Mirova Foundation, main partner of the ChangeNOW 2024 Youth Initiative

For the second year running, Mirova Foundation is supporting the Youth Initiative, part of the ChangeNOW 2024 Summit. This programme, which gives pride of place to young people, is all about making sure everyone’s voice is heard and enabling as many people as possible to get involved!

Driving the movement for environmental and social change is an integral part of the Mirova Foundation’s mission. And thanks to the Youth Initiative, which we have supported since its inception, equal opportunities for all are front and centre at ChangeNOW, a key event for highlighting planet-friendly solutions.

In 2023, more than 270 students from general and vocational secondary schools in the Paris metropolitan area enjoyed a personalised experience at ChangeNOW that included inspiring visits and encounters, notably with Armelle Courtois and Martin Thomas, whose Riding to Explore adventure is supported by Mirova Foundation through their documentaries and via the exhibition developed together with glaciologist Jean-Baptiste Bosson.

In 2024, more than 300 students from 11 secondary schools in the Paris region took part in a morning of meetings and discussion on 26 March, during which they played an active role in bringing about change.

Time for solidarity!

To prepare for their participation in ChangeNOW, 20 high school students from the Albert Schweitzer lycée in Le Raincy (93 – Île-de-France Region) came to lend a helping hand alongside Humanity Diaspo, a non-profit we have been supporting since 2022, for a solidarity day held at the Gaîté Lyrique in Paris at the beginning of March. The students prepared and distributed nearly 250 grocery packs and 250 hygiene and personal care kits for women and children in precarious situations. The students highlighted their experience by producing a video that was screened at ChangeNOW and can be replayed here.

A look back at the highlights of the Initiative Jeunes programme

• ‘Face Cachée’ interview with Philippe Zaouati, CEO of Mirova and Chairman of Mirova Foundation (replay here), and Jacky Ido, actor, slammer and founder of the Slam Aleykoum collective.
• ‘Bigger Than Us’ with Flore Vasseur, director of a film of the same name, Anne-Claire Roux, CEO of Mirova Foundation and Rana Hamra, founder of Humanity Diaspo (replay here).
• Eloquence competition on the topic of sustainable peace for secondary school students and presentation of the Jury and Public prizes, with Anne-Claire Roux, Jacky Ido, Rose-May Lucotte, co-founder of ChangeNOW, Nicolas Richet from the Île-de-France Region, Malek Semar, founder of No Water No Us, Alicia Izard, Managing Director of Eloquentia.
• And a host of inspiring meetings and discussions: Mathieu Maucort, Interministerial Delegate for Youth, Sarah El Haïri: French Minister for Children, Youth and Families, the CycleForWater team…

Spotlight on Associations

ChangeNOW is also an opportunity to meet with non-profits that Mirova Foundation supports:

• The CARI, an international social solidarity NGO, was present and notable for its contribution to the desertification fresco unveiled at the summit.
• The Ecolhuma association was represented by its director and co-founder Florence Rizzo, who spoke about education issues on 27 March.

Four associations supported by Mirova Foundation also received tickets to the event, donated by Mirova Foundation.