Youth Climate & Conservation Summit

For Youth, By Youth

What is YCCS?

The Princeton Conservation Society is proud to be hosting the Youth Climate & Conservation Summit (YCCS), a conference taking place on Princeton’s campus from April 7-8, 2023. The summit will bring together young leaders in the climate activism movement, hailing especially from marginalized communities in the Global South, to share their experiences fighting for just solutions to environmental challenges. At this first-of-its-kind event, youth activists will have the opportunity to be in crucial conversation with one another, experienced environmentalists from the United States, and the Princeton research community. The conference will feature lectures from local and international youth activists and small-group seminar lunches with all attendees, including activists, professors, and students. Panel discussions will also convene multiple perspectives on single topics, primarily transnational climate finance disparities and the effects of exploitative/illegal land use on global ecosystems and human communities.

YCCS will not only be a groundbreaking event for the Princeton community, but also the entire world. After speaking with many activists we’ve realized that this will be the first international summit for climate activism created by young people, for young people, and with young people. Other international conferences fail to listen to the goals of activists, which often include creating meaningful connections with their audiences and with one another. The activists we have invited attend summits all over the world, and yet they are still searching for a space to connect with young, emerging leaders, especially in the United States. The Youth Climate & Conservation Summit will be that space.

Summit Program

How to Attend

Get Involved

Mission

The prevailing goal of this summit is to educate, connect, and inspire attendees in the Princeton community and beyond. In this vein, YCCS aims to cultivate relationships between activists and well-resourced environmental advocacy networks by inviting representatives from prominent U.S. organizations. Our intersectional array of attendees (students, researchers, influential organizations, and grassroots activists) will be able to learn from each other’s diverse experiences and connect in ways they haven’t before. Through these connections, we ultimately aspire to progress the global fight for a more sustainable and just future while holding young people and vulnerable communities at its center.