The Salween Youth Engagement Programme (SYP) aims to empower youth as informed, culturally grounded leaders in community-based water governance and biodiversity conservation by strengthening their role in co-creating inclusive, sustainable, and locally rooted environmental stewardship with local communities in the Salween river basin.
The program was initiated in May 2025 through collaboration with the Cherry Myay Foundation. After the May 2025 announcement to youth, the program attracted 99 applications from across the States and Regions in Myanmar. The selection committee, led by IUCN, reviewed the applications and in June 2025 shortlisted 35 participants for interviews. By July 2025, 15 participants (8 male, 7 female) from Shan State (12), Karen State (2), and Mon State (1) were selected.
Meet the Salween Youth
Discover their perspectives on joining the programme
Thematic Groups
The Salween Youth Engagement Programme participants worked within four thematic areas:
A journey through the programme
Workshop 1: Youth Capacity Building on Biodiversity Conservation and Water Governance (2–5 July 2025)
Held in Taunggyi, Shan State, this four-day workshop brought together young participants to build essential knowledge and skills in biodiversity conservation and water governance, with a focus on the Salween River Basin. Through a mix of interactive exercises, group discussions, and role-playing simulations, participants explored the ecological, cultural, and social importance of freshwater ecosystems, while strengthening their capacity in community-based conservation and integrated water resources management (IWRM). The workshop also emphasized equity, benefit-sharing, and youth engagement in decision-making, encouraging participants to connect personally with nature and take an active role in shaping sustainable water governance in their communities.
Workshop 2: Youth Capacity Building on Research and Proposal Writing ( 8–11 August 2025)
Held in Taunggyi, Shan State, this four-day workshop focused on strengthening youth capacity in research and proposal development for environmental conservation and community initiatives. Through interactive exercises, team-based learning, and hands-on practice, participants gained a solid understanding of both ecological and social research methods, while building essential skills in critical thinking, data analysis, and collaborative work. Working in small research teams, participants identified key issues in the Salween Basin, developed research questions, designed methodologies, and drafted their own project proposals. The workshop emphasized participatory approaches, ethical research practices, and real-world application, empowering youth to lead evidence-based initiatives and contribute meaningfully to conservation efforts in their communities.
Fieldwork (September-October 2025)
Writing and reports (November-December 2025)
Explore the key takeaways from each Team and download the in-depth reports on a specific topic.
Closing event 26 March 2026
Key lessons learned
- Working with young people from the basin provides opportunities to conduct research in areas that are inaccessible to outsiders. Youth can travel to understudied areas, collecting new data and documenting local connections to the river.
- Basin youth responded well to exercises to connect them with nature, highlighting the strengths of a relational values approach to nature conservation to complement existing work on the Salween’s ecology and biology.
- The Salween Youth Programme combined learning components with real-world application, a type of programme currently limited in Myanmar, especially in conservation. It created valuable opportunities for youth to build necessary skills and knowledge on conservation and river governance.
- Participation of local youth strengthened communication where language barriers exist in ethnic communities and built trust among community members. It also enhanced broader community participation in research.
- Engaging local youth enabled them to develop a deeper understanding of the value and status of biodiversity in the basin. Their enthusiastic participation in research and conservation activities demonstrated the potential for strong, positive outcomes.
- Extensive investment (time and resources) in youth through dedicated mentorship and structured support to conduct research and projects, strengthened the learning journey. It built confidence and enabled them to develop the skills and network needed to contribute to the existing work on the basin.
Opportunities for expansion
- Training modules from the programme can be reused for additional cohorts of youth in the Salween Youth Programme—engaging alumni in the training process to build confidence and empower them.
- There is potential to continue to strengthen the capacities of youth from the basin to support more inclusive land and water governance policies.
- Future plans should further enhance the exchange of experiences and lessons learned between youth at various levels.
- Intra-basin- connecting Salween youth in Myanmar with youth in Thailand
- Inter-basin youth meetings, between the Salween Youth Programme and Youth for Meghna
- Key results and findings from the programme should be shared with local communities and relevant stakeholders to inform and support future studies in the basin.
- There is potential to provide more intensive training and conduct more studies in the basin on fish population dynamics, impacts of invasive species and pollution.
- Expanding collaboration with colleges and universities would create opportunities to conduct more structured programmes, broaden research capacity, and strengthen the scientific basic for the basin.
Connect with Salween Youth
Seint Sann Zaw | Head of Office, IUCN Myanmar
seintsann.zaw@iucn.org
