Stone Soup Leadership Institute

Standing Alone, Together

In pursuit of a broader collaborative effort to raise awareness about the global impacts of climate change, Arshak Makichyan, 24, has had to learn how to go it alone. In Russia, where he grew up, protests of more than one person are considered an illegal gathering, unless approved by the state. Undeterred, Arshak, a music student in Moscow, began to protest every week in Pushkin Square. His solo protest soon turned into a much larger movement, and his activism has inspired other young people in cities and towns across Russia to join him. Other climate activists, like Greta Thunberg, have taken note of his message and supported Arshak in his quest to get the world’s fourth-biggest carbon emitter to do more to protect the climate.