Zepanya Sihombing (he/him)

How are you using education to build more sustainable and equitable communities? Tell us about your EE work and impact. 

I use environmental education (EE) to bridge climate policy and grassroots action, empowering youth and marginalized communities to become catalysts in building a sustainable future. My goal is to transform environmental awareness into actionable leadership, equipping the next generation with practical skills for climate advocacy, technical knowledge, and community mobilization.

As Curriculum Designer at Green Leadership Indonesia (GLI), I crafted a comprehensive 29-class curriculum, emphasizing climate solutions, leadership, and advocacy tools with social-ecological justice perspectives, such as advocating for the land rights of Indigenous communities, addressing deforestation, climate justice, and energy sovereignty accessibility for all youth. Furthermore, I selected and coordinated 42 expert speakers (academia, policymakers, governments), partnering with 20 NGOs to deliver high-impact training. This empowered 353 leaders (ages 18–28) across Indonesia, including underserved provinces, to gain hands-on skills for systemic change, resulting in 43 grassroots projects like coastal projects, reforestation, circular economy, and petitions for local mangrove restoration policies.

In Indonesia's current climate crisis, my EE model connects localized education to national resilience. Youth fellows now implement solutions, reducing waste, restoring ecosystems, and shaping local policies. These results—quantifiable gains in participation, healthier environments, and scalable leadership networks—prove that structured EE builds resilient advocates, advancing Indonesia toward a climate-resilient community. 

Tell us about your journey to where you are today. What inspired you? What has your path been like? 

Coming from an Indigenous community in North Sumatra, my journey into climate education began with a realization—protecting our lands was our survival, yet climate justice was completely absent from my country's youth curriculum.

Growing up in Humbang Hasundutan, I saw how closely our lives depend on nature, which led me to study forestry. My turning point came in 2021 during a climate justice fellowship, which exposed the larger, harsher realities facing Indonesia: massive illegal logging, intense land conflicts, and climate disasters destroying the daily lives of local communities.

When I looked for ways to fight back, I faced a deeper injustice: local youth had limited access to environmental platforms, training, or support networks within universities or local clubs. This stark gap inspired me to shift my path from just studying to empowering people. Joining Green Leadership Indonesia and Institut Hijau Indonesia allowed me to bring climate literacy directly to underserved spaces where it was once completely absent.

Because the reality remains: how can we achieve climate justice when marginalized youth are left behind? And justice cannot be born from a system that sustains inequality. My journey is about changing that, ensuring youth have the same access and capability to protect their home.

How can people learn more about or support your work? 

People can learn about and support our mission by visiting the Green Leadership Indonesia platform and by following Institut Hijau Indonesia’s digital channels, where we actively publish impact stories and grassroots progress reports. You can help us by sharing our work to inspire others to take action. You can also learn more at: https://instituthijauindonesia.or.id/

To scale our work, we look for strategic partnerships in three key areas. First, we welcome collaboration with global environmental networks, academic institutions, and international NGOs to co-design advanced nature-based climate adaptation modules and share pedagogical resources. 

Second, philanthropic donors can support us by funding learning resource kits and direct seed grants. This financial support allows us to reach more youth, providing equitable opportunities for young changemakers from marginalized and remote areas to enable, launch, and sustain their own grassroots environmental initiatives.

Finally, international environmental professionals, climate scientists, and policy advocates can volunteer their expertise as guest lecturers or mentors. By sharing global best practices, you directly invest in the leadership capacity of Indonesian youth who are actively implementing localized solutions to the climate crisis. Together, we can ensure that impactful, high-quality environmental education becomes an accessible right for every young changemaker across our entire archipelago.

A Little More About Me

What advice would you give to the next generation of leaders?
Be the change you want to see in the world; take action without waiting for the perfect moment. Do it when you feel scared or unsure, and see how far you can go.

What is the wildest or most surprising nature fun-fact you know?
Peatland ecosystems cover only about 3% of the world's land but store twice as much carbon as all the world's forests combined. They can release centuries of trapped greenhouse gases when they are drained, dried out, or burned. 

What’s your favorite food to celebrate with? 
I celebrate with a traditional, flavor-rich, and authentic Bataknese dish called “Ikan Arsik.”