Full-time changemaker Melati Wijsen will come to Utrecht to lead a discussion around how we can tackle the challenges of our time. 🌱 CHANGE STARTS NOW 🌱 2024 has shifted to 2025 and one might wonder what will this year bring. With resolutions, hopes and dreams already written down on paper one can also add plans, strategies and action. Change starts now and you can be a part of it! Inspired by her own successes and failures, full-time changemaker Melati Wijsen will take you on her journey of becoming a changemaker and the 100 lessons she learned along the way. Her book Change Starts Now shares an insight into what it was like for a 12-year-old girl growing up in the movement, and how anyone, anywhere, no matter their age, can get involved too. Melati will be joined by SDG Nederland and other young changemakers to discuss how we can face the challenges of our time and what are the tools everyone can use to facilitate change. Join us to learn from inspiring changemakers and connect with like-minded individuals! The programme will be in English. The event is organised by Youthtopia in collaboration with Green Office HU. 📚 TIME AND PLACE 📚 Change Starts Now book tour will come to Utrecht on the 17th of January. The event will take place at Hogeschool Utrecht, Padualaan 101-2.001 from 3 PM until 6 PM. 🌏 OUR SPEAKERS 🌏 Melati Wijsen is an environmental changemaker from Indonesia. Melati knew at a young age that she wanted to improve the world. Her idols were not Barbie or Taylor Swift, but Mahatma Gandhi and Jane Goodall. Her first achievement was at the age of 12: making her home island of Bali plastic-free. She is praised for her determination, vision, and leadership. In 2023, Melati was the opening act of Barack Obama in the Netherlands. SDG Nederland is the national platform dedicated to promoting and accelerating the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Netherlands. Established to foster collaboration and action, SDG Nederland brings together diverse stakeholders, including governments, businesses, non-profit organizations, educational institutions, and individuals, to create a sustainable and inclusive future. Lot Platteel is an international business student at Hogeschool Utrecht currently writing her thesis on change management towards sustainability. In this work she is looking into the resistance, struggles, and strategies on how to make the desired objectives of economic values and sustainability to coincide. As a part of the Education and Operations team at the Green Office of Hogeschool Utrecht, Lot helps fellow students in making the campus a more sustainable, inclusive and beautiful space. Henrieke Bünger is an environmental science student at the VU Amsterdam, who has previously completed her master studies in environmental law at Utrecht University. She is part of the global grassroots youth organization World’s Youth for Climate Justice and the youth group of the Ecocide movement, where she has been addressing challenges in international climate governance and the legal rights of nature. As an Event and Impact Coordinator at the Green Office of Utrecht University, Henrieke is building and connecting a community of local changemakers. #changestartsnow #sdgs #youthtopia