Review of education day #COP30, Belém,Brazil
Wednesday 12th Nov was education day at COP30 and at SOS International, we had a busy schedule of events and activities, connecting with partners, members and delivering our panel event ‘youth conversations on climate education’ in the children and youth pavilion.
We broght together four inspirational student leaders from across our network and representing four different global regions. Our panel, moderated by membership and engagement manager Darren Axe, discussed green skills alignment and variation across the different geographical regions represented by the panel.
The Panellists, Arabiatou Jallow, representing Green-UpGambia and the Africa region, Kristina Mincheva, representing UNPRME and the North America / Europe regions, EliškaGooch, representing SOS UK, the UK Department for Education andEurope region and Tel Guajajara, representing OCLAE, SOS International and the Latin America region , also described their experience of engaging with strategic decision-making space and advocating for sustainability, climate and social justice in the higher education system. The panel concluded with tips and advice from our youth leaders on how other young people can make their voice heard locally, regionally or globally.
Key takeaways:
- Green skills require a focus on interdisciplinary topics and exploring issues through a systems- and critical-thinking lens.
- Build cultures and structures for holistic integration of youth into the decision-making process of institutions.
- Empower young people with autonomy and creativity but ensure an environment where mutual and mindful listening is a defining feature of conversation.
- Look out for youth ‘tokenism’ and persist with an engaging narrative to build trust with stakeholders for the long-term dialogue.
- Connect global goals to local issues, look out for the ‘handmade’ aspects of local culture, dialogue and environments and ensure these values can be preserved in the future vision.
