on budget and project planning exercises, candidates build the practical knowledge and local context to create impact in their communities.
Video coming soon.
02
Waste Management: Composting
Hands-on training in organic waste management — candidates build and maintain composting systems that reduce landfill waste, cut methane emissions, and restore degraded soil in their barangay. Through facilitated sessions and direct practice, they develop the technical knowledge and confidence to establish composting as a lasting, community-led program.
03
Candidates as Educators
Candidates step into the role of educator by facilitating learning sessions for children and community members across schools in their barangay. This component multiplies the program's reach by equipping each candidate with the facilitation skills and materials needed to spread learning outward, introducing the next generation to the environmental concepts and habits during their formative years.
04
Tree Planting Challenges
(2-events)
Candidate-led reforestation and community mobilization includes organizing neighbors, working with DENR and the LGU to identify tree species and planting sites, and leading a collective environmental commitment. This final component puts leadership and community organizing into practice, culminating in a concrete, visible and memorable contribution to their communities environmental health.
Video coming soon.
why join the clp?
Investing in our future
Leadership is a responsibility. We take equally seriously our responsibility to train, equip, and support the people who carry it.
01
Climate curriculum
A structured learning journey covering climate science, governance, and community-led action built around the issues impacting your community.
02
guidance & mentorship
Guided by our facilitators and program alumni throughout — and beyond graduation, as you begin looking for opportunities to develop projects inside your community.
03
Peer network
Connections to a growing cohort of climate leaders across the Philippines that shares knowledge, resources, and solidarity.
team planning · New Eden, Bukidnon
helping with planning · New Eden, Bukidnon
sharing ideas · New Eden, Bukidnon
04
Project support & funding
Each year we look for opportunities to provide our alumni with funding, resources and introductions to international partners to support their projects.
05
Pathways to work
Demonstrated leadership opens real doors — including opportunities to work alongside Nayon, join future project teams, be recommended to our local partners looking to expand their teams.
06
scholarship opportunities
Alumni remain in the Nayon community and are invited to future events, national forums, and cohort activities, with continued access to the people, resources, and network built through the program.
national climate leaders
In their own words
This is exactly the kind of initiative our country needs right now. I'm looking forward to seeing where these young leaders go and how we can support their work.
Jessie Todoc
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
This is exactly the kind of initiative our country needs right now. I'm looking forward to seeing where these young leaders go and how we can support their work.
Jessie Todoc
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
This is exactly the kind of initiative our country needs right now. I'm looking forward to seeing where these young leaders go and how we can support their work.
Jessie Todoc
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
What your community gains
Every cohort delivers.
Each completed cohort creates the same set of tangible outcomes: Trained people, momentum, and relationships that keep the work moving without us. The composting sites keep running. The trees stay planted. The youth leaders stay connected. The community moves forward.
5 key outcomes
Ready to help solve problems
Young leaders equipped with skills, confidence, and a network built to help with challenging community projects.
Stronger youth–LGU relationships
A collaborative working relationship and understanding between young people and local government built through communication and shared work.
Greener spaces
Native and fruit bearing trees planted in ecologically appropriate locations, with guidance from DENR and local barangay officials.
Composting program established
Active composting sites across the barangay in households, schools, and community facilities to help alleviate waste management burdens and revitalize the community's soil.
Next generation reached
Younger students in the barangay exposed to foundational climate literacy, with lessons that are carried home into families.
working on project concept · bago city, negros occidental
team building · bago city, negros occidental
guest speaker · bago city, negros occidental
New Eden, Bukidnon
PHOTO — Tree Planting Challenge
Foothills of Mt. Kalatungan — December 2025
From the field
257 people showed up for our youth climate leaders
The CLP graduates of Barangay New Eden organized, planned, and led a community tree planting event at the foot of Mt. Kalatungan. By the end of the day, 257 participants from ages 10 to 70 had planted over 2,000 trees across two sites. The event was well attended, including the Municipal Vice Mayor getting involved. We've learned that we need many more seedlings for future events!
"Age is not a blocker when everyone cooperates. Young people can bring a community together when they put their hearts and minds into it."
— Gerico, CLP Graduate & Teacher, New Eden Elementary School
planting seedlings · new eden, bukidnon
Tree planting challenge · new eden, bukidnon
Tree planting challenge · new eden, bukidnon
How we work with local governments
Open the door,
we'll bring the program
We will shoulder the majority of program costs. What we ask from local government is minimal — and we're flexible even on that. If there's a will, there's a way make it work in your community.
nayon covers
We run the program. Start to finish.
From the classroom to the field, our team handles everything. Local facilitators, national partners, printed materials, activity packages, composting units, and long-term alumni support — all resourced and managed by us at no cost to the local government unit.
we ask from you
Local expertise and logistics
Three things to get the program off the ground in your community. Candidates, training and activity venues, and transporting people.
Budget constrained? We're open to co-funding.
Sources:
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.
Lerner, R. M., & Castellino, D. R. (2002). Contemporary developmental theory and adolescence: Developmental systems and applied developmental science. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(6), 122–135.
Pittman, K., Irby, M., Tolman, J., Yohalem, N., & Ferber, T. (2003). Preventing Problems, Promoting Development, Encouraging Engagement: Competing Priorities or Inseparable Goals? Forum for Youth Investment.
Zeldin, S., Christens, B. D., & Powers, J. L. (2013). The psychology and practice of youth-adult partnership: Bridging generations for youth development and community change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(3–4), 385–397.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84(2), 191–215.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and Education.
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development.
Lerner, R. M., & Castellino, D. R. (2002). Contemporary developmental theory and adolescence: Developmental systems and applied developmental science. Journal of Adolescent Health, 31(6), 122–135.
Pittman, K., Irby, M., Tolman, J., Yohalem, N., & Ferber, T. (2003). Preventing Problems, Promoting Development, Encouraging Engagement: Competing Priorities or Inseparable Goals? Forum for Youth Investment.
Zeldin, S., Christens, B. D., & Powers, J. L. (2013). The psychology and practice of youth-adult partnership: Bridging generations for youth development and community change. American Journal of Community Psychology, 51(3–4), 385–397.
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education.
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