YOU TH STATEMEN T

This Youth Statement was adopted at the UNESCO ESD Youth Conference held inOkayama, Japan, on 7 November 2014, to provide a vision, commitment, andrecommendations from youth for advancing ESD beyond 2014 in line with theGlobal Action Programme on ESD. It represents the voices of 50 ESD youth
leaders in the conference, who in turn represent thousands of young people
around the globe, and also includes contributions from over a hundred youth
who participated in pre-conference online discussions.

V ision for a Sustainable Future
We invite you to take a moment as you read this statement to hold in your heart your loved ones:
your children, their children and those that will follow. Imagine – as we have – how the decisions that
we make today will impact each and every one of them. Reflect – as we have – on the importanceand value of this youth statement to their lives, as well as to ours.
Our statement captures the voices and visions of thousands of youth from around the world who arestrongly represented and have widely contributed to this global call – from the experiences of anenvironmental educator in Madagascar, to the creative approaches of a biomimic in Bahrain; fromempowering indigenous youth in Thailand to innovating with gaming platforms in Moldova. Ourjourneys are different, yet our destination is the same. We come from different backgrounds – a richdiversity of race, colour, religion and belief – yet our vision is one. Our voices are united.
Together, we stand for a sustainable, resilient and equitable society in which every person in every
corner of the world has the opportunity to thrive. We strongly believe that Education for Sustainable
Development (ESD) is fundamental to achieving this vision. ESD provides the empowering mechanism
through which we can transform the critical sustainability challenges that we face into opportunities.
It must be the essence of education. Without ESD we cannot move forward.
Young people play a vital role in advancing the ESD agenda. The implications of our collective
decisions and actions will shape our reality and our future. We are committed to lead, yet we cannot
do this alone, and neither can you. Together, we must empower and mobilize youth around theglobe! This document presents our strategic recommendations to achieve this, building on theUNESCO Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development.
We urgently call for a multi-stakeholder commitment to and collaboration on theserecommendations. We acknowledge and celebrate the existing efforts of the frontrunners who haveled us this far. For many of us, the journey has already begun. For those just starting, we invite you tocome with us.

Recommendations
1. POLICY ADVANCEMENTa) Ensure the active involvement of youth in policy planning, implementation and evaluation.
Youth should be recognized as a key stakeholder at all levels, domains and stages of educational
governance. Through this, youth will be able to shape policies to strengthen ESD.
b) Ensure that policies drive ESD with the urgency it requires and in a holistic, just and gender
responsive way. Policies should address the multiple dimensions of sustainable development anddrive immediate action to realize sustainable development in the here and now.
c) All relevant stakeholders should allocate resources to empower youth as change agents for ESD.
Governments, civil society organizations, youth councils, communities and businesses shouldallocate financial, technical and human resources to enable the implementation of ESD policies
and the recommendations of this declaration.

UNESCO ESD YOUTH CONFERENCE – Youth Statement

12. WHOLE-INSTITUTION APPROACHESa) Educational institutions and governments should provide the institutional support, resources
and legitimacy for youth-led change processes towards sustainability. This requires a
combination of bottom-up initiatives and top-down steering. Mechanisms should include
dedicated funding, institutional integration, working space, mandates, recognition, and training
for youth-led sustainability initiatives.
b) Enhance collective action among sustainability initiatives. Educational institutions should
support the joint efforts of pupils, students, staff and the local community. This requires thedevelopment of common visions and identities, places of encounter, projects and programmes
which are shared among all stakeholders.
c) Recognize youth as equal partners to accelerate the operational transformation of educational
institutions towards sustainability. Educational institutions should practice what they teach, bygenerating positive environmental impacts. In collaboration with staff, youth should becomechange agents and decision-makers in environmental management, including issues of energy,
food, water, waste, buildings and biodiversity on campus.
3. EDUCATORS AND TRAINERSa) Recognize that all citizens have the potential and responsibility to act as facilitators for ESD. To
educate billions of people on sustainability challenges and opportunities, the mobilization ofeducators and trainers needs to reach beyond those in traditional educational institutions. Youth,
professionals, practitioners and citizens across all levels and sectors need to be mobilized as ESD
educators and trainers.
b) Build capacities of youth as trainers and peer-to-peer educators for ESD. Youth should be
empowered to educate a critical mass of peers, parents, friends and communities on ESD. Thisrequires special support and attention from professional trainers and educational institutions.
c) Enhance the capacity of existing educators and trainers to empower youth to engage on ESD
issues. Teachers, educators and trainers need to learn about the new methods, technologies andapproaches of ESD-based education. This requires supportive mechanisms such as online
trainings and forums, toolkits, funds, peer-to-peer learning and support networks.
4. INNOVATIVE LEARNING FOR YOUTHa) Educational institutions and governments should encourage and support youth and educators
to experiment with innovative learning approaches. ESD is different from traditional education. It
thus requires experimentation with alternative technologies as well as creative and experiential
methods to break through conventional mindsets and find the best ways to educate youth.
b) Monitor and evaluate these learning approaches to determine their effectiveness andefficiency in promoting ESD. Educational institutions, governments and educators need todevelop indicators, frameworks and processes to evaluate the diversity of experiments with ESD
in order to identify what works in different institutional and geographic settings.
c) Scale the impact of successful learning approaches to different geographic and institutionalcontexts. Successful learning approaches need to be de-contextualised and codified, in order tobe then replicated across geographic locations, increased in scale and integrated into mainstream

UNESCO ESD YOUTH CONFERENCE – Youth Statement2policies. Dedicated funding, recognition, high-level backing and leadership are key to realizing all
three of the above recommendations.
5. LOCAL COMMUNITIESa) Respect the voices of youth in community-driven ESD initiatives. International agencies,governments and civil society organizations should respect the voices of youth when
implementing ESD initiatives in communities. This requires that youth are involved in theidentification, design and implementation of ESD-related community problems and solutions.
b) Support youth-led ESD initiatives in local communities. ESD forms a strong foundation for theeconomic growth of local communities and the protection of ecosystems. Realizing this potential
requires training, mentoring and sponsorship of youth-led ESD initiatives, supported byeducational institutions, companies, civil society organizations and governments.
c) Encourage youth to engage with and learn through real-life situations. Local communities
should be positively impacted by ESD and provide a source of learning and inspiration. Thisrequires promoting social service-learning, transdisciplinary education and research, living
laboratories, learning centers and online education.
6. SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIESa) Enable all youth to understand and critically appreciate the complexities and uncertainties ofsustainability challenges and opportunities. In order to undertake effective action on ESD, young
people need to understand the interconnected socio-cultural, economic and technologicalsystems and trends that create persistent sustainability problems.
b) Empower youth to develop visions of more sustainable futures. Through dialogue andfacilitated interactions, young learners need to be supported in developing daring, radical andchallenging visions of a more sustainable world. Those visions then provide the inspiration andrationales for youth-led sustainability efforts.
c) Equip students with the competencies to transform their personal lives, educational
institutions, communities and countries. To realize their sustainability visions, youth need to beequipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and values for transforming themselves and theunsustainable systems in their society. Encouragement, feedback and recognition from educators,
peers and educational institutions are necessary to strengthen their confidence and motivation
along the journey.
7. WOMEN AND MARGINALIZED GROUPSa) Ensure that educational curricula and policies drive ESD in a way that enhances the equality
and equity of socially marginalized groups. Socially marginalized groups are vulnerable anddifficult to reach through ESD activities, as they are discriminated against for reasons of gender,
age, ability, colour, religion, income, geographic origin and sexual orientation, among others.
b) Recognize the values, experiences and perspectives of youth from marginalized social groups
for ESD. Youth from marginalized social groups can provide unique, relevant and interestingvalues, experiences and perspectives to the education of mainstream and privileged students.
Sharing those requires intercultural, interfaith and intergenerational dialogue to create mutual
understanding and acceptance.
UNESCO ESD YOUTH CONFERENCE – Youth Statement

3c) Create safe and accessible learning spaces for youth from marginalized social groups. Specificconditions need to be put in place for empowering youth from marginalized social groups toparticipate in ESD activities. This requires, among others, deconstructing stereotypes andproviding financial support and facilitated encounters.
8. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIPa) Recognize the importance of social entrepreneurship to contribute to the goals of ESD.
Governments and educational institutions should recognize that social entrepreneurship enables
young people to learn about ESD in an informal setting, to create jobs, set up their own ESD
activities, and have positive impacts on their local communities.
b) Create favourable policy and funding conditions for new social start-ups. In order to realize thepotential of social entrepreneurship to contribute to ESD, governments and financial institutions
need to provide subsidies, tax allowances, scholarships, guidance and mentoring schemes tosupport young entrepreneurs.
c) Develop the capacity of youth to set up and manage their social enterprises. Educational
institutions, businesses and civil society organizations should foster the entrepreneurial
knowledge, awareness and skills of youth. This requires dedicated courses, peer-to-peer coaching,mentoring, start-up funding and office space, among others.

Youth Empowering and Mobilizing YouthAcross the globe, youth are increasingly mobilizing themselves and taking leadership roles to advancetheir communities and countries towards sustainability. In this process, young people recognize thatcreating a sustainable future will require a collective vision, commitment and action from youth
around the world. Therefore, youth-to-youth empowerment and mobilization present a unique
opportunity for harnessing the knowledge, energy and creativity of young people to advance ESD.
Young leaders on ESD can be inspirational role models for encouraging other youth who share similar
concerns in their local contexts. This can be achieved through peer mentoring, sharing of knowledge andskills, and fostering open and safe platforms for expression and action in their communities and beyond.
A critical element of successfully mobilizing youth is building trust and reducing conflict. Stimulatinginternational and intercultural dialogue amongst youth fosters friendship, exchanges, understanding andcooperation among cultures , generations and people with different worldviews. Youth recognition ofdiversity as an opportunity contributes to advancing ESD at local, national and global levels.
Youth-to-youth empowerment initiatives have the potential to be bold and creative in the way theytell stories and mobilize others. It is here that other stakeholders can harness and partner with thecreativity, passion and dedication of young people. In this way, youth-to-youth initiatives cancontinue growing, spreading the message and creating more impact.
We, the youth of the world, commit to taking responsibility for empowering and mobilizing youngpeople. We are dedicated to using this collective driving force to maximize positive impact on oursociety and environment. With this role as change makers, we are ready to do our part intransforming today’s world for a more sustainable future.

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