Half of the people on our planet today are aged 30 or younger. By the end of 2030, this age group is expected to make up 57 per cent of the global population. Much has been said about why young people have a pivotal role not only as partners and participants in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, but also as beneficiaries of actions and policies under the Agenda. 

The reality is that multiple crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine and the climate emergency have put us further away from reaching the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and, in some cases, turned back years of progress. 

Against this backdrop, the voices and energy of youth on how to get back on track were especially welcome during the 6th SDGs Youth Summer Camp held in Incheon, Republic of Korea on 16-19 August 2022.

“In recent years, many young people are starting to engage in advocating for a sustainable future – just like you – seeking to make a difference in the world,” said Chun Kyoo Park, Head of UN Office for Sustainable Development as he opened the event. He encouraged participants to be the next leading voices for sustainable development like youth activists Greta Thunberg and Malala Yousafzai.

SDGs Youth Summer Camp

The Camp, which took place in-person at the Yonsei University International Campus, is one of the flagship activities of the United Nations Office for Sustainable Development (UNOSD), a project office of the Division for Sustainable Development Goals (DSDG) of UN DESA. This year’s Camp took place in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment of Korea, the Korea Environment Corporation and Yonsei University.  Since the first Summer Camp in 2017, nearly 240 young people have been trained.

This year, the camp fostered youth leadership skills through the design-thinking methodology delivered by Yonsei University professors from Design Thinking Factory Korea. 40 youth participants from 23 countries were divided into nine groups, tasked with finding  solutions to challenges related to the implementation of the thematic Goals on SDG4 (Quality education), SDG15 (Life on land), SDG17 (Partnerships for the Goals) and its interlinkages with other SDGs. 

Finding solutions

“The lectures and group work provided us with the knowledge and insights into sustainable development and inspired our group on how we should apply them in real life,”  said Christopher Barrientos from Honduras. His group’s presentation on using Augmented Reality (AR) and gamification strategy to encourage young students to get involved and have ownership of the ecosystem, won the Camp’s Design Innovation Award. 

“We, the young people can play an active role in the implementation of SDGs as we can propose creative solutions to SDGs implementation,” said Andrianony Ny Aina Ianjatina, from Madagascar, whose group designed an interactive card game for children of Madagascar to learn their native language of Malagasy. The proposal won the SDGs Impact Award, presented for its potential impacts in accelerating SDGs implementation. 

Making a difference

In Our Common Agenda, the UN Secretary-General highlighted that “it is time to find ways to give more weight to young people’s collective interests and make our systems work to safeguard their futures”. 

“What I liked about the Summer Camp is that we are so diverse from all over the globe, studying all different fields. We brought our differences to this solution-based approach to tackle challenging issues related to sustainability,” reflected Sohyun Kim, from the Republic of Korea, as she hugged each group member goodbye on the last day.

The United Nations has been strengthening its work for and with young people worldwide. Following this thread, UNOSD will strive to engage, support, and empower young people to put their ideas into action. 

Learn more about the SDGs Youth Summer Camp and upcoming capacity building activities of UNOSD here.