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IYCN members in front of Charminar, Hyderabad after one of their conferences | Meet a bunch of enthusiastic youngsters who have come up with innovative ideas to save Planet Earth. They have formed the Indian Youth Climate Network, which has branches across India. Some of their core members are students of IIM-Bangalore. Here's their take on what they do and what they hope to achieve.
This December, the IYCN Agents of Change program hopes to send a delegation of 19 students and young professionals to the U.N. Climate Negotiations in Poland. Chosen from a highly qualified pool of applicants, our delegates represent the diversity, enthusiasm, and skill of the budding youth climate movement in India. Hailing from both urban centers as well as rural areas, these dynamic agents will strive to engage government delegations from around the world in policy, help build consensus amongst civil society groups and assist in the construction of a global youth climate network. These are the future climate leaders that India will look to in the years ahead. We need concerted youth action to combat climate change. More importantly, we need to be focused on solutions to this mega problem â economic, technological and political solutions. The Indian Youth delegation to Poland is a landmark step in this direction.
Abhijit Parashar (23), co-founder, Green IIT Initiative
Smart campaigns
>>IYCN's 2-minute Black Out, this year on August 15 at 20:00 hrs, saw members switch off their electrical appliances for two minutes to conserve energy. Though they appealed to citizens to follow suit, the response wasn't all that encouraging.
>>IYCN's rural energy program, which will be launched in February 2009, hopes to implement renewable energy projects in four villages. Members will advocate ways and means for a genuine transfer from kerosene to renewable resources like biogas and solar power.
>>IYCN members will go on a six-week tour, called Something New Something Bold, in a solar electric car to showcase practical solutions to the climate change problem. They hope to kick off the campaign on January 5, 2009. | 
