“My main aim is to inspire Generation Z to take the environment seriously!”
Evin Barzani, at only 23 years old, is a dedicated environmental and climate justice activist. Currently enrolled in a master’s program at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH), she is also an alumna of the Iraqi Young Leaders Exchange Program. Most importantly, she stands out as the founder of the ZeroWaste Kurdistan project, an organization devoted to raising awareness and inspiring action among the youth in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) on the current global environmental crisis and climate change. Meanwhile, her academic background as a petroleum engineer has landed her a job as sales and marketing coordinator at KurdNeft, a retail-fuel company in the KRI.
Evin’s passion for the environment began in her early childhood with her admiration for the region’s spectacular natural heritage and its stunning mountainous landscapes, especially in her ancestral village of Barzan. Her concerns about the environment came to a head when she established the ZeroWaste Kurdistan project in 2021.
Creating a sustainable future
ZeroWaste Kurdistan aims to encourage, prompt, and create a caring community appreciative of the KRI’s nature. Evin’s dream was to create a sustainable future for the KRI, so that the region’s inhabitants could enjoy its breathtaking nature for generations to come. As a young Kurdish woman, she believes that the best way to serve her community and inspire positive change is through environmental advocacy.
Along with her fellow activists at ZeroWaste Kurdistan, Evin has already embarked on several remarkable group activities such as planting trees, organizing cleanups, and creating educational campaigns. The group has also placed several themed bins in public places to encourage the practice of recycling, which has yet to become a habit in Kurdistan. “Recycling can eventually become the norm, with a little guidance,” Evin said.
To this end, Evin and her co-activists have conducted a number of seminars at academic institutions in the KRI, namely UKH and Tishk International University in Erbil. One of the highlights of her activism was a joint project with the U.S. Consulate and American Corner in Erbil last year. U.S. Consul General Robert J. Palladino and many other U.S. diplomats stationed in Erbil participated in a cleanup effort together with volunteers from ZeroWaste Kurdistan. The project received nationwide recognition. “This support gave a massive boost to our fledgling organization, raising its profile and supporting the noble cause behind it,” Evin emphasized.
Forging community
These kinds of initiatives serve to motivate Generation Z to appreciate and protect the nature that surrounds them. Evin is overwhelmingly optimistic about the way her organization is advancing and maintains that “so far, everyone who has heard of ZeroWaste wants to be part of it.”
The organization has an active volunteer base of 30 members – a number that is rising. Evin stressed that the volunteers enjoy the visible changes that they make to their homeland, as well as the collaborative nature of their work and the resulting spirit of comradery. “They also get many perks from this work,” she added. In addition to making new lifelong friends with a group of like-minded individuals, they were all awarded certificates of recognition by the U.S. Consulate in Erbil.
Reaching Generation Z
One of ZeroWaste Kurdistan’s major achievements was the publication and distribution of a Kurdish-language children’s storybook titled Forest Adventures, which aims to help enlighten Kurdistan’s future generations about the environment. This interactive story follows two friends who are concerned about their local forest being destroyed by a major industrial plant. Beautifully written and creative, Forest Adventures encourages children to think about ways to protect their local environment.
Evin’s main focus in her climate activism is to change the mentality of Generation Z because they are the future of the KRI. She wants them to be confident in a bright future for their homeland. “There does not have to be a particular reason to plant a tree anywhere in Kurdistan,” she said. “The very fact that they live here should make them want to do so anyway.”
“In order to build a society that cares, it is absolutely essential we focus on the youth, especially primary school pupils, because they are young and impressionable,” she said. “If we are able to make them embrace a climate-conscious mindset – which I am confident we can – then we will be able to build a very beautiful future for Kurdistan.”
Evin underscored that ZeroWaste Kurdistan aims to make environmentalism fun and pleasant for everyone by giving vibrant and lively seminars to raise awareness, as well as organizing therapeutic activities like planting trees and painting murals in public places.
Saya Badrkhan is a researcher and volunteer at ZeroWaste. She has dedicated the past few years to both actively working on and advocating for global warming issues.
