Young Explorers Program — Empowering Young Changemakers
10+ years empowering young people to fall in love with wild nature infront of their doorsteps and to become changemakers for biodiversity and climate
For over ten years I've helped to build #Abenteuerschwarzwald / Young Explorers Program. I facilitated Design-Thinking Workshops empowering young people to drive change for biodiversity and climate themselves. Since 2021 in a yearly exchange we bring them together with German corporate leaders, allowing to raise the voice of the youth. More recently I've also co-led international exchanges with Finland and with author Cornelia Funke's environmental project in Tuscany.
Overview
For over ten years I’ve helped lead the Young Explorers Program (#AbenteuerSchwarzwald), a youth-education nonprofit that inspires and empowers young people to drive positive change for biodiversity, wild nature, and our climate. I received the Movers of Tomorrow Award (Allianz Foundation, 2024) for my engagement in the program.
The Program
The program’s motto is Inspire, Learn, Act. What began as workshops has grown into a community of more than 180 young adults who keep driving projects for biodiversity and climate long after their first workshop.
YEP meets BBUG
Since 2021 We’ve built YEP meets BBUG - a yearly exchange bringing young environmental activists together with German corporate leaders.
International Exchanges
Eco European Young Exchange with Finland is an EU-funded exchange between three German LEADER regions (Ortenau, Nordschwarzwald, Mittelbaden) and Finnish partner regions, focused on climate, environment, and sustainable rural practices, running from the Finland trip in August 2025 to the return visit to the Black Forest in August 2026.
Separately, after YEP won the Deutscher Jugend-Naturschutzpreis - for which author Cornelia Funke serves as patron - our winning project was invited to her environmental project Mulinaccio in Tuscany. I visited Mulinaccio in May/June 2025 and we organized a return trip bringing a wider group of Young Explorers there in April 2026 to run design-thinking workshops and contribute to the project on-site.