Melati Wijsen A roadmap for young changemakers TED Countdown
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Do you remember
when you were 12 years old?
I do.
I was on a mission,
convinced that I could change
the world around me.
In 2013, together with my sister Isabel,
I started a movement in Bali
because I saw a problem
that I thought had an easy solution.
We wanted to do something
about the growing problem
of plastic pollution
on our home island of Bali, Indonesia.
Now, when I first started,
I had never heard of the word
“changemaker” or “activist.”
Today, I introduce myself as a full-time
changemaker and movement builder.
But it was not always delivered
with such confidence.
There is this saying,
“If I only knew back then
what I know today.”
Sounds familiar, right?
I started full of passion and excitement,
believing that I would achieve this change
of making Bali plastic-bag-free
before summer was over
and the school year started.
And everywhere I went,
I was met with, “Oh, so cute,
so inspirational.”
And yeah, I guess two little girls
and a bunch of friends
trying to make a difference
is pretty special.
But you know what?
Cute wasn’t really what I was going for.
I slowly learned to build a team,
to gather evidence, create campaigns,
develop a movement,
to stage beach cleanups
collect signatures,
speak in public and meet politicians.
The more I learned,
the more I wanted things to change.
Passion quickly turned into obsession,
and when change didn’t happen
as quickly as I expected,
at 14 years old,
frustration settled deep in my soul.
And soon after that,
in my first years of high school,
I experienced my first burnout.
But having said that,
I wouldn’t have changed a thing,
especially because in 2019,
Bali finally did ban
single-use plastic bags.
My peers and I created
our own learning journey
outside of the traditional
curriculum and classroom.
Building our own guidance and frameworks
that could share with us
what the next step should be,
how to continue building
the momentum we needed
to achieve the change we wanted to see.
I went through a lot
of life lessons very quickly.
And yet there are things that I wish
someone could have told me earlier,
back when I was starting.
First,
change does not happen as quickly
as summer vacation.
It takes a long time,
and that is not always easy to accept.
But that is why it is essential
to create a clear goal with a timeline.
Also, it takes a lot of people.
Listen and be open to learn,
but stay true to the mission.
And it would have also been
so helpful to know
how to navigate collaborations
with businesses and politicians.
Someone has to address
the elephant in the room.
And finally,
it’s OK to take a break
and step back for a second.
There are many of us on the front lines
who will continue the work
while you rest and recharge.
Today, many of us are getting involved
at a younger and younger age.
16-year-olds, 15, 14, 10-year-olds
are out on the front lines,
missing school, drafting manifestos,
organizing demonstrations,
bringing governments
and corporations to court,
refusing to wait until we are older
to start making a difference.
But being a changemaker is not something
anybody has on their bucket list.
It isn’t something kids aspire
to become when they grow up.
It’s something that just happens.
Something activates you.
An experience,
an injustice that takes place,
big or small, local or global.
And then there is almost no choice
but to get involved.
In the last few years,
I have spent more time
in other students' classrooms
than in my own,
sharing principles of leadership,
sustainability and changemaker skills.
And I can say with confidence
that young people are aching for skills
and knowledge that will allow them
to act effectively today.
Real change can start in the classroom,
but the classroom has an increasingly
distant relationship with reality.
I think it is high time to ensure
that what we learn in the classrooms
reflect what is happening outside of them.
And to ensure that every single student
in every corner of the world
has at least one hour a day
of mandatory lessons
about the climate crisis, the 17 SDGs
and about any sustainable innovations,
about the realities of today’s world.
From kindergarten through to graduation.
And I mean mandatory.
I strongly believe
that every young person
can be a changemaker.
But often they need help
knowing where and how to start.
And while we wait
for the classrooms to adapt,
once again, my peers and I create
our own learning journey.
That is when I started a network called
the Circle of Youth within YOUTHTOPIA,
a platform for young changemakers
to learn from each other.
We need role models
and positive stories with an impact,
real-life examples
of how we can take action
and we need to see this
from people our age.
I wish I would have known refugee educator
Mohamad Al Jounde from Syria,
tree planter and entrepreneur
Felix Finkbeiner from Germany,
or gender equality activist
Faye Simanjuntak from Indonesia
when I was 12 years old.
And I wish that I could have been able
to jump on a call with them
and share ideas and experiences.
Now, I have to add that with the rise
in youth engagement,
a new scary trend has also set in.
The best way to describe it is maybe
to refer to the word “greenwashing.”
You all know it.
It’s the process of conveying
a false impression
about the climate friendliness
of a company product or actions.
What I see happening a lot at the moment
is something I would call “youthwashing.”
You don’t want to know the emails
and approaches we get on a daily basis
from companies that want to use us
for anything that sounds good
or just to tick off a box.
Associating one’s brand
with youth climate activists
seems to be good for business,
although the intention rarely extends
to being good for climate too.
So to the companies youthwashing,
I want to say,
instead of inviting youth
for the photo ops and the applause,
offer us a seat during
the brainstorming meetings,
during the internal workshops
with no audience.
Maybe invite us
to one of your board meetings
and ask us for some
reverse mentoring sessions.
You might be surprised.
I look back at the last 10 years
and see an intense journey
from a young cute girl to a changemaker.
For the next decade,
I see a whole generation that is rising,
leading by example and taking action.
Youth activism is more
than an inspiration.
We are serious about change.
Thank you.