Youth Leadership

“The young do not know enough to be prudent, and therefore they attempt the impossible, and achieve it,

generation after generation.”

Pearl S. Buck

Youth • According to UN young people, youth, are between 15-24 years

of age

• However in some regions (such as Africa and Pacific) youth includes people into the early thirties

• Moreover, the youth cannot be considered as a homogeneous group; the term youth includes social groups with different and unique needs • for example, young women and men with disabilities, youth

living with HIV/AIDS, indigenous youth, demobilized young soldiers, young migrant workers, other socially disadvantaged young people…

• The need to expand opportunities for youth participation has become even more urgent because today’s generation of young people is the largest in history; • nearly half of the population or three billion people are under the

age of 25, with most youth nearly 1,3 billion living in developing countries (UN 2005) where the demand for natural resources, including water far exceeds the supply

• As the world becomes more urbanized, more people, including younger people are expected to be living in urban areas in the coming years where their exposure to nature may become limited

• Education enables youth to become pragmatic leaders and stewards with appreciation and deep knowledge of their environment

• As stated earlier during the course, changes are needed in our individual and social behavior, and in our use and management of the environment

Youth …• …have an outstanding opportunity to bring these transformative

changes into being different societies around the world

• …are at the forefront promoting sustainable development values such as human rights and social justice

• …are best positioned to offer a new way of thinking and a fresh conceptualization– whether it is their commitment to greening of our colleges and universities,

participation in political mobilization for change, or different action involving peer education, young people are already at the forefront of change

• In large numbers never seen before, youth are organizing and mobilizing themselves into actions

• Most are doing this out of personal motivation since they are not being drafted or conscripted into institutions and structures that force them to be actors in any kind of social change

History of youth participation in international arena

• With the adaptation in 1965 of the Declaration on the Promotion among Youth of the Ideals of Peace, Mutual Respect and Understanding between Peoples the UN began the process to internationally legitimize and mainstream youth participation in global civic and political affairs

• Henceforth, youth participation has become a well-entrenched tradition in most global institutions and in many local and national processes

• Participation of young people is now recognized as a fundamental element of environmental governance for sustainable development, and education is considered to play a critical role in this process

• At the 1992 Rio Summit, Agenda 21 was adopted by representatives of 178 governments as a global blueprint for sustainable development, and the participation of young people at the summit is well documented

• Agenda 21 recognized youth as one of the nine major stakeholders in sustainable development (in Chapter 25)

• Education was seen as a means through which these stakeholder could be empowered to effectively promote sustainable development (Chapter 36)

• In addition to these, pivotal milestones on youth issues and policy include: – the International Youth Year 1985 (theme: “Participation, Development and Peace“)– World program of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond

• a blueprint for national action and international support to foster conditions and mechanisms to promote improved wellbeing and livelihood among young people

• These milestones have significantly shaped youth participation policies at national and global levels

• Many countries have ministries and departments that deal with youth affairs, as well as policies specifically focused on youth

• Also many businesses understand that youth are central to their corporate strategies

→ Growing appreciation of the value of young people bring to society across the board

• Currently there are tens of thousands of initiatives aimed at fostering the participation of young people in local, national and international affairs, many of these by youth-serving organizations and networks that have the potential to reach hundreds of millions of youth through informal and non-formal education programs

– International Youth Foundation, the World Youth Assembly, the Scout Movement, AIESEC, Youth Action for Change…

New opportunities to make a difference• Present young people have a unique greater opportunity to influence

the world like never before

• Modern tools and communications technologies are facilitating sprawling global communities and networks, mostly internet based, spurring collaboration and learning around important issues prominent on the world stage but inspired by local pragmatism

• These recent advances in technology (internet, cellular phone technology and expansion of the global media) has expanded educational opportunities and these advances have significantly contributed to networking, collaboration, and shared learning among young people in different parts of the world

– Youth have access to a range of circles and opportunities through youth networks, mentorship networks, partnership network and networks of influence

• Networking power of ICTs has opened up new potential for people to create sustained movements for social change and educate and promote sustainable development

• The internet has empowered youth in an unprecedented way, enabling them to access information and mobilize across political and cultural boundaries

• When properly constructed and nurtured, the online services that facilitate these networks can lead to shared envisioning and the co-creation of ideas and action plans:

– Young people learn from each other about environmental issues, about technology and most notably building their own capacity to turn new knowledge skills and networks into tangible action

Sustainable world without participation is unthinkable

• Deep sustainability requires deep participation, while a shallow democracy will lead to shallow sustainability– Shallow = superficial, obligatory, detached, false, cosmetic – Deep = real, intrinsic, involved, genuine, meaningful

• There is still lot to do to fully incorporate youth and coming generations into a world in transition towards sustainability – How do we truly include young people as participants in addressing

contemporary and future global challenges? – Any group in a society that is not given the option and opportunity to participate

in generating solutions remains a part of the problem

• Participation is a key element of any change or development process. Inclusion gives people and important sense of self and a connection to the world they live in

• inclusive participation is a core human value (incl. Earth Charter, principle 13)

– Happiest families, most successful corporations and organizations, healthiest communities and nations -> all give their people possibility to truly participate, be involved.

• Educating the youth about the environment and giving them opportunities to discuss and act on environmental issues and development options maybe one of the most effective ways of ensuring sustainable growth

• While youth can learn much from adult, they tend to absorb information more enthusiastically from their peers– Indeed, dynamic and creative learning opportunities designed and led by youth

tend to be more effective

Partnership• In best case, youth and adults engage in a dialogue and jointly

determine where to go next and for what purpose • This means that adults don’t drive the process, either covertly or overtly, but co-

create the process with young people as valuable contributors to the creation of a more sustainable world, having their own ideas, perspective and experiences

• As tomorrow’s leaders and decision-makers, youth will be ones that will be living and dealing with the impacts of choices made by previous generations and who have to chart the course for more sustainable way of living. In this systems thinking will help!

• Because youth tend to be early adopters of new technologies, they are increasingly in positions of authority offering support, exercise, educations, and training to older generations

“Our common future depends on our actions today, not tomorrow or sometime in the future”

UNEP 2007

“We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves;

otherwise, we harden.”

Goethe