Above) Group photo
Below) Friedrich Ebert Country director welcoming participants
The Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) Cameroon has launched the second edition of the University of Green Governance .
The launching took place Wwdnesday 12 August 2026 at the Friedrich Elbert Stiftung in- Bastos Yaounde.
The ceremony brought together some 50 youths who were presented the concept of University of Green Governance and the role youths have to play in driving the initiative.
Operating under the “Advancing Gender Equality through Youth Engagement for Green Governance and Climate Action in Cameroon” – AGEYCA program, this month-long initiative delivers over 20 modules through a hybrid learning format.
The flexible delivery method ensures that 250 young participants nationwide can easily engage with the curriculum online. The official opening drew an enthusiastic audience, eager to learn from a selected panel of distinguished facilitators, scholars, and politicians.
Discussion during the launch highlighted the involvement of young people and women in decision-making processes and their role in sustainable development policies.
The initiative according to JVE CEO Blondel Silenou aims to strengthen the role of the youths in green governance and the climate transition.
Speaking at the launch, the executive director of JVE, presented the project in details noting it was geared at preparing, mobilizing, and reinforcing the capacities of youths not only to understand, but to participate actively in democratic processes at local levels across the country.
Workshop deliberations
By scaling up to mobilize 250 young citizens, the project aims to broaden youth reach and foster direct, active participation within decision-making and policy structures. Silenou emphasized that the primary goal is to empower a new generation to move beyond passive observation and take an active, hands-on role in shaping national environmental policy.
Patrice Bigombe Logo of CERAD who presented the inaugural lesson, emphasised on the need for youth-led training to help Cameroon meet its local and international climate and biodiversity commitments.
“Given the nation’s strategic position in the Congo Basin, sustainable governance can establish Cameroon as a model for environmental leadership,” he said.
He however warned against rapid expansion in mining, logging, and agriculture which risks damaging local ecosystems as the country pursues its “Vision 2035” emerging economy goals, making a “green budget setup” essential to integrate safeguards directly into national policy.
Dr Valere Bessala on his part, asserted that authentic environmental action demands a deep shift in civic mindset, ethics, and spatial planning rather than superficial gestures. He ctiticized poorly executed mega-projects, such as building the Lom Pangar dam without proper power transport infrastructure.
Bessala called for smart spatial strategies like decentralizing administrative power to de-congest major capitals. He argued that true sustainability links physical ecology with human integrity, requiring citizens to practice personal accountability, “depollute” their attitudes, and embrace a “greenness of the spirit”.