Listening to the land – and to its youth
It began with a desire to listen to the land – or the territory, as we often say in the Brazilian socio-environmental world. Then, it continued with a desire to listen to the territory's youth.
And so, the Young Communicators Program of the Xingu Seed Network was born. Launched in April 2025, its purpose is as simple as it is complex: to actively engage young people connected to seed collection in the territory where the Network operates, strengthening both their identities and the organization's institutional communication.
Seven young individuals – Indigenous, from family farming backgrounds, and from urban extractivism – were selected to take part in the first phase of the program, which lasted six months.
You can see the results below!
Results
What have we done on the #1 phase?
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Two trainings in Community-Based Communication and Video, one of which was held as an exchange program with the Wayuri Network in São Gabriel da Cachoeira (Amazonas)
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A video newsletter
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Over 50 audiovisual clips for social media
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A documentary, still in the editing phase
What are we doing now?
In 2026, the same young people who took part in the first phase of the program are now joining the coverage teams for internal events of the Xingu Seed Network.
Learnings
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The youth are already ready – and super excited! – to communicate: what they need is guidance and support so they know how to channel all that creative energy.
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Community-led communication with the youth of the territories strengthens our institutional reach within the communities.
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Working with young people across such a vast and distant territory is costly and can be quite challenging.
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To achieve better results, we need more in-person moments (which also means bigger budgets) and continuous, consistent support over time: six months, truly, is just enough time to plant the seed in the ground and break its dormancy.
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The voice of the youth does not invalidate the voice of those who come from outside: in the end, both a more formal communication format and a more community-based one are needed to fulfill our institutional goals.
