Erfan Firouzi has been selected as one of 180 Etherea Ambassadors worldwide, joining a global cohort of youth leaders working to co-create an ambitious platform and educational curricula designed to empower young people to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges. The Etherea Ambassador program brings together award-winning youth activists, leading academics, policy experts, and global decision-makers to foster interdisciplinary collaboration across issues including animal welfare, climate change, biodiversity conservation, and environmental justice.
As part of this global initiative, Erfan is contributing his expertise as a conservationist, naturalist, and environmental storyteller, working alongside an international community of changemakers to design learning experiences that combine scientific understanding, ethical reflection, and community-driven action. The program places strong emphasis on youth leadership, systems thinking, and practical tools that enable participants to move from awareness to impact.
Biodiversity Conservation Series: A Collaborative Leadership Role
Within the Etherea Activist Workshop Series, Erfan serves as Co-Host of the Biodiversity Conservation Series alongside fellow environmental advocate Luca Berardi. Together, they lead a sequence of immersive, discussion-based sessions exploring the foundations of life on Earth, the drivers of biodiversity loss, and pathways toward coexistence between humans and the natural world.
The Biodiversity Conservation Series is designed to be both intellectually rigorous and deeply reflective, combining ecological science with ethical inquiry and personal engagement. Through presentations, facilitated discussions, interactive exercises, and collaborative activities, the series invites participants from across the globe to rethink humanity’s relationship with nature and their role in shaping a more sustainable future.
Key themes explored in the series include:
From Oceans to Land: Foundations of Life and Vectors of Extinction
This session traces the evolutionary journey of life from marine environments to terrestrial ecosystems, highlighting the interconnectedness of Earth’s systems. Erfan and Luca examine how these ecosystems function, why they are essential to planetary health, and how human activity has accelerated extinction across land and sea. Participants are encouraged to view biodiversity not as isolated species, but as living networks upon which all life depends.
Wildlife Suffering and Human Conflict
Focusing on the often-overlooked dimension of wildlife suffering, this session explores how human expansion, conflict, bias, and exploitation contribute to species decline and ecosystem collapse. Erfan brings attention to the ethical dimensions of conservation, emphasizing empathy, responsibility, and the need for informed decision-making that considers both human and non-human lives.
Human Coexistence: Rewilding Our Minds
This session challenges dominant narratives of separation between humans and nature. Through ecological insight and reflective dialogue, Erfan and Luca guide participants to reimagine coexistence as a cultural, psychological, and ecological process. The discussion emphasizes that rewilding is not only about restoring landscapes, but also about reshaping values, behaviors, and systems to allow life to thrive.
The Rewilding Guide: From Reflection to Action
A central outcome of this collaboration is the Rewilding Guide, co-created by Erfan and Luca as a practical and philosophical resource for participants. The guide is designed to help individuals and communities translate ideas of coexistence into tangible action. It encourages readers to reconnect with local ecosystems, reflect on personal habits and assumptions, and identify ways to support biodiversity through everyday choices, advocacy, and community engagement.
The Rewilding Guide blends ecological knowledge with reflective prompts and actionable steps, reinforcing the idea that environmental change begins both externally—in ecosystems—and internally, in how people perceive and relate to the natural world. It serves as a lasting resource beyond the workshop series, supporting ongoing learning and impact.
A Global Platform for Youth-Led Change
Through his role as an Etherea Ambassador and co-host of the Biodiversity Conservation Series, Erfan contributes to a broader global effort to equip young people with the tools, confidence, and understanding needed to confront complex global challenges. The Etherea initiative stands out for its interdisciplinary scope, bringing together environmental conservation, ethics, social justice, and systems thinking within a youth-driven framework.
Erfan’s involvement reflects his continued commitment to bridging science, storytelling, and advocacy, and to creating educational spaces where hope is grounded in knowledge, empathy, and collective action. By working with global peers like Luca Berardi and engaging youth from diverse cultural and academic backgrounds, he continues to advance conversations that move beyond awareness toward meaningful, lasting change.
View all of the Online Workshops
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLEiNcFp4nSwbC3etL4_Bn7fCkZoArVKzx&si=g4iMqGjQ4bJGPCYC