Finnur Ricart, Chairperson of the Icelandic Young Environmentalist Association, UN Youth Delegate on Climate Change, LGB, 2020
Finnur Ricart
La Grande Boissière, 2020
Chairperson of the Icelandic Young Environmentalist Association, UN Youth Delegate on Climate Change
Iceland
Learn more about me :
I recently moved back to my home country Iceland after having graduated with a B.Sc. degree in Global Sustainability Science from Utrecht University in The Netherlands and after having lived 11 years abroad. I am currently the chairperson of The Icelandic Young Environmentalist Association (the largest youth environmental NGO in Iceland), a UN Youth Delegate on Climate Change, and a part-time climate communications specialist at the Icelandic Environment Agency.
My various positions and obligations keep me very busy on a day-to-day basis but the work is very diverse and enjoyable. Some weeks consist mostly of administrative work where I sit behind my laptop for hours whereas other weeks are primarily filled with engaging strategic meetings with my teams, interviews with the media, conferences, meetings with politicians, etc.
Firstly, the high quality and level of my HL Biology and Chemistry classes have been very useful after graduation. The knowledge I gained in these two subjects helped me advance faster in my university studies than I could have otherwise, and it enabled me to build up a trustworthy public profile where I could confidently communicate complex elements of environmental science to the public and politicians.
Secondly, Ecolint taught me how to manage my time properly to meet important deadlines and maximize efficiency while preserving the quality of my work.
Thirdly, the confidence and support I received from many of my teachers and other Ecolint staff showed me while I was still completing the IB that I could make a difference. Actively seeking the guidance and support of teachers and staff I looked up to and trusted was something I came to learn in my last two years at Ecolint and is a skill I am grateful to have today.
My favourite Ecolint memory is participating in the silver and gold levels of the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award program. Through this program, I got to develop diverse creative, sportive, and community-work skill sets, as well as partake in adventurous multi-day journeys with my friends in the Jura and Alps in various conditions. My love for nature, spending time outdoors, and problem-solving were all combined in this program along with quality time with friends.
If I had to do it all over again, weirdly enough, I think I would make sure to strike a better balance between the time I spent studying and the time I spent with my friends. Achieving good academic results is important, but so is spending quality time with friends and I too often compromised on the latter during my IB journey.
My words of wisdom for Ecolint students:
Everyone can make a difference and to do so, I’ve learned to keep these three important things in mind:
- Hard work and dedication pay off.
- Make use of your strengths, be aware of your weaknesses, and do what you enjoy.
- Teamwork is by far the most powerful means to make a difference.
What legacy do you want to leave? I’m not very bothered about leaving behind any particular legacy, but I would love to inspire others to take action, use their voice, and become changemakers of their own, particularly in the field of climate and environment. I seek to inspire others because I know that alone there are limits to what I can achieve and the greatest potential for positive impact lies in many people coming together to work collectively for a single cause.