ABU DHABI, 26th September, 2025 (WAM) -- Youth 4 Sustainability (Y4S), Masdar’s global initiative to empower the next generation of sustainability leaders, has launched Beyond Borders, an international programme that takes sustainability learning beyond the classroom to deliver real-world impact.

The inaugural edition brought 10 young changemakers together in Malaysia for five days of workshops, field engagement, and digital storytelling.

The programme enabled the participants, all Y4S Future Sustainability Leaders, to gain practical experience while fostering cross-cultural understanding and leadership development. They tackled real-world energy challenges and produced narrative-based case studies connecting people, policy, and technology.

“Beyond Borders Malaysia has set a new benchmark for Y4S in delivering impact at scale. This achievement underscores Y4S’s role as a platform that prepares youth to shape policy, drive innovation and lead the energy transformation globally,”

said Zainab Al Ali, Director of Outreach and Stakeholder Relations in Masdar.

The youth, from the UAE, Malaysia, Germany, Egypt, Algeria, Yemen, and India, engaged with Malaysia’s leading energy stakeholders to gain a comprehensive view of the country’s energy transformation.

They visited Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Malaysia’s leading utility company, to gain insights into Malaysia’s national power infrastructure and the strategies driving the shift to renewables.

At Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia's premier energy university, participants took part in interactive workshops on inclusive energy systems. Through design challenges, case studies, and innovation labs, they explored solutions that connect local realities with global sustainability goals.

The programme concluded with a youth showcase, where the young changemakers presented group outcomes and proposed local energy solutions. This allowed the Future Sustainability Leaders to demonstrate practical ideas, and reinforced the role of youth as drivers of long-term positive change in the energy transformation.

“Experiencing Malaysia’s energy landscape firsthand through site visits, community engagement, and storytelling has further strengthened my passion for sustainability. Beyond Borders Malaysia demonstrates how experiential learning and cross-cultural collaboration can empower youth to become catalysts for the global energy transformation,”

said Narmeen Almarzooqi, Future Sustainability Leader and programme participant.

The impact of Beyond Borders Malaysia extends beyond the five-day programme. Participants will apply their learning to projects in their home countries, leverage new networks and advance innovation.

For Y4S, the programme deepens partnerships with academic and industry stakeholders in Southeast Asia and provides a scalable model for future editions in other regions.

Y4S participants included Matar AlSuwaidi, Shaqra Al Tamimi, Narmeen Almarzooqi, Ahmed Almheiri, Saleh AlShamsi, Doaa AlAlimi, Arvid Leonard Ehlert, Habibalrahman Hassan, Maria Benkhalifa and Navya Garg, an interdisciplinary cohort blending technical rigor, policy insight and powerful storytelling to advance a just, regionally relevant energy transformation.