Campaigners, entrepreneurs, and innovative industry experts are just a few of the 20 talented young people who have been shortlisted for the 2018 Commonwealth Youth Awards.

The awards recognise outstanding young people aged 15 to 29 whose innovative projects and programmes have had a significant impact on their communities. This year’s focus is on celebrating young people’s contribution towards a fairer, more sustainable, more secure and more prosperous future for the Commonwealth: the four sub-themes of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) taking place in London in April.

The 20 finalists span every region of the Commonwealth, including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, Europe, and the Pacific. They were shortlisted from more than 400 applications from across the globe. The programme is being coordinated by the Commonwealth Youth Programme.

CARIBBEAN AND THE AMERICAS

Trinidad and Tobago – Jonathan Barcant

Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action

Jonathan is the founder of ‘Vetivier Education and Empowerment Project’, a cost-effective bio-engineering scheme to build climate change resilience. The scheme delivers a penetrating root system to stabilise land, preventing erosion and slowing down water run-off …