INTI EcoRise Southeast Asia: Turning Youth Innovation into Measurable Climate Impact

About

INTI's EcoRise Southeast Asia 2025 project transforms sustainability education into measurable environmental impact across ASEAN through a scalable, high-impact, low-resource model. Delivered through a lean model, it engaged 3,500+ students from 112 high schools in 8 countries, reaching over 17,000 beneficiaries, while building climate literacy, sustainability competencies, and youth leadership.

Through structured phases: awareness, implementation, and regional showcase, participants developed 69 solution-driven projects addressing waste, energy, and ecosystem challenges. These translated into real-world interventions, including waste-to-resource innovations and community-based solutions, delivering measurable outcomes such as waste reduction, emissions awareness, and behavioural change.

Leveraging academic networks and partnerships with schools, ministries, and UN agencies, EcoRise delivered significant regional impact within five months. Designed on global best practices, it provides replicable toolkits for scalability. Completed and expanding, the initiative demonstrates how strategic collaboration and efficient resource use can deliver substantial sustainability impact. EcoRise advances SDGs 4, 13, 12, 15, and 17.

Top 3 learnings

1. We proved that low-resource strategies can deliver scalable, high-impact sustainability outcomes across regions.
2. We demonstrated that youth-led innovation drives measurable environmental impact and lasting behavioral change.
3. We established that strategic partnerships unlock rapid scalability, replication, and sustained sustainability impact.

What it means to win

Winning the International Green Gown Award would be a defining milestone for INTI, affirming our belief that universities must do more than educate. They must inspire transformation. It would recognise our commitment to embedding sustainability into learning, leadership, partnerships, and community engagement, demonstrating that education can be a powerful force for creating lasting societal impact.

EcoRise Southeast Asia embodies INTI's philosophy of Education for Impact, transforming classrooms into platforms for real-world climate solutions and students into changemakers. What began as an institutional initiative has grown into a regional movement, empowering young people, educators, schools, and communities to collaborate in addressing one of the greatest challenges of our generation.

This recognition would belong to every student who dared to lead, every educator who inspired action, every partner who believed in our vision, and every community that embraced sustainable change. It would affirm that meaningful impact is driven not by the size of investment, but by shared purpose, collaboration, and the courage to innovate.

Winning would accelerate our ambition to expand EcoRise across Asia, strengthen strategic partnerships, and inspire more institutions to adopt scalable, inclusive models of sustainability education. More importantly, it would reinforce our responsibility to continue developing future-ready graduates who lead with integrity, compassion, and purpose.

At INTI, success is measured not by the qualifications we award, but by the positive difference our graduates create in society. This award would not be the culmination of our journey it would inspire us to achieve even greater impact for future generations.

Dr. Chong Kok Wai Chief Executive Officer, INTI International University & Colleges

Judges' feedback 

Eco-Rise is an ambitious cross-border initiative engaging several universities. Its transfer of knowledge from higher education into other levels of education is particularly impressive, while its reach across eight additional countries demonstrates strong potential for replication. The mentorship model effectively connects immediate outcomes with longer-term impact. The applicants should be commended for this thoughtful approach, and the judges would welcome further insight into how the initiative will develop. Future reporting could be strengthened through clearer evidence of impact.

Sustainable Development Goals