Climate Adaptability.

Climate change is not a distant concept. In many communities, flooding, waste, pollution, and environmental degradation are already shaping daily life and affecting the wellbeing of young people. Climate Change is visible, but not yet fully understood. Until today 83.2% have heard of climate change, while only 45.4% see it as on of Dar Es Salaam's most serious problems and even fewer 44.9% had taken action in the previous 12 months. Young people experience the effects of climate change, but limited practical knowledge and low personal engagement make it difficult to translate awareness into action. This program engage young people in understanding and responding to environmental challenges through storytelling, animation, and youth-led action.

The programme addresses pressing environmental issues affecting communities today, including climate change, environmental degradation, deforestation, waste pollution, and ocean conservation. Our aim is to turn climate knowledge into understanding and understanding into action. We use locally relevant storytelling to make climate change easier to understand and inspire young people to take action. By connecting global environmental challenges to the local realities young people experience, the programme helps them understand how environmental change directly impacts their communities, livelihoods, and future. Thats why we developed an one-year project which was founded in 2023. Our first object seeks to educate young people aged 13 to 24 and inspire positive behaviour change on climate change while the second one is to influence community support from critical stakeholders such as teachers, media, and other NGOs in adressing climate change issues.

Rather than presenting climate issues through complex technical messaging, the programme uses animation-based storytelling, radio drama and comic books, interactive learning sessions, and practical environmental activities to make climate education accessible, engaging, and action-oriented. Through facilitated discussions and hands-on activities, young people are encouraged not only to learn about environmental challenges but also to identify practical ways they can contribute to protecting their environment.

Two flagship initiatives drive this work: Kijana Kijani and Bahari Mania Implemented in partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands in Tanzania, Kijana Kijani uses animation to teach students about environmental protection, climate awareness, and sustainable practices. It deals about a young inventor who confronts environmental destruction in his community and shows how young people can become part of the solution. The initiative has reached schools and communities in Dar es Salaam, Tanga, Pwani Region, Kisarawe District, and Bagamoyo District, where students have also participated in environmental action by planting more than 200 fruit and shade trees within their schools.

Complementing this work, Bahari Mania focuses specifically on ocean conservation and marine pollution, raising awareness among young people about the impact of plastic waste and environmental pollution on marine ecosystems and coastal communities.

By combining storytelling, education, and community action, the programme empowers young people to see themselves as active participants in environmental protection and climate adaptation.

And not without success: Until today we have reached 33 schools, 21 of the in Dar Es Salaam, 7 in pwani and 5 more in Tanga. In total we reached 7581 students. Moreover we have been able to plant 200 trees in 20 schools as part of the Kijana Kijani initiative to address climate change. Regarding pour SBCC Contents, approximateley** 78.9%** of the students reached during the second round have been exposed to the Kijani Kijana animation for the first time. Additionally, 43.87% had the opportunities to engage with comic books as part of the SBCC.
To spread our project and our mission we also focused on the dissemaination of Kijana Kijani on buses and bajajis. There are 108 buses that screened the Kijani animation in 28 regions where the buses have travelled and more than 6154 passengers watched the animation after that. Additionally we have distributed 30 posters in 30 Bajaji found in Dar es Salaam.

For us its very important to see that there is an improvement on the things we want to change. When we take a look on the Student evaluation we recognise that we are on the right path: In Dar Es Salaam, 88% rated the messages and meaning positively, 92% rated the language positively and 90% rated the video quality positively. In Tanga, the corresponding ratings were 89%, 93% and 91%. When we take a look at the evaluation regarding the comic book we see that 74.74% agreed and 24.23% strongly agreed that they learned something new. 73.20% agreed and 25.26% strongly agreed that the comic motivated them to change their behaviour or attitude. Overall, the comic was perceived as engaging, educational and motivating.

We are really proud to recognise, looking back on our entire path, that we have made huge progress. We started with local climate stories and have grown to achieve international recognition. The London International Pan African Film Festival 2024 nominated us for the best Animation with Kijana Kijani. The Zanzibar International Film Festival 2024 nominated us as the best short Film with Baharimania. Silicon Valley African Film Festival gave us a Special Mention for Kijana Kijani. And last but not least the Kilimanjaro Film festival 2025 nominated us as the best short film animation for Kijana Kijani.

We look forward to continuing our journey towards a more climate-conscious, resilient and sustainable Tanzania.