a-z of youth advocacy

Activism
A way to promote addressing social, political, economic or environmental changes in society for the better.

‍Advocacy
The process of supporting a cause that is also focused on creating the change you want to see in the world.

‍Ally
A person or group of people that provide assistance or support for an ongoing effort or activity to solve a problem.

Biodiversity
This is all the different kinds of life you can find in the natural world such as the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms.

Campaigning
‍This is a planned set of activities that people carry out over a period of time in order to achieve something social or political change.

Civil Society
The different communities and groups that function outside of government and provide support and advocacy for people or societal issues.

Conservation
Is about protecting the planet's natural resources for the current and future generation to benefit from.

Council of the EU
This is where government ministers representing each EU country formally meet to discuss, amend and adopt laws, and coordinate policies.

Decision Maker
The individuals or groups who have the power to make important decisions that affect everyday society.

Deforestation
The clearing or cutting down of forests by the actions of humans which result in the shrinking of forests from the planet that isn’t by natural causes.

Empowerment
The transfer of power to people so that they can have choice and control and be fully involved in the decision-making process.
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European Commission
The EU's politically independent executive arm. It is responsible for proposals for new EU legislation and works to implement the decisions of European Parliament and the Council of the EU.

‍European Parliament
The EU's governing body responsible for EU law-making. It is directly elected by EU voters every 5 years.

European Union
A unique partnership of 27 European countries (Member States) that govern common economic, social, and security policies.
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Evaluation
An activity that you do at the end of a project to understand the quality and impact of your advocacy activities.

Food Security
This is when the whole population has physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs for an active and healthy life.

Food Systems
The different elements and activities related to producing and consuming food.

GHG Emissions
Greenhouse gas emissions is the release of gases in the earth's atmosphere through human activities such as burning fossil fuels. is one of the largest emissions causes by humans and is a large contributor to climate change.

Homogeneous Group
The grouping of individuals based on similar qualities or characteristics.

Indicators
Support the monitoring and evaluation process by helping you understand the impact that is being made.
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Institution
An organisation, establishment, foundation or society, committed to the promotion of a particular cause or issue.

Joint-Agreements
A formal decision about future action which is made by two or more countries, groups, or people.
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Key Message
This is the main points of information you want your audience to hear, understand, and remember.

Legislation
The act or process of making laws.
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Lobbying
An attempt to influence policy and decision-makers by communicating and building relationships with them.
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MEP
A member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament.
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Monitoring
Monitoring primarily refers to the continuous process of keeping track of what you are doing while you are doing it.

Narrative
a story or a description of events.

NDC
A Nationally Determined Contribution is a climate action plan to cut emissions and adapt to climate impacts. This is a direct commitment to the Paris Agreement.
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NGO
A Non Governmental Organisation is a group that functions independently of any government and is usually non-profit.

Organising
The process of building power from the bottom up. Organisers bring people together to address their priorities. They focus on listening, building community, building trust and building respect.

Petition
A formal written request, signed by many people, seeking action on a particular issue or cause.
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Policy
A policy is a set of principles, ideas or plans that guide decisions to achieve a certain outcome.
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Policy Makers
The individuals who hold the formal power to initiate or influence directly, a policy-making process and make the change that you want to happen.

Position Paper
A document that usually explains on organisations or person's position on a topic it often recommends a particular course of action.

Qualitative Data
Data that is subjective and often descriptive. It relies on the views and opinions of others and examples include collecting case studies, stories, and opinions.
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Quantitative Data
Data that is objective and can be measured such as numbers and statistics. Examples include using statistics or graphs to identify and represent trends.

Rights Based Approach (to conservation)
People’s rights being considered side-by-side with the rights of nature. This is WWF’s approach to their advocacy work.

Stakeholder
Any person, group, organisation, government department, company or institution that has interest in a particular issue or cause.

Social Justice
The fair division of resources, opportunities, and privileges in society between people.
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Sustainability
A process of limiting the use and depletion of natural resources to maintain an ecological balance

Target Group
The group people that a policy or campaign is hoping to influence.
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Tokenism
The superficial involvement of a group in the decision making process in ways that keep them powerless, under-informed and unaccountable.

UN
The United Nations is an international organisation that was established in 1945 and aims to solve
world problems in a peaceful way. Currently it is made up of 193 Member States.

Vegan
A diet consisting of food or products not derived from animals or animal products

Vegetarian
A diet consisting of no meat but can include dairy products from animals such a milk and eggs.
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Vision
Defining a long term goal for your advocacy work and what the future will look like.

WWF
The World Wide Fund for Nature is the world’s leading conservation organisation. It works to help local communities conserve the natural resources they depend upon; transform markets and policies toward sustainability; and protect and restore species and their habitats.

Xenophobia
Attitudes, prejudices and behaviour that reject, exclude people based on the perception that they are outsiders or foreigners to the community, society or national identity.

Youth-Led Advocacy
Supporting children and young people to speak up about issues by helping them actively take part in the decisions that affect their daily lives.

Zero Net Carbon Emissions
Achieving a balance between the carbon emitted into the atmosphere, and the carbon removed from it.
This means that all emissions released by human activities are balanced by removing carbon from the atmosphere (carbon removal through natural carbon sinks such as wetlands and forests).


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