From Climate Evidence to Community Action: Digital Tools, Rights and Protection for Young Climate Defenders

How can scientific evidence, accessible digital tools and the protection of fundamental rights help young people and environmental and climate defenders move from understanding climate risks to informed participation, public accountability and safer civic action?

BlueLink Foundation and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) will address this question in an international discussion at the Bulgaria Pavilion at COP31 in Antalya. BlueLink is also holding the event as a partner of the European Climate Pact, linking its work on climate rights, civic participation and digital protection with the European community for climate action.

The event continues the joint work of BlueLink and APC to strengthen defenders of nature, the climate and human rights and to develop practical means for collective digital advocacy and protection.

It also builds on the discussion launched at the international roundtable “Digital Protection for Environmental and Human Rights Defenders”, held by BlueLink in Sofia on 22 October 2026 as part of the “Time for Action: Digital Protection for Defenders” forum. Representatives of APC, Bulgarian civil society organisations and experts discussed how online attacks, public discrediting, legal and administrative pressure can restrict civic participation.

From evidence to participation

The COP31 session starts from Bulgaria and connects scientific evidence on climate change with the question of how citizens, and young people in particular, can genuinely participate in decision-making.

One of the starting points is BlueLink’s 2026 study “Children Participate in Decisions on the Environment and Climate”. It examines the participation of children and young people in environmental and climate decision-making and identifies gaps in access to understandable information, meaningful participation and institutional feedback.

The Bulgarian experience also includes the work of Climate Coalition – Bulgaria – a civic platform bringing together organisations and individuals working for climate justice and public participation.

Digital tools for understanding and action

Participants will demonstrate how complex scientific and technical information can be transformed into accessible tools that help citizens and local communities understand the consequences of different policies and participate more effectively in public decision-making.

Among the examples is the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator, developed by Climate Interactive and MIT Sloan. The interactive model makes it possible to explore how changes in energy, transport, land use, consumption and other policies affect emissions and global temperature.

The session will also present findings from “Assessment of Vulnerabilities and Impacts of Climate Change in Bulgaria: A Joint National Assessment” – a joint national assessment bringing together scientific evidence on physical climate trends, sectoral impacts and regional vulnerabilities in Bulgaria.

Experience from Catalonia will show how digital tools and visualisations can help local communities understand the environmental consequences of large artificial intelligence data centres and make use of the opportunities provided by the Aarhus Convention for access to information, participation and environmental justice. The issue is also being addressed through the European civic initiative Stop Dirty Data Centres, which raises questions about energy and water consumption, impacts on local areas and the right of communities to participate in decisions about such infrastructure.

Protection cannot be solely individual

One of the main lessons from the work of BlueLink and APC is that defenders are better able to continue their work when they are not left alone. Legal assistance, reliable evidence, support from civil society organisations, public visibility and international solidarity can reduce their vulnerability.

Protection must therefore combine legal, organisational, communication and digital means and enable not only responses after an attack, but also advance preparation, exchange of experience and timely mutual support.

This approach also underpins DiEHaRD – Digital Advocacy for Environmental Human Rights Defenders, through which BlueLink and APC are developing practical approaches to collective digital protection and advocacy.

Europe and the Global South in a shared conversation

Through APC, the discussion connects Bulgarian and European experience with practices from Nigeria and the Philippines, where the links between climate justice, digital inclusion, community knowledge and unequal access to information and infrastructure are particularly visible.

In Nigeria, the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI) develops approaches combining technology, citizen-generated data, environmental accountability and work with local communities. These include the Strengthening Data for Climate Action in Nigeria initiative, which expands a network for collecting air-quality data and supports civil society organisations, journalists and local actors in using data for climate advocacy.

From the Philippines, the experience of the Manila Observatory highlights the interaction between scientific knowledge, climate policy, adaptation and community action. The organisation and its experts also contribute to the international discussion on locally led adaptation – climate solutions developed with the active participation of the affected communities themselves.

Rather than presenting separate national examples, the session follows a common pathway:

scientific evidence → accessible digital tools → informed communities → meaningful participation → accountability and protection of defenders.

The exchange works in both directions: European legal and scientific approaches can support community action elsewhere in the world, while community knowledge and digital-rights practices from the Global South can contribute to more democratic and equitable climate policies in Europe.

Participants and topics

• Pavel Antonov, PhD, Executive Director of BlueLink Foundation – children’s and human rights, participation in environmental decision-making and the protection of defenders. His contribution builds on the study “Children Participate in Decisions on the Environment and Climate” and on the work on digital protection presented at the international roundtable on 22 October.
• Polina Dikova, Co-founder and Chair of Regenerati, European Climate Pact Ambassador and En-ROADS Climate Ambassador – will demonstrate the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator and the effects of different policy choices on emissions and the climate.
• Assoc. Prof. Mariya Trifonova, PhD, Associate Professor in Energy Economics and Director of Net-Zero Lab at the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” – will present findings from the joint national assessment of climate change vulnerabilities and impacts in Bulgaria.
• Prof. Leandro Navarro, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), co-founder of Pangea and Chair of the APC Board – will explore digital tools and visualisations for understanding the environmental impacts of large data centres and opportunities for civic participation, including in the context of Stop Dirty Data Centres.
• Okoro Onyekachi Emmanuel, Executive Coordinator of the Media Awareness and Justice Initiative (MAJI), Nigeria – will present work at the intersection of technology, environmental accountability and digital inclusion, including the use of citizen-generated data for climate action and public accountability.
• Yla Gloria Marie Paras, climate policy expert at the Manila Observatory – will present experience from the Philippines on how local communities are responding to the climate crisis and how scientific knowledge, institutions and locally led adaptation can be linked more effectively.

Practical information

Date: 14 November 2026
Time: 14:00–16:00
Venue: Bulgaria Pavilion, Blue Zone, COP31, Antalya, Türkiye, with the support of the Ministry of Environment and Water of the Republic of Bulgaria

Organisers and partnerships

The event is organised by BlueLink Foundation and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). BlueLink has been APC’s Bulgarian member since 2000 and is a partner of the European Climate Pact. 

The event builds on the work of DiEHaRD – Digital Advocacy for Environmental Human Rights Defenders, which connects environmental and human rights with digital security, solidarity and collective mechanisms for the protection of civic defenders.

About BlueLink.net: BlueLink.net is a civic thinking and action network that supports the strategic use of digital communications by citizens and their organisations to protect the environment, strengthen democracy and uphold European values.

This publication has been prepared within the framework of the BeLIFE project, co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme. All publications related to the project are available here.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor CINEA can be held responsible for them.

The publication is also co-funded through the DiEHaRD – Digital Advocacy for Environmental Human Rights Defenders project, implemented by BlueLink Foundation with the support of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC). The project strengthens the community of environmental and climate defenders in Bulgaria and develops practical tools for collective digital advocacy, access to information and the protection of environmental rights.

BlueLink is a partner of the European Climate Pact in Bulgaria.

An event of Climate Coalition – Bulgaria.

Support BlueLink

BlueLink.net is a civic thinking and action network that supports the strategic use of digital communications by citizens and their organisations to protect the environment, strengthen democracy and uphold European values. BlueLink Foundation is a full member of the international Association for Progressive Communications (APC) and supports and coordinates the work of Climate Coalition – Bulgaria.

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