Building Momentum:
350.org Asia Training Programs Through the Years
Evolution of the Programs: A Summary
350.org’s training programs have evolved significantly through the years, transitioning from the East Asia Climate Leaders Camp to the Asia Climate Leaders Camp, then to the Asia Solidarity Lab, and finally to the Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship. Each phase has built upon the successes and lessons of its predecessors, progressively expanding its scope, focus, and impact.
Initially, the East Asia Climate Leaders Camp was designed to empower young climate activists through training and skill-building in organizing and campaigning. This foundational stage laid the groundwork for a more inclusive and comprehensive program, the Asia Climate Leaders Camp, which broadened its reach to include participants from across the region. The camp emphasized integrating diverse perspectives and fostering an Asia-wide network of climate campaigners, aiming for a Fossil Free Asia by 2030.
Building on this foundation, the Asia Solidarity Lab emerged as a virtual conference that brought together a wider array of movements, including those focused on climate, human rights, gender justice, and youth organizing. The Lab provided a platform for collective reflection, strategy development, and solidarity-building, particularly in response to the intersecting crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It focused on promoting regenerative movement-building and a just recovery.
The latest iteration, the Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship, represents a more intensive and targeted approach. This 3-month program for selected Asian youth activists emphasizes intersectional organizing for energy justice and just transition. Through a combination of group sessions, pair work, and community consultations, fellows develop practical skills, create a collective vision for climate solutions, and prepare for the Asia Solidarity Lab’s mass training events. This fellowship model ensures sustained engagement, deeper learning, and the creation of a robust support system among participants, culminating in impactful on-ground and virtual training sessions across the region.
2023 |
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Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship (Thailand)
The 2023 Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship convened Asian youth activists over a 3-month program aimed at catalyzing an intersectional movement for energy justice in Asia. Through group sessions, pair work, and community consultations, fellows honed their organizing skills, developed a collective vision for people-led climate solutions, and collaborated on a training agenda for the 2023 Asia Solidarity Lab.
Foundational sessions explored the core values uniting the cohort and delved into the concept of energy justice, setting the stage for collaborative action. Subsequent sessions delved into lessons from Asian social movements, unpacking the intersections of climate and social justice while equipping fellows with essential organizing tools and strategies.
Throughout the program, fellows were encouraged to maximize pair work sessions and online community spaces to build a robust support network and incorporate diverse perspectives into their collective vision. The fellowship culminated in fellows designing and facilitating on-ground trainings activities, leveraging their newfound skills and insights to drive tangible change in their communities. Post-program debrief and reflection sessions provided an opportunity for fellows to assess their progress, celebrate achievements, and chart a path forward in their pursuit of energy justice in Asia.
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Asia Solidarity Lab (Online)
The 2023 Asia Solidarity Lab served as the culmination of the Fellows’ journey. Paired fellows presented Learning Sessions they designed, with the freedom to select their focus points, under the guidance of the 350.org team. This one-day program is open to the public, aiming to disseminate knowledge and empower communities throughout Asia.
Each session offered a unique perspective and focus, covering a range of topics vital to climate action and social justice in Asia. From empowering communities to identify local renewable energy campaigns to exploring the principles of just transitions in Asian contexts, the sessions provide insights, strategies, and real-world applications. Additionally, sessions address the need for informed and critical youth engagement in advocating against false solutions to the climate crisis, while also promoting grassroots environmentalism and youth-led movements for a better future.
The diverse range of sessions offered during the Lab underscored the breadth and depth of the climate movement in Asia. From practical strategies for renewable energy adoption to thought-provoking discussions on decolonization and guardianship of nature, each session aims to educate, inspire, and mobilize participants toward collective action and positive change.
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2022 |
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Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship (Online)
The 2022 Asia Solidarity Lab Fellowship was a comprehensive 6-week program designed for Asian youth activists, focusing on deepening their understanding and practice of intersectional organizing for climate and social justice. The fellowship consisted of weekly group sessions and pair work to provide mutual support and lead community consultations to ensure diverse inputs for the collective vision.
Fellows delved into the foundational concepts of climate and social justice, drawing insights from Asian social movements. Mentors from various fields, including climate advocacy, human rights, feminism, and workers’ rights, shared their wisdom on effective organizing strategies. The emphasis was on understanding just climate solutions and discerning false solutions while exploring avenues for intersectional organizing to amplify collective voices.
The fellowship also included skill-sharing sessions on multimedia storytelling, finance campaigning, and intersectional organizing, providing participants with practical tools and strategies for their activism. As part of their involvement, fellows will contribute to co-creating the 2022 Asia Solidarity Lab. The fellowship culminated in a presentation of campaign and local plans, followed by a network-open graduation ceremony, reaffirming the fellows’ commitment to the collective vision and community of practice moving forward beyond the fellowship.
Read more: here
Asia Solidarity Lab (Online)
The 2022 Asia Solidarity Lab was a collaborative platform for diverse movements, including climate, gender justice, human rights, and youth activism, to collectively reflect and strategize on fostering solidarity, amplifying local struggles, and building regenerative movements for a just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic across the region. Through various learning sessions, breakout discussions, and cultural exchanges facilitated by partners and allies, participants engaged in dialogue and collaboration culminating in the development of the ASL manifesto.
Looking forward to the year ahead, the focus shifted to strengthening the youth climate movement toward a #FossilFreeAsia that embraces regenerative, intersectional, and solidarity-centered approaches amidst and beyond the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Asia Solidarity Lab 2022 emerged as a dynamic gathering of youth organizers, campaigners, and activists committed to advancing emerging campaigns, sharing compelling narratives, and fostering transformative joyful organizing practices in the region’s pursuit of climate justice. Alongside cultural performances and open forums for collective reflection, the Lab featured panels and workshops exploring four key themes: activism and community care, intersectional climate organizing, fossil fuel finance campaigning, and envisioning solutions for climate and social justice.
Read more: here
2021 |
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Asia Solidarity Lab (Online)
The 2021 Asia Solidarity Lab was a three-day virtual conference that connected people-powered movements across Asia. It focused on addressing the intersecting crises exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing climate, human rights, gender, health, and youth organizing. The event provided a space for imaginging a post-pandemic future centered on climate and social justice, fostering inclusivity, intergenerational collaboration, and intersectional solidarity.
Drawing inspiration from the success of the Global Just Recovery Gathering and previous Asia Climate Leadership Camps, the Asia Solidarity Lab aimed to be accessible to individuals beyond traditional activist circles. Participants from diverse backgrounds and movements were engaged and encouraged to collaborate and showcase existing campaigns and initiatives from the field. The event provided a platform for reflection, strategizing, and outlining actionable steps towards regenerative movement-building for a just recovery from the pandemic across the region.
Through various workshops, discussions, and collaborative sessions, the Asia Solidarity Lab addressed a wide range of topics, including climate and youth activism, indigenous rights, ocean conservation, finance campaigning, media coverage analysis, gender justice, LGBTQIA+ economic inclusion, and green new deal initiatives. The event emphasized the importance of storytelling, cultural narratives, and community partnerships in fostering hope, solidarity, and genuine solutions toward a more just and sustainable future for Asia and beyond.
2020 |
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Asia Climate Leadership Camp (Online)
The 2020 Asia Climate Leadership Camp brought together 300 youth climate strikers, junior organizers, and campaigners from across the region for a 4-day virtual training session. The camp focused on leveraging online organizing and compelling storytelling to defund the fossil fuel industry in Asia. By incorporating perspectives from both funder and recipient countries, the camp aimed to build a network of youth finance campaigners to develop a decentralized, region-wide strategy, aspiring for a Fossil Free Asia by 2030. This initiative was particularly timely, as the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the failures of the current system, overburdening economies, public healthcare, and social protections, thus underscoring the need for an inclusive and just recovery.
Defunding the fossil fuel industry is essential to preventing further climate breakdown, and the Camp targeted private banks, public multilateral development banks, and institutional investors such as universities and churches. Given Asia’s vulnerability to climate change, the region has a pivotal role in eliminating public support for fossil fuels and advancing climate justice. The decision to hold the camp digitally was driven by the uncertainties related to the pandemic and the need to ensure broad participation.
The camp’s themes included digital organizing and storytelling, focusing on innovative ways to mobilize youth in both funding and recipient countries. Participants engaged in targeted campaigns aimed at dismantling the financial pillars supporting the fossil fuel industry. They also developed campaign goals and strategies for short-term (6 months), medium-term (4 years), and long-term (10 years) actions. The urgency of the climate emergency was a central theme, with an understanding that this decade is critical to limiting global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, emphasizing Asia’s crucial role in this global effort.
2019 |
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Asia Climate Leadership Camp (Philippines)
Over the past four years, the East Asia Climate Leadership Camp has played a pivotal role in engaging climate leaders across the region through a combination of webinar series and an intensive three-day offline camp. This program has provided a valuable platform for showcasing the stories and experiences of frontline heroes and community organizers, while also expanding the capacity of youth activists on various topics related to climate change and climate justice. The Camp has significantly contributed to the growth and empowerment of climate advocates by offering educational resources and fostering a strong community network.
The 2019 Asia Climate Leaders Camp expanded its reach by including more participants from South Asia and placing a special emphasis on building the capacity of junior campaigners and organizers in Asia finance. The Camp will introduce participants to the intricacies of finance campaigning, offering a comprehensive platform to integrate both country-focused and region-wide strategies into the broader 350.org Asia Finance Strategy. This approach helped participants understand the dual perspectives of both financiers and recipient countries, enhancing their ability to formulate effective campaigns.
The program centered around strengthening the network of junior climate campaigners in Asia, enhancing their knowledge of the role of financial institutions in fossil fuel expansion, and sharing successful finance campaign tactics from other regions. By focusing on the impact of financial institutions from Japan, Korea, and China on coal projects in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Bangladesh, the program built the capacity of local activists to apply finance campaigning strategies in their local and regional campaigns. One of the main features of the program is the trip to Bataan where the fellows were able to see firsthand the day-to-day struggles and stories of resistance of a community against an actual coal project funded by banks. Insights were exchanged during the field trip, reflecting on the realities behind fossil fuel finance and visualizing the connections between foreign investments and local projects.
Altogether, the Camp provided a space for participants to collaborate on region-wide strategies and practical ideas on how to connect financier and the recipient communities. It emphasized the power of storytelling to connect the narratives of communities resisting fossil fuel projects with the financiers behind them, thereby fostering a deeper understanding and stronger advocacy efforts across the region.
2018 |
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East Asia Climate Leadership Camp (Thailand)
Since its inception, the East Climate Leadership Program has been a hub for fostering climate leadership, sharing stories of frontline heroes, and organizing community initiatives. Through a combination of online workshops and amps, 350.org has empowered participants, activists, and organizers to advocate for a Fossil Free Future. This vision aims to provide just, clean, and affordable energy for all communities and future generations.
The 2018 East Climate Leadership Program was anchored on expanding the Fossil Free Movement within the Asia regional climate network, emphasizing three key demands: a cease in funding for fossil fuel projects, a halt to new coal plants, and a transition to 100% renewable energy. The program focused on initiating people’s energy plans, fostering leadership, and exchanging essential skills for a sustainable, inclusive, and effective fossil-free campaign across the region. It included expanding the network, developing campaign guidelines, initiating energy justice conversations, and sharing campaign strategies.
One of the highlights of the Camp was the visit to Khao Hin Son, where organic farmers successfully fought off a 600MW coal project. The trip allowed the participants to learn more from the impacted communities, reflect on their decade-long fight against the coal-fired power plant, and exchange campaign experiences and skills for on-the-ground strategy.
The program also used 350.org’s Global Rise for Climate as an anchor to align strengths and campaign efforts, initiating discussions to identify leadership needs, and coordinating campaign strategies within the Fossil Free East Asia Network. By following such an approach, the Camp consolidated key learnings and recognized new climate leaders to join the fossil-free movement.
2017 |
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East Asia Climate Leadership Camp (Taiwan)
Asia plays a pivotal role in the fight against climate change, hosting numerous fossil fuel development sites that negatively impact local communities and ecosystems. Additionally, several Asian nations finance the fossil fuel industry both domestically and internationally.
350.org is at the forefront of the energy revolution, empowering communities to combat fossil fuel projects, advocating for divestment from coal and other fossil fuels, and urging governments to reduce their dependence on coal. To support these efforts, 350.org organized the 2017 East Asia Climate Leadership Camp to provide a platform for organizations and individuals in the region to exchange campaign ideas and strategies.
This third installment of the East Asia Leaders Camp provided a collaborative platform for climate activists to tackle fossil fuel financial flows and share powerful stories of fossil fuel struggles. Participants work together on campaign initiatives, focusing on long-term strategies for their localities and the broader East Asia region. The Camp emphasizes three core areas of 350.org’s work: iconic campaigns against fossil fuel projects, divestment initiatives, and frontline struggle storytelling.
The Camp offered strategies on how to adapt decentralized campaign models to strengthen the regional climate movement, assessing strengths and weaknesses to enhance their collective impact. Open space sessions allowed participants to learn from the Divest East Asia Network members, share campaign tactics, and exchange lessons from their respective countries.
Through storytelling sessions, participants amplify the voices of those affected by fossil fuel projects, highlighting #FrontlineHero and #VulnerableVoices. The Camp also provided insights into various political trends and potential policy changes, enabling participants to plan regional strategies on divestment, anti-coal, air pollution, and other critical issues. Overall, the Camp empowered climate leaders, organizational partners, and regional activist networks to develop and implement effective, collaborative campaign strategies for a fossil-free future.
2016 |
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East Asia Climate Leadership Camp (South Korea)
For the second East Asia Climate Leadership Camp (EACLC), 350.org organized a three-day regional divestment workshop in South Korea. Building on the success of the previous year’s coal workshop in Vietnam, 350.org hosted the second 2016 East Asia Climate Leadership Camp in South Korea. A three-day regional workshop, this event aimed to strengthen the divestment movement in Asia by bringing together climate organizers, campaigners, activists, NGOs, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups from the region. The focus was on fossil fuel divestment, particularly in countries with significant coal investments and frontline communities affected by coal, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
The workshop provided participants with the knowledge and skills needed to lead effective divestment campaigns. The training included sessions on the various strategies and targets for divestment, such as banks, pension funds, and universities. Participants gained insights from expert campaigners and trainers from 350.org and the broader divestment network, emphasizing the importance of learning from grassroots campaigners in different regional contexts. This allowed participants to understand the diverse challenges and strategies involved in divestment campaigning.
One of the highlights of the program is the visit to fossil fuel project sites, including mines and coal-fired power plants, as well as impacted communities. These field trips aimed to provide a real-world perspective on the impacts of fossil fuel investments and the importance of divestment. By the end of the workshop, participants returned to their home countries ready to lead impactful divestment campaigns, contributing to the broader regional and global movement to stigmatize the fossil fuel industry and promote just climate solutions.
2015 |
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East Asia Climate Leadership Camp (Vietnam)
350.org organized a five-day regional coal workshop in August 2015 in Vietnam, known as the 2015 East Asia Climate Leaders Camp. This workshop brought together climate organizers, campaigners, activists, bloggers, journalists, and artists from non-government organizations, civil society organizations, and grassroots groups across Asia.
With the primary goal of enhancing skills and capacities in climate campaigning, focusing specifically on anti-coal initiatives, participants from countries with ongoing coal fights were selected to attend. High-profile international trainers provided instruction, and participants learned from grassroots campaigners in different contexts, engaging in field trips to coal mines, coal-fired power plants, and impacted communities to gain a comprehensive understanding of coal-related issues.
Participants learned to handle sensitive coal-related campaigning, as well as gained confidence and inspiration by joining a global and regional anti-coal movement. Real-life situations provided collaborative learning experiences using various tactics, such as non-violent direct action, arts, petitions, digital campaigning, and grassroots organizing. Visits to coal sites provided valuable insights into the work ahead, concluding with a trip to Ha Long Bay, where participants sent a message advocating for the protection of this UNESCO Heritage site from coal pollution.