Young, Loud and Green

Young, loud, green and 20 episodes in 🎙️

For this milestone, it’s just the two of us behind the mics looking back at the moments, the guests, and the absolute chaos that got us here. 🎬

If you take one thing away from our first 20 episodes, let it be this: Don’t wait for the perfect circumstances to take action, because they will never exist. We have to create them ourselves.

War is a human tragedy first, but it is also an ecological one. How do we talk about the environment without losing sight of the devastating human cost? 👥

In this episode of Young, Loud, and Green, we’re joined by Vishnu Sunil, a climate scientist who has spent his 20s in the field, from the high-altitude forests of South Asia to the jungles of Borneo. We tackle a topic that is often sidelined because of its complexity: the environmental toll of armed conflict.

In this episode, we bridge the gap between ecology and humanity:

⛓️‍💥The Survival Link: How environmental damage triggers and worsens humanitarian crises.

🫆The Invisible Frontline: Why toxic remnants of war (like fiber-optic waste and chemical runoff) are slow-motion disasters for public health.

📄The Policy Gap: The "national security" loophole that keeps military emissions out of the Paris Accord.

🔨Green Reconstruction: Why building back better means listening to local communities, not just imposing "Green" labels top-down.

👉 Listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts

In a world hit by energy crises and inflation📈, how do small businesses stay afloat? The answer might be greener than you think 🌱. This week, we’re joined by Miruna and Adelina from Social Innovation Solutions to discuss about the practical side of the green transition in Central and Eastern Europe.

• ​🛡️The Inflation Shield: Why smarter resource management is the best defense against the current energy crisis.
• 💰Beyond the Hype: Moving sustainability away from being a "luxury" to becoming a practical Day 1 requirement for 22-year-old founders.
• ​🎫 The Festival Energy: Why climate action should feel as engaging and inclusive as a Coldplay concert.
• ​✔️Regional Power: How 6 countries in CEE are sharing "best practices" to stay competitive.

#​ycdf #youngloudgreen #unesco #sis #sustainability

“We don’t want money. We want a seat at the table”.

In our latest episode, we’re zooming out of the European bubble to talk climate power with Michael Kakande, founder of @Resilient40.

Michael dropped some mind-blowing reality checks that we can’t stop thinking about: 📊

The Leadership Gap: The median age in Africa is 19, but the median age of its leaders is 65. How do we bridge a 46-year gap in climate policy?

🚫 Beyond the Victim Narrative: Why Africa is no longer a “problem to be solved”, but a partner bearing the solutions.

🕊️ Climate as Peacebuilding: How youth-led action is healing post-conflict regions.

🤝 True Allyship: How European youth can support the Global South without overshadowing their voices.

We wrap up with Michael’s “green and peaceful regards” and a must-watch movie recommendation that defines African innovation.

🎥 hint: The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

The Planetary Plate: Mindful Eating for a Changing Climate 🎙️

What if the secret to a sustainable planet was already on your plate? 🍽️

This week on Young, Loud and Green, we’re sitting down with Sofia Botelli to reframe the conversation around healthy eating 🥗 - moving beyond weight loss to focus on planetary impact. We dive into the three pillars of a “Planetary Health Diet”: Eating Local, Eating Smart, and Eating Mindfully.

In this episode, we discuss:

• ​Soil vs. Soul: How supporting local farms builds resilience in both our bodies and our land. 🌾
• ​The Seasonal Immune System: Why eating with the weather matters more than ever. 🍎
• ​The Overconsumption Paradox: How much could we slash global emissions if we just ate what our bodies actually needed?
• ​Ditching the "Almond Mom" Trend: A sensitive look at why “eating less” isn't about restriction - it’s about mindfulness and respecting your body’s limits. 🏋️

Sofia helps us navigate the tricky balance of staying healthy while staying green. 🌱

More than Words on Paper: The Eco-Manifesto 🎙️

Starting an environmental NGO in Bulgaria isn’t just about protecting the scenery - it’s about breaking through a wall of inertia. 🧱🌱

With the founder of ManEco, Vihren Mitev, we’re going behind the scenes of the Ecological Manifesto. We discuss the real-world barriers of launching a movement where the topic was once non-existent, and why we need a cultural reboot across Southeast Europe.

In this episode:

• ​🇧🇬 The Founder’s Hurdle: What it’s really like trying to put climate change on the map in Bulgaria.
• ​🛑 The Inertia Problem: Why humanity’s fast-paced development made us forget our connection to nature.
• ​🏫 Education as the Engine: Moving from zero awareness to standardized tools like Climate Fresk that have reached 2 million people.
• ​🤝 Building the Wave: How to create a bottom-up and top-down collaboration between youth, business, and policy.

It’s time to stop looking at nature as an infinite resource and start seeing ourselves as planetary beings. 🌍

Spilling the Tea (and the River): Hydropower 101 🎙️

Hydropower is usually sold as the “ultimate” green energy - but is it actually a win for the planet, or just a win for the people building the dams? 🌊🤔

This week, with Redon Katroshi, Chair of YCDF Albania, we’re looking past the marketing to see what’s really happening in the Balkans. We’re breaking down the physics, the finances and the friction.

• ​💰 Green vs. Greed: Is it renewable energy or just a massive PR campaign?
• ​✊ The Balkan Resistance: Why young people are protesting the very energy we’re told will save us.
• ​〰️ The Bottom Line: Who’s actually getting the electricity (and the profit)?
• ​🚩 Red Flags: The questions you should be asking before a dam project lands in your backyard.

“Just Transition” is the phrase on everyone’s lips, but who is it actually for? In this episode of Young, Loud, and Green 🎙️, we sit down with Nikoleta to look past the buzzwords and get back to the roots of the movement.

We dive deep into the messy origins of the term -born from labor organizations- and tackle the elephant in the room: Can we truly achieve a “just” transition within a capitalist framework ⚖️? From governance models to the deep-seated gaps in current climate policy, we explore how to build a future that doesn’t just swap oil for lithium, but actually changes the power dynamic. 💥

Individual responsibility, climate anxiety, collective activism, and touching grass all in one episode. 🌿

This week we’re joined by Eva Iliadi, Corporate Relations Officer at We4All, a tree-planting NGO that has already planted 3 million trees worldwide. 🌳🌍

We talk about:

✨ Why policy must center the most affected communities

✨ Why you do matter - even when it feels like you don’t

✨ How tree planting builds more than forests: it builds communities

✨ Why “touching grass” might actually be part of the solution

You may feel small alone - but together, we’re unstoppable. ✊

Young, Loud and Green is back for 2026 with a new episode that’s sure to inspire you. ⚡️

We sit down with Danielle Lanyard, the founder of Climate Quilt, to explore why this moment in history is unlike any other, and why youth are at the very center of climate solutions. Danielle speaks emotively about why today’s social movements can only succeed by bringing together generations, cultures, and belief systems. Bringing a sobering and deeply human perspective, she speaks openly about climate anxiety and the importance of staying connected to one another. 🔗

About Climate Quilt & How to Get Involved 🖼️

The Climate Quilt is a global youth art initiative that supports young people in exploring climate and systems change through creative practice. The project is building an international youth climate art collection 🌐 that elevates emerging voices from around the world.

Climate Quilt is currently hosting an open call to youth globally to submit an artwork responding to climate change under one of two themes:

• ​The Here and Now - the status quo
• ​Paint the Beautiful Tomorrow - the future, when nature wins

Listen in to learn why art matters, why youth leadership is essential, and how creativity can help shape the future of climate action.