Meet our new Climate Leader

Melbourne Uni student, Samaneh (Sam) Shokravi, trained as a Climate Leader in Istanbul last month. 

---

Engineering student Samaneh (Sam) Shokravi made quite an impression when she outlined some of the things she had to contend with in order to complete her training to become a Climate Leader.

She completed the recent Climate Reality Project training session in Istanbul.

“Istanbul was our home for at least three days. During this time, we learned how to effectively communicate our knowledge and our fears about climate change,” Sam explained.

“We also mingled with Turkish protesters who were demanding a halt to destruction of Taksim Gezi Park, one of the last green spaces in Beyoğlu, Istanbul. We tasted the tear gas but we held our tears.”

Sam was one of the hundreds of trainee Climate Leaders who slept in ‘a strange room’ on the night of the protest, as their pathway back to their hotel was blocked by police and protesters.

“But when the sun shined the morning after, we were determined to finish our climate leadership training with positive and hopeful spirits,” a clearly energized Sam told Australian Conservation Foundation staff.

Sam spoke of her experience at the training in glowing terms in her almost breathless account of her time in Turkey in June this year.

Mrs Shokravi was one of 500 people from 94 countries who were selected to be trained by former US vice president Al Gore to deliver a version of the slideshow known to many as the basis of the award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth.

“We learned how to give hope for an action to be taken from our side of the world. We practised how to inspire change in our own communities for a better future.”

“We shared our stories of how we became climate change geeks and communicated our climate change plans for when we get back to our everyday life,” Sam explained.

Sam is completing her PhD in Mechanical Engineering to bring a ‘sustainable future to Australian industries’ and she has already started to meet her commitments as a Climate Leader. She has spoken to her fellow engineering students about climate change and sustainability.

“My first act is to bring awareness to my engineering community and empower future engineers to become sustainable leaders of their own small communities, this is through a community of practice called engreeneers” she said, from the safety of her Melbourne home and as one of our newest Climate Leaders.