Environment and Nature

Bayer and UNEP: Partners for Youth and Environment

Bayer is the first company in the world to enter a long-term partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the area of youth and environment. The partners first began cooperating on youth environmental projects in Asia in the late 1990s. In the summer of 2004, Bayer and UNEP signed a framework agreement to globalize this partnership, and the partners now jointly organize a dozen environmental projects for young people around the world. In addition, Bayer supports project work through donations worth one million euros every year.

TUNZA International Youth Conference

To give young environmentalists the opportunity to regularly exchange knowledge and experience from their respective countries, Bayer and UNEP organize an international conference every two years, alternating between events for young people (aged 15 - 24) and children (aged 10 - 14). The first TUNZA International Youth Conference took place in Dubna in Russia in 2003 and the second in Bangalore in India in 2005 – on each occasion some 150 interested young people took part. This year the young environmental protection enthusiasts will be invited to (western) Europe for the first time – to Germany to be precise. The third TUNZA International Youth Conference will be held in Leverkusen from August 26 to 30 and will focus on “Technology in the service of Environment”. Bayer AG will host the event. You will find more information and the application form on the UNEP homepage.

Young Environmental Envoys

The centerpiece of this unique partnership is the “Young Environmental Envoy” program established by Bayer. Schoolchildren and college students who have displayed a particularly strong commitment to environmental issues can apply to become environmental envoys for their countries. Founded in 1995 in Thailand, the program now includes 15 other countries in Asia, eastern Europe, Latin America and Africa.

The best candidates are selected by a jury. Each year the program culminates in a week-long study trip to Bayer’s Leverkusen headquarters, where the young people learn first-hand about the principles and methods of modern industrial environmental protection. Also on the agenda are visits to public institutions such as the State Environment Office and municipal waste disposal facilities. The program focuses on the interplay between industry, authorities and private households that is necessary for sustainable development. After returning to their own countries, the young people integrate into their own environmental protection networks the experience and information they have gained in Germany. Numerous former Young Environmental Envoys now hold positions of responsibility in connection with environmental protection in their homelands – be it in the media, with authorities or in non-governmental organizations – and are thus able to provide important impulses for sustainable development at the national level. In some countries, such as Thailand and the Philippines, the project is among the most important environmental learning initiatives in existence. More than 5,000 youngsters have applied for the Young Environmental Envoy program since its introduction. Several hundred of these applicants have undergone the selection procedure at so-called “Eco-Camps” in their own countries, while 200 have been chosen to join the study trip to Germany as environmental envoys.

~~Eco-Minds Youth Environmental Forum~~
Every two years, Bayer and UNEP organize the Eco-Minds Youth Environmental Forum for students in the Asia-Pacific region in order to promote a scientific exchange in the area of environmental protection and sustainable development and to develop practical application options for scientific solutions. The project is not just solution-oriented and international, but also takes an interdisciplinary approach. The program is open to students of the natural sciences, engineering, economics and social sciences. The next Eco-Minds Forum will take place in Bangkok from May 31 to June 3, 2007. The subject is the sustainable supply of drinking water.

Further joint youth environmental projects

Bayer supports UNEP in the establishment of regional youth environment networks. Through the partnership structures for sustainable youth environment activities have been built up in Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Another project initiated by Bayer in the context of the company's partnership with UNEP is the "Ecology in Focus" photography competition held in eastern Europe. Young photographers from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia show that creative photography is another medium that can be used to interest a broad audience in environmental issues.

Two important collaboration projects are the UNEP youth magazine "Tunza", and an international children's painting competition for which children between the ages of 6 and 14 from all over the world are invited to submit their pictures on the topic chosen for the respective World Environment Day
on June 5.