Webinar: Empowering Youth-led Innovation for Climate Action and Sustainable Development

Overview

International Youth Day is celebrated worldwide on 12 August to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community and recognize the potential of youth as partners in today’s global society. The day serves as an occasion to showcase and promote youth-led efforts and achievements and mainstream young people’s voices, actions, and initiatives, as well as their meaningful, universal, and equitable engagement.

ICBA pays special attention to youth engagement and capacity development. The center focuses a lot of efforts on empowering young people to become future scientists, entrepreneurs, and leaders through initiatives like ICBA YES. This work is designed to help young people grow into agents of change and contribute to sustainable agricultural development and innovation.

For 25 years, ICBA has provided a variety of knowledge transfer and capacity development opportunities, including fellowships and internships, and short- and mid-term training programs, to empower young people. The center has hosted 295 students and recent graduates as interns and provided fellowships to 31 post-doctoral researchers from different countries.

Objective

As the world searches for ways to tackle climate change and make agrifood systems more sustainable and resilient, it is important to combine efforts and raise awareness about collective and individual actions that are needed to ensure a sustainable future for all.

It is also important to work together and mobilize every segment of society, and especially youth. Young people make up a large share of the population in many countries. They are an immense force that can and should be harnessed for good. The good thing is that they are better connected with their peers at home and abroad than ever before by means of digital technologies, and many are more willing to serve their communities and the world.

It is necessary to tap into the huge potential of the younger generation and engage them more actively in efforts towards sustainable development. But to realize their full potential, young people need to be provided with necessary skills and opportunities.

In line with this year’s theme for International Youth Day, this webinar will discuss how young people should be engaged and empowered to drive innovation for climate action and sustainable development, especially using digital technologies. The webinar will present experiences, insights, and initiatives from different regions on approaches to fostering youth engagement.

Speakers

Speakers will include experts and young leaders from several countries, including Uzbekistan, Uganda, and the UAE.