BTS Africa and CDKN Ghana explore Microsoft partnership for climate literacy and youth engagement
Beyond the Science Africa (BTS Africa) and the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN Ghana) are exploring opportunities to strengthen climate literacy, youth engagement and community-led environmental solutions through potential collaboration with Microsoft.
The discussions followed an engagement with Microsoft employees under the company's Africa Giving Campaign, which provided a platform for the climate-focused organisations to explore how Microsoft's technical expertise, digital tools and employee volunteerism could support their work.
The engagement focused on a key challenge in climate action: translating scientific knowledge into practical solutions that young people and local communities can apply to environmental problems.
Presenting an overview of BTS Africa's work, Country Engagement Lead Dr Prince Ansah said the organisation seeks to make scientific evidence accessible and useful to communities.
He highlighted the importance of combining financial resources with technical expertise, digital skills, mentorship, access to technology and professional networks to help young people develop practical responses to environmental challenges.
Thousands reached through climate initiatives
Figures presented during the session showed that more than 920 young people had received entrepreneurship training, while over 750 young scientists, researchers and creatives had participated in communicating scientific evidence through creative approaches.
The initiatives have also engaged more than 1,610 women and girls who have taken up community leadership roles and championed locally led adaptation initiatives.
More than 6,100 young people have been trained as climate champions and activists, while 380 students have participated as community storytellers and citizen scientists, using their experiences and observations to communicate environmental and climate-related issues.
The organisations said these initiatives were designed to take climate education beyond academic settings and create opportunities for people to apply their knowledge in their communities.
Young climate advocates share experiences
The session also highlighted the experiences of individuals whose involvement in climate initiatives has helped them develop as educators, mentors and environmental advocates.
Mary Atta, whose experience with CDKN Ghana and BTS Africa was shared during the engagement, has contributed to climate education and community advocacy through the Climate for Kids Initiative.
Her work has included helping communities understand climate issues and respond to challenges affecting their daily lives, including access to water.
Another example is Ebenezer John Arhin, popularly known as EJ, whose interest in environmental advocacy developed while he was studying Political Science.
He now coordinates Loud and Green, a youth-focused environmental learning and engagement platform that seeks to encourage greater awareness of and participation in environmental issues.
Their experiences illustrate how climate education, mentorship and opportunities for participation can help young people turn their interests into community-level action.
Microsoft employees explore technical support
Beyond fundraising, the engagement created an opportunity for the organisations to discuss how Microsoft employees could contribute their professional expertise and technical skills to strengthen climate-focused initiatives.
Potential areas of support include training in Microsoft 365, SharePoint and Copilot, alongside capacity-building in data analysis, report writing, document management and data visualisation.
The organisations also identified opportunities to learn from Microsoft's experience in branding, communications and impact storytelling, as well as to receive expert feedback on branding and income-generation guidelines.
The engagement formed part of Microsoft's Africa Giving Campaign, which, according to the session's organisers, aims to support five nonprofit organisations across four countries and has a fundraising target of $30,000.
The campaign combines employee participation, fundraising and engagement with supported organisations.
As part of the session, Microsoft employees participated in a climate literacy trivia activity covering climate change, greenhouse gases, the greenhouse effect, fossil fuels and the potential impacts of climate change.
The activity was intended to reinforce climate knowledge while encouraging employee participation in the campaign.
BTS Africa and CDKN Ghana expressed interest in sustaining their engagement with Microsoft, including exploring ways to extend technical support and capacity-building opportunities to other nonprofit organisations across Africa.
The discussions reflect growing interest in partnerships that combine climate expertise with technology and professional skills to help communities better understand environmental challenges and develop locally relevant responses.
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