Green Lights

Shining Examples of Environmental Initiatives with Young People

Welcome to »Green Lights«. Here you can find inspirational projects and practices that promote the right of the child to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment around the world.

We provide illustrative examples and inspiration on how children’s rights to a healthy environment and protection from environmental degradation and climate change can be translated into practice. This is through the engagement and mobilization of children and young people, communities and local actors, media, and the international community.

Inspiring project examples

Lessons learnt/recommendations

Knowledge and background

Key definitions

Children and young people
In Green Lights we use the word »children« to refer to anyone younger than 18 and »children and young people« to refer to anyone younger than 25.

Right of the child to a healthy environment
In Green Lights we refer to »the right of the child to a healthy environment« and to »environmental child rights« (ECR) interchangeably. Both concepts emphasise the importance of a clean, safe and healthy environment for the realisation of children's rights. In some instances we refer to »ecological rights«; although this is not our preferred wording, we use it whenever it is used in specific projects and local contexts.

What do we mean by good practice?

»Anything that has been tried and shown to work in some way — whether fully or in part but with at least some evidence of effectiveness — and that may have implications for practice at any level elsewhere.«

The good practices included here are stories of success, promising practices, as well as challenging experiences and lessons learnt and are drawn from the experiences of terre des hommes' staff and partners across 5 regions of the world: South Asia, Southeast Asia, Southern Africa, Latin America and Europe. Practices tend to be localised in a country, across countries, or at the global level.

How did we select the good practices?

We reviewed project documentation of projects supported by terre des hommes Germany.
We interviewed 17 key informants: staff from 4 tdh regional offices, head office, and representatives of selected partner organisations.
We verified that the practices followed the key principles of child rights-based programming:

Is relevant for terre des hommes' overall mandate
Is focused on the right of the child to a healthy environment
It works well and achieves results
Involves children and young people (including child-led initiatives)
Involves affected and marginalised communities
Uses innovative methodologies/approaches for involvement
Builds satisfactory collaborations with partners/stakeholders
Has sound ethical and safeguarding approaches
Ensures gender balance and inclusion

What thematic areas are included?

Good practices are organized by themes:

Campaigning and media engagement
Child and youth participation
Environmental education and awareness raising
Protection of the environment.

However, most of the practices included overlap thematically, as environmental issues cross boundaries and are not separate from other aspects of children’s lives. They also promote solidarity across countries as well as regions and promote a holistic approach to the promotion of the right of the child to a healthy environment.