Melati Wijsen began her journey as an environmental activist and changemaker at just 12 years old. Fed up with the plastic waste polluting her island home in Bali, Indonesia, she and her sister Isabel founded Bye Bye Plastic Bags, growing it into an influential youth movement to curb plastic pollution and successfully campaigning for a ban on single use plastic bags in Bali.

From those early days, to taking her movement to the world stage, Melati’s journey shows that no one is too young or too small to create meaningful change. Launching her new book, Change Starts Now at The Conduit, Melati will lead a panel of young and influential climate activists, with Clover Hogan, Mauricio Porras, and Kalpana Arias, to offer practical lessons, inspiring personal anecdotes, and tools to build effective movements in the fight for environmental justice and social equity.

Speakers:

Melati Wijsen is a 24 year old full time changemaker, published author and founder of YOUTHTOPIA. Her changemaking journey started at the age of 12 when she started her first organization called Bye Bye Plastic Bags. Since then, Melati has spoken on world stages such as TED and the UN, she co-chaired the World Economic Forum GPAP committee, sat on the inaugural Expert Advisory Panel for the Earthshot Prize, and has had her film, Bigger Than Us, premiere at the 74th Cannes Film Festival 2021. In 2023, she opened the stage for President Barack Obama at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam. Today, Melati focuses on youth empowerment through short, meaningful peer to peer programs and providing them the tools they need to be changemakers. Her vision is to make YOUTHTOPIA the go to platform for young changemakers. Her first book; Change Starts Now, has been published by Harper Collins Holland in January 2025 and shares 100 lessons on what she has learned in her 10+ years on the frontline of change.

Clover Hogan is a climate activist and the Founder of Force of Nature – the youth non-profit turning climate anxiety into action. She has worked alongside the world’s leading authorities on sustainability, consulted within the boardrooms of Fortune 50 companies, and counselled heads of state. Clover has taken the stage with global change-makers such as Jane Goodall and Vandana Shiva, and interviewed the 14th Dalai Lama. Her TED talk, ‘What to do when climate change feels unstoppable’, has been viewed 2 million times. At 22 she was recognised on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and has featured in outlets including The Guardian, the BBC, the New York Times, the FT, and Vogue.

Mauricio Porras is the Co-Founder and Chief Mobilization Officer of HERO. Mauricio Is a Climate leader and entrepreneur uniting people at the intersection of purpose, technology, and collective action. He is aTEDx speaker and podcast host with over a decade of experience as a social entrepreneur, creative communicator, movement builder, political strategist and innovator.

Kalpana Arias is a technologist, urban greening activist, gardener and the founder of Nowadays On Earth, a social enterprise advocating for contact with nature. Alongside Nowadays On Earth, Kalpana campaigns for urban nature and nature rights through urban rewilding projects and tech policy reforms.

Dominique Palmer is an award winning Youth Climate Justice Advocate , Global Speaker, Writer, Artist, and a graduate of Political Science student and International Relations in the U.K. She works on uniting people for climate action, speaking to world leaders, intersectional climate justice, making environmental spaces inclusive, and using creative means and the arts to create a cultural shift for our protecting our earth. She is also an advocate of sustainable fashion and has modelled for earth focused campaigns.