Regional Resource Centre for the Asia and the Pacific

Events and Updates

Third Edition of the Youth Energy Academy a Success: Supporting youth to take climate action

11-Oct-2021- 17-Oct-2021
Virtual Training

After the success of two previous editions of the Youth Energy Academy (YEA), the AIT Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (AIT RRC.AP) organized a third YEA in collaboration with the Sustainable Energy Youth Network (SEYN); Yunus Center AIT and Yunus Thailand; AIT Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change; and other partners. Thanks to the support from Konrad Adenauer Stiftung’s Regional Programme for Energy Security and Climate Change in Asia and the Pacific (KAS-RECAP), the YEA gathered 20 young women and men on the week of 11-17 October 2021, who connected as six teams from five countries in South and Southeast Asia. The YEA considered the renewable energy transition from a variety of perspectives, while focusing on decentralised solutions led by youth and communities.

In its virtual modality, YEA’s innovative 7-day programme combined theoretical, technical sessions, and virtual site visits with in-person, practical do-it-together workshops for teams to build simple systems. The week included guest speaker discussions on the concept of prosumerism, solar energy solutions, sample decentralised renewable energy projects, community engagement considerations, social business models, financing approaches, project formulation, among others. This year, YEA also awarded a grant prize of 1000 euros to support one of the teams’ project ideas.

The YEA Small Grant Award

On the last day, participants were invited to pitch their project ideas using the tools learned during the academy to a jury panel composed of practitioners from GIZ , C40 Cities , Yunus Thailand, Grameen Shakti, and KAS RECAP. The PicoStreamers team was awarded the prize for their proposal to Design and Implement a Pico-hydro Turbine system in the Utror Valley, Pakistan. In addition to the grant prize, the team is expected to engage in follow-up a series of virtual mentoring sessions with the YEA organising team.

YEA 2021 Teams Project Ideas

Team​Project Idea
​PicoStreamers ​Design and implementation of Pico-hydro Turbines in Utror Valley, Pakistan
​Hope ​Enhancing Urban Safety by Solar Lighting System in Yangon, Myanmar
​Youth for Energy Discourse​Integration of Clean Cooking in Rural Livelihood, Nepal
​ReVI​Summer Camp for High School Students to Raise Awareness on Renewable Energy and Technical Skill, Vietnam
​Energy Maniacs​Boigas Powered Electricity and Cooking System for Remote and Off-Grid communities of Balochistan, Pakistan
​ElectriciTeam​Water Waste Collector Powered by Hydroelectric Energy:  A Porposed solution in Waste mangement issues in Laguna De Bay, Philippines


The YEA emphasized team collaboration and creativity without the fear of failure. Virtual tours of projects in the vicinities of AIT, including the AIT Community Farm, showcased simple renewable energy applications and insights on business models, challenges, and lessons learned. As the year closes with global negotiations on greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments, financing, and technology solutions towards achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, the YEA provides an innovative learning experience supporting youth and community-led contributions to community development and the energy transition. Learn more about the YEA.


“I really love the supportive and fun environment that YEA has created in this virtual study program”

—Participant, YEA 2021

Created at 11/9/2021 8:26 PM by System Account
Last modified at 11/9/2021 8:33 PM by System Account