YRE – Young Reporters for the Environment

Young Reporters for the Environment is a youth-led social and environmental journalism initiative.

Aimed at young people from 11-25 years, YRE is an international programme that provides a platform to tell and share social and environmental stories in a professional way.

The programme creates a productive space for our South African youth to reimagine and craft a social and environmentally just future, which is key to sustainability.

Through the YRE framework, youth reporters are guided to investigate and identify local problems, and conduct research and interviews with communities and stakeholders to find solutions. And then, to report their findings by writing an article, exhibiting photographs or sharing short videos.

National YRE competition

Each year, the youth reporters are invited to enter the national YRE competition. The competition encourages youth to investigate a local or national environmental issue and report their findings through a written article, video clip or captioned photo. These journalistic pieces are entered in the national YRE competition and shared on various media platforms (radio, newspaper, film shows and exhibitions). Each year, the winning piece from the national competition represents South Africa in the international YRE competition.