On 8 September, the Amazons Project brought mentors and mentees together online for the first international meeting of the Amazons Mentorship Programme, creating space to connect across countries, exchange experiences and reflect on what it means to be a woman leading change in the environmental sector.
The meeting is part of the Mentorship Programme developed within Work Package 4, which connects emerging and experienced environmental leaders from across the project’s partner countries. The programme is designed not only to support individual development, but also to build an international community of young women working towards a more sustainable future.
The heart of the meeting was an open conversation on Women’s Leadership in International Environmentalism.
The mentees came prepared with questions that went far beyond career advice. They asked about the realities of leadership: navigating challenges as women in the environmental sector, making difficult decisions when there is no perfect solution, balancing environmental protection with the economic needs of local communities, and turning climate awareness into meaningful collective action.
One important theme was burnout.
How do you continue leading when you care deeply about a cause, while also protecting your own wellbeing? And how can women working in environmental and social movements create cultures where caring for others does not mean neglecting themselves?
The conversation also explored the role of solidarity between women. The mentees reflected on the ways women can support one another: sometimes openly, through mentorship and encouragement, and sometimes through smaller acts of recognition, trust and creating space for another woman’s voice to be heard.
These questions reflect an important part of the Amazons approach – environmental leadership is not only about knowledge or expertise. It is also about people, relationships, resilience and the ability to build communities that can sustain change.
Finding our “North Star”
After the conversation, the participants moved into international breakout groups for an activity called “My North Star.”
The groups were named after five flowers, each representing different qualities:
- 🌹 The Roses – love, courage and transformation
- 🌸 The Dahlias – strength, inner power and elegance
- 🌷 The Magnolias – dignity, perseverance and beauty
- 🌺 The Azaleas – passion, resilience and caring
- 🌻 The Sunflowers – joy, loyalty and optimism
In the breakout rooms, mentees introduced themselves, shared their personal “North Star”, and talked about what brought them to the Amazons Project. They also discussed what they hoped to learn, contribute and achieve through the programme. The purpose was not simply networking, but discovering shared motivations and building connections across borders.
And perhaps that was one of the most valuable parts of the meeting: discovering that although the participants come from different countries and backgrounds, many of their motivations are remarkably similar.
Why we built this community?
The Amazons Mentorship Programme was created around the idea that young women should not have to navigate environmental leadership alone.
The programme offers participants opportunities to develop their own goals and leadership journeys while connecting with peers and mentors from different countries. The programme also emphasises participants as active contributors and co-creators rather than simply recipients of knowledge.
The international meeting brought this idea to life.
It was a space to ask difficult questions, listen to different perspectives, share experiences and begin forming relationships that can continue beyond the screen.
The next major opportunity to strengthen these connections will be the upcoming international gathering in Kraków, where participants will meet in person and continue working together. The meeting agenda already gave participants a first glimpse of what lies ahead, with the Polish participants introducing Kraków and sharing its local context.
Amazons Project 
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