Candidate info
Particular qualifications:
From my very first job in Kyiv, Ukraine at a company working on Joint Implementation projects under the Kyoto Protocol to active participation in youth nature conservation organisations and roles (see below), to youth engagement in climate policy development and advocacy in UNFCCC processes, to establishing of an NGO in Lithuania dedicated to promotion of narratives for sustainability, to academic work with background in green economy and current PhD studies in Environmental Finance I have consistently committed to nature conservation in my areas of professional expertise. I speak 6 languages: among which Ukrainian, Lithuanian, and Russian are languages spoken in the region, while English & Spanish are official IUCN languages. I have taught as a visiting lecturer in over a dozen of countries across Europe and Asia which along with my connectedness to international youth networks gives a broad overview on not only cultural and socioeconomic context, but also policy and conservation realities in the region. I served as a the Steering Committee Co-Chair (2019-2022) and Advisory Board member at CoalitionWILD (2022-present) as well as Board Member at the Federation for European Storytelling (2021-2022). I was a member of Stockholm+50 YouthTask Force (2022), UN MGCY Sustainable Consumption and Production Youth Platform Coordination Team Regional Facilitator for Europe (2022-2023) and RCOY Eastern Europe co-organizer (2023) under YOUNGO, UNFCCC etc.
Experience in fields of concern to IUCN:
I joined IUCN Commission on Education and Communication as a young professional in 2018 and since then actively engaged in contributing to its priorities as a member. From 2022 I serve as one of the CEC Regional Vice Chairs facilitating Commission member engagement in the work on CEC strategic priorities. With professional expertise of 10 years in academia I am also a member of IUCN Task Force on Nature-based Education. In 2024 I was appointed as a Chair to the newly established IUCN Youth Advisory Committee aimed to support the implementation of the IUCN Youth Strategy. This role entails partnerships engagement, youth mainstreaming within the Union (incl. motions, resolutions and general advisory to the Secretariat), youth engagement support in Regional Conservation Fora and World Conservation Congress etc. Both roles allowed me to build in-depth understanding of the Union’s work globally as well as needs, challenges and priorities of various stakeholders in nature conservation.