Fifth-year Aspiring for a Livable Future: Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice is back

From August 25 to September 4, 2025, Addis Ababa University will host the fifth cohort of the Nairobi Summer School on Climate Justice, an initiative of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA). This flagship initiative will run under the theme: “Aspiring a livable Future: Youth-led transformation in the poly-crisis Era”,

Rooted in the value of equity, human rights and intergenerational responsibility, NSSCJ places climate justice at the centre of the ethical and structural dimension of climate change while offering the transformative learning spaces for diverse young leaders from across Africa and beyond.

 For the first time, this prestigious training will happen outside Kenya, a place which hosted four consecutive cohorts.  According to Dr Mithika Mwenda, Executive Director of PACJA said it is high time to bring the initiative closer to African youth, hence this time is happening in Ethiopia.

 “Although it is named after Nairobi, the school is pan-African and has programs throughout the continent. This year, the program will take place at the University of Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, coinciding with the second edition of the Africa Climate Summit”, said Dr Mithika.

This year, the training will bring together young people drawn from grassroots leaders, activists, and experts from diverse sectors and backgrounds, among include climate justice advocates, grassroots community leaders, farmers, pastoralists, fisherfolk, Indigenous communities, persons with disabilities, policymakers, academics, climate scientists, researchers, representatives from smallholder organizations, trade unions, civil society organizations, NGOs, faith-based groups, community-based organizations, self-help groups, youth and women’s groups, and others dedicated to tackling climate change and advancing climate justice through locally led initiatives and actions.

The primary purpose of the Nairobi Summer School is to awaken, equip, and inspire a new generation of actors in Africa and globally to address the issue of climate justice, encompassing both intra- and intergenerational equity. And the overall objective is to enhance the capacity of Africans and allies to advance climate justice perspectives through local, national, sub-national, regional, and global interventions. This initiative aims to amplify marginalised voices and strengthen grassroots movements, benefiting both current and future generations.

Learners will be taken through different modules including Introduction to Climate Change;  Introduction to Climate Justice;  Climate Justice and Global Arena;  Just Transition and Energy Access; Climate Justice and Finance, Green Economy and Entrepreneurship;  Climate Justice Advocacy and Communication and Climate Justice Issues in Specific Sectors and Contexts such as; Agriculture and Food Systems, Climate Change and Health, Climate Security (Peace, Security, and Migration), Climate Change and Water Resources, Climate, Gender, and Social Justice (Women, Youth, Children, Vulnerable and Marginalized Groups), Climate Justice, Education, Culture, and Faith, Human and Environmental Rights.

Since the school’s inception amid Covid-19 in 2020, the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance has successfully delivered four Nairobi Summer Schools on Climate Justice Cohorts (2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024), with more than 2000 alumni from over 87 countries from Africa, Asia, America and Europe.

Alumni of the program have emerged as influential leaders in climate advocacy and policy-making at local, national, and international levels. From spearheading climate negotiations to mobilising grassroots movements, these young leaders exemplify the vision of the NSSCJ. They demonstrate that investing in youth capacity-building can lead to significant and lasting impacts in the fight against climate change.