In Collaboration with Patagonia x Duke of Edinburgh

Our Stories

VICE NEWS Patagonia X Duke of Edinburgh 

“Young People should prove they CAN!” Meet Filip, The man on a mission to inspire himself and the youth through the Outdoors 

Gen z and Technology

Technology and Gen Z

Two things that go together like peanut butter and Jam, Burger sauce and Chips, Pickles on any type of burger or even just Pineapple and Pizza for that matter (if you have no sanity).

There’s no denying the impact that COVID and lockdown has had on all of us as a collective, but what about Gen Z?  The generation known to be the next to lead the way in every faucet, has had their lives significantly altered arguably more than most, with things such as their childhood and normal ways of life being taken away from them, this has a left a major hole and a rather large disconnect from everything we know, and none could say better than East London resident Filip Cybulski. We sat down with Gold DOFE Graduate and current Military officer Filip, who  has had a rather interesting experience of the pandemic, but unlike most, he has found a way to conquer those challenges and turn out to become a better man via the Duke of Edinburgh and immersing himself in nature in which he claims “benefited” him massively both now and in the long term.  We sit down and have a talk with the graduate on his experiences of lockdown and how both he and we can use that to further develop ourselves and get out in nature.

Much like other children in London, Filip, 20, was born and raised in the suburbs of London to Polish parents , away from the tourists and the hustle and bustle of the city, which for him was the opportunity he had to find out what the outdoors was like and why he loved it “Being outdoors is the most important part of my life, the chance to go out and walk or run in the fresh air is incredible”.

It had also turned out to be an incredible blessing in disguise as he still reminisces over the times he had in his youth going outside and enjoying “ I enjoyed going out and playing football with the lads after school, some of the best days of my life to be honest.” Filip, much like other children in the capital, had grown and found a deep love for football and sports, and had quickly grown to love the accessibility and ease of the game, which, required no sorts of money or funding, and gave him some of the best moments of his life in which he would go onto cherish and hold onto, however this would all come crashing down as COVID and lockdown hit, and much like other youngsters, Filip’s experience was a rather strange one “My experience was weird, I felt super restricted on what I can and couldn’t do” and that he had “Felt as though I wasn’t myself most of the time”. Much like others, Filip had felt as though he had been trapped in a box, and that simplicity of going out in nature, playing football and ultimately relieving all of his issues, his only sense of calmness, had just suddenly disappeared. 

But instead of letting current events alter him and leave him in a constant change of confusion and worry about how he would be after the lockdown, he had decided to make the most of it and join the Duke of Edinburgh program. Which he had claimed “benefited” him majorly and advocates for young people to take part to this day. He describes the DOFE award as “ A great opportunity to learn basic and advanced stuff in terms of survival and your future career/studying opportunities” The Duke of Edinburgh fueled Filip to change his life and ultimately, not let the lockdown impact his future and more importantly, his opportunity to reconnect with nature as he claims that “I had gained different experiences of working with different people in a group and just being out in nature by yourself with only what you got with you.” Learning those skills and survival skills had taught him to become someone who was employable and more importantly, a person whos developed the mentality to overcome any sort of challenges or obstacles “ Young people should go out of their way so that they can prove to themselves and others that young people CAN achieve” showing that he had used the lockdown and the challenges as a source of motivation to go out and achieve the things they would want to get out of this life, and the curiosity of other young people would be looking at Filip and aiming to be somewhat similar, a person, who came from the same circumstances and situation many young people that we call Gen z have, and has made something amazing and inspirational from that, but also, like many of us wish, find and regain his love for the outdoors again.

Something such as going outdoors is something that doesn’t exactly require money, as Filip had stated where he had gotten his greatest memories of his life through running and walking through the fresh air and de stressing through the most difficult situations in his life. However with the lockdown hitting us, we as young people have been heavily affected, and living in London doesn’t help at all in terms of dealing with stress, as it feels as though everything moves so fast that we haven’t got any time to adjust to our situation, which is where Patagonia aims to re write all of that, the company understands the issues that lockdown has brought, the company knows the issues and problems its caused and the reasons why Gen z’ers feel as though they can’t go out and do the things you do.

The main idea of the campaign is just that, to rewire and to reprogram how young people approach the outdoors, and how differently we can view it, from being something for pure socialising, to something that could land you a dream job via the Duke of Edinburgh scheme, from not being able to communicate properly in situations, to having the ability to talk and conversate towards anybody, from wasting away on the TV, not knowing what other forms of entertainment you could do, to going on hikes, walks, bikes and adventures, and more importantly, like Filip has done, to create and make memories you can cherish and hold for a long time.

Patagonia aims for ambition and world change, and as much as sustainability and the fight against climate change is one of the most important fights we have as humans, so is understanding and empowering our youth so we can move forward and create the future we want, and going out there, exploring nature and ultimately feeling like a child again may be the solution to a generation that has felt nothing but sadness, loneliness and depression, whilst also proving, like Filip, to yourself and others around you that you are willing to work and get out there, do the work and create magic in your life.