Congratulations to Fjollë Caka ‘18, a Sustainable Urban Planning (SUP) alumna in GW’s College of Professional Studies, on her selection as a 2021 Climate Ambassador of the Global Youth Climate Network (GYCN). She will raise awareness about climate change as part of an initiative of young professionals in her home country of Kosovo.
After graduating from the SUP master’s degree program with a focus in Climate Change Management and Policy, she returned to her home country. She currently works as an urban planner at UN-Habitat and is also pursuing a Ph.D. in Environmental Management.
She was designated a 2021 Climate Ambassador through a competitive application process with the GYCN, an initiative of a Youth-to-Youth community of young professionals at the World Bank Group. She joins a community of volunteers from 109 countries around the world to learn, network, build partnerships, advocate and undertake different initiatives for scaling up climate action in their communities.
"As a 2021 Climate Ambassador in Kosovo, I will be building on the GYCN's experience, as well as on my knowledge obtained during my studies at GW, to influence local and central government authorities in my country to shift towards green and sustainable development while integrating climate change into the broader development agenda. I will also work to raise awareness among youth and the broader communities on what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint and better adapt to the climate change impacts.”
Fjollë Caka, SUP '18
2021 Climate Ambassador in Kosovo
During her nine-month program commitment, Caka will organize at least three climate-related actions in her community, including discussions with schools or communities about climate change, film screenings, clean-ups, policy influencing, tree planting, etc.
While serving as the president of the Sustainable Urban Planning Student Organization (SUPSO) at GW, she gained experience organizing awareness campaigns, such as a PARK(ing) Day global initiative in September 2017. The student group converted two parking spots at GW’s Washington, D.C. campus into “parklets” and spread climate change related facts and information to the students and others who passed by the event. The PARK(ing) Day event brought attention to the need for more public spaces, with photos of the mini parks captured in Greater Washington and the American Society of Landscape Architects.
This PARK(ing) Day activity also helped Caka win the 2018 George Washington Award and George Washington Alumni Association Prize.
As a 2021 Climate Ambassador, she will draw on her formal education and community awareness building experience to increase local climate change awareness and agendas in Kosovo. Connect with her on Twitter at @FjolleCaka or by email.