WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY W REGIONAL CENTRE OF EXPERTISE
ON EDUCATION FOR
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ACKNOWLEDGED BY UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY RCE SDG YOUTH CHALLENGE 2021 PROJECT REPORT YOUTH FOR THE GOALS: RESILIENT COMMUNITIES AND PLANET (SDG 11, 12 AND 15) SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION 15 LIFE ON LAND JANUARY 2022
RCE GREATER WESTERN SYDNEY (WESTERN SYDNEY UNIVERSITY), AUSTRALIA The SDG Challenge is a global platform for young people to grow as leaders, with a mission to challenge the typical passive model of youth engagement. While we may not have much or as much experience as older counterparts, we constantly accomplish the impossible. This is because we have the passion. creativity and sense of agency to make it happen. I am so proud of what we have and will continue to achieve through our collective focus for a more just and sustainable planet. I encourage all young people to keep working and fighting for the meaningful change we wish to see in the world, to lead the way with kindness, and to be brave and ambitious. Today’s youth face extraordinary global challenges. Worsening modern conflicts, climate change, increasing gaps of inequality, and now the global COVID-19 pandemic. Youth are bombarded with messages about their future and challenged to make positive change, yet are not often given the chance to constructively do so at a meaningful local level. The RCE SDG Youth Challenge “Youth for the Goals” is an international youth-led project-based initiative that connects youth leaders working in their own communities connected to a larger global platform that includes mentoring support and peer validation. The Challenge supports and empowers young leaders to have a voice while gaining valuable experience in learning to be the drivers of change in their communities and how to effectively mobilise their peers. Each project is shaped by its youth leader and/or youth team, with support and guidance from their parent RCE or organisation, to address the needs of their communities in line with the annual theme. Each project is a unique interpretation of how youth want to tackle sustainable development and education in a wide variety of ways. Using a peer-peer learning model, youth drive change from a grassroots level incorporating Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) principles and addressing the Sustainable Development Goals. All projects are underpinned by cross- cutting themes of SDG 4: Quality Education and SDG 17: Partnerships. The first year, 2018, the Challenge was opened to RCEs from Asia-Pacific region, but due to its success and interest amongst the RCE community it became a global initiative reaching all four RCE regions of the network and beyond, with additional projects from global NGOs and international agencies. The first RCE SDG Youth Challenge (in 2018) was themed on SDG 13 Climate Action and SDG 14 Life Below Water. The second Challenge (in 2019) was themed on SDG 1 No Poverty, SDG 6 Clean Water and Sanitation and SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities. In 2020 and again this year (due to COVID-19 impacts), the Challenge was themed on SDG 11 Sustainable Cities, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 15 Life on Land. To date, the RCE SDG Youth Challenge has engaged directly with 22,396 youth and a further 5,433 non- youth (parents, teachers, community members) through 56 individual youth-led sustainability projects across 12 countries (Australia, Belarus, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korea, United States, and Vietnam).
YOUTH FOR THE GOALS: RESILIENT
COMMUNITIES AND PLANET (SDG 11,
12 and 15)
The 4 h RCE SDG Youth Challenge 2021 “Youth for the Goals: Resilient Communities and Planet” was led by RCE Greater Western Sydney (hosted by Western Sydney University, Australia). It focused on localised action taken by youth to address  SDG 11 Sustainable Cities, SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production and SDG 15 Life on Land, and their associated targets. Commencing in February, this year’s youth-led sustainability projects have been broad and included education awareness raising, youth empowerment and training, conservation projects and social enterprises. The Challenge still persisted despite the impacts of COVID-19, with many projects changing their original project plans to adapt to worldwide lock down orders and the new ways of online learning, working and engaging, predominately via social media. It has been a significant challenge, but also an opportunity for the youth leaders to learn new skills, development creative ideas and expand their reach. This 2021 report “Youth for the Goals: Resilient Communities and Planet” highlights the youth-led projects outcomes and achievements as written by them and endorsed by their parent RCEs or organisation.
PROJECTS ALIGNED TO THE SDG THEME OF:
PROJECTS ADDRESSED ADDITIONAL SDGs AND THEIR TARGETS:
PROJECTS CROSS-CUT THROUGH:
SDG 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture's contribution to sustainable development. 17.16: Enhance the global partnership for sustainable development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
PROJECTS SUPPORT ESD FOR 2030 PRIORITY ACTION AREAS:
Priority Action Area 4: Empowering and mobilizing youth Priority Action Area 5: Accelerating local level actions
THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an urgent call for action to end poverty, improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests. (United Nations, 2016) project reach
youth-led sustainability projects worked towards local action for the SDGs project leaders empowered to lead action for their peers and communities youth were directly involved and engaged directly through the Challenge projects * data self-reported by youth project l
* indicates no final report was submitted, and as s such no details have been outlined in this report. 5 RCE CENTRAL SEMENANJUNG, MALAYSIA MOHD FADHLI RAHMAT FAKRI, AFFAN NASARUDDIN AND MAIRUZASMARA FARIZA AZLAN. PROJECT CO-LEADS Wasteful behaviours which include irresponsible use of water and electricity. abundance of avoidable food waste and solid waste generation, to name a few are most relevant to our today's society. With diverse sustainability expertise of our team, we use a novel approach of Living Labs initiative aiming at promoting Education for Sustainable Development. Under SDG 11 and SDG 12, our project sets to make sustainable lifestyle and education a mainstream. Youth capacity building and mentoring was the key activity of this project. All in all, we envisioned a sustainable lifestyle that would create a truly sustainable campus and school ambient. HIGHLIGHTS high school and university students undertook the UM SDG Youth Challenge 2021
100%
of youth participants believed they play an important role in promoting a sustainable lifestyle
PROJECT SUMMARY AND ACTIVITIES
Led by youth for youth, the “UM SDG Youth Challenge 2021” promoted Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and the SDGs among youth through capacity building, mentoring programs, and with practical mini SDG group project. The project engaged high school and university students across Malaysia. The aim was to highlight to young people the importance of sustainable and responsible consumption, in particular to address abundance of f ood waste and waste generation issue, water and electricity consumption that are most relevant to youth. The program also explored ways students could reduce environmental impact of campus community by promoting better understanding of sustainable lifestyle. The original plan was to deliver this project face-to-face, but due to COVID-19 the delivery switched to fully online modes of engagement. The project co-leads hosted a number of capacity building webinars with local experts. The webinars were supported by other online learning activities, which included a pre- and post self-assessments, pop quizzes, a feedback exercise, and a virtual youth symposium. “Both webinars were designed with SDG thematic focus as part of the approach in mainstreaming the linkages between respective SDGs with ESD, Living Labs, and Sustainable Lifestyle in benefiting school, campus and individuals. All successful applicants received e-certificate of participation.” – Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri The project co-leads also had prior ESD experience, leading existing Universiti Malaya (UM) programs ‘Water Warriors’ and ‘Zero Waste Campaign’. OUTCOMES AND HIGHLIGHTS Over an 8-week period, a total of 45 students undertook learning activities and attended both webinars as part of the requirements to receive an e-certificate. From there, 13 students continued on and were engaged in hands-on sustainability tasks within 7-days and writing a report of their experience. This also involved looking at t he SDGs. “We used a form of Sustainable Lifestyle Bingo Edition on which students were required to execute with family and friends.” – Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri A virtual symposium was hosted by UM in October, whereby the 13 students each presented at t the Inaugural UM Virtual Youth Symposium on Sustainable Lifestyle. Students addressed the question: “What is the pivotal role of youth in a sustainable campus?"'. Over 90 attendees tuned in to watch the students virtual presentations. “Unknown to them, all presenters were evaluated, with the top 3 awarded Best of the Best Speaker and Participant.” – Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri
KEY PARTNERS
The project had tremendous support from the UMCares – The Community & Sustainability Centre and RCE Central Semenanjung. Both Imarah Eco-Friends EcoSurau Academy of Islamic Studies and UM Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UM SDSN) provided expert speakers for the capacity building webinars, vital to building youth.
FUTURE PLANS
Due to its success, the UM SDG Youth Challenge project will be redesigned and be made an annual event of the newly established UM Sustainability and Development Centre. The 13 students will be further supported and appointed as honorary committee member of soon to be established official UM SDG-based Club with the partnership of UM Student Affairs Division. “Learning from the engagement with youth throughout the project period has provided us with ideas and way forward on how best we could welcome youth on board. We sincerely hope that our young people would be able to be the sustainable bearer of the cleaner, sustainable and resilient Earth through leading by examples in practicing practical sustainable lifestyle and be our agent of change.” – Project Co-Leads REGION: Asia-Pacific COUNTRY: Malaysia LOCATION: Kuala Lumpur PROJECT LEADS: Mr. Mohd Fadhli Rahmat Fakri Mr. Affan Nasaruddin Mrs. Mairuzasmara Fariza Azlan PROJECT TEAM: Mrs. Aireen Zuriani Ahmad Mrs. Siti Norasiah Abd. Kad Mr. Mohd Hisyamuddin Che Harun CHALLENGE THEME SDGs: 12.2: By 2030, achieve the sustainable managen nt use of natural resources. ntion, reduction, recycling and reuse 12.8: By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant tation and awareness for sustainable development and ifestyles in harmony with nature. DDITIONAL SDGs: increase the number of youth and levant skills, including technical and vocational kills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across exctors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the umber of people suffering from water scarcity 8: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and itutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, mpact reduction and early warning. EARN MORE AND CONNECT: EcoCampus @ Universiti Malaya ampus@Universiti Malaya, RCE Central Semenanjung & UM SDSN LNANEMES TAЯTNED

NEPEAN
BRITTANY HARDIMAN AND DR. MICHELLE RYAN, PROJECT CO- CATHERINE WELSH, STUDENT VOLUNTEER Microplastics are small plastic pieces which can be harmful to aquatic life. Our citizen science training day sheds light on an invisible and emerging issue - microplastics - in Hawkesbury- Nepean River, a freshwater system. Much of the current research into microplastics is focused on the oceans and beaches in Australia. There is a need to explore the impacts of this emerging pollutant in these freshwater areas. The River is such an important river, it is used for agriculture, drinking water, recreation, and has cultural significance. It's vital to engage with the community and educate them on why we should protect our waterways, not only for us but for the biodiversity, like the platypus. HIGHLIGHTS volunteers, students and staff (mostly youth) participated in a training day of microplastic were found per gram of sediment collected from the riverbank
PROJECT SUMMARY AND ACTIVITIES
Western Sydney University (host of RCE Greater Western Sydney) researchers, staff and students, in collaboration with Streamwatch and Greater Sydney Landcare, joined community volunteers of all ages as part of a hands-on field training day to investigate the presence of an emerging pollutant, microplastics,  in the Hawkesbury-Nepean River. The hands-on training day engaged with and taught citizen scientists how to identify and quantity microplastic pollution for freshwater ecosystems. The event was held in celebration of World Environment Day at Windsor Beach – a popular recreational area in the Hawkesbury region that was recently impacted by significant flooding in March. Volunteers took sediment samples along the riverbank, and analysed them under a microscope back on WSU Hawkesbury campus. Dr Michelle Ryan from the Western Sydney University’s School of Science and an early career researcher led the workshop. The event was supported by a group of trained Western students to support community volunteers and develop educational resources, as well as WSU Technical Support Services. “We were delighted to see a number of community members from a variety of backgrounds attend the workshop. Some volunteer regularly and others were just interested community members who care about improving the health of the waterway.” – Dr Michelle Ryan.
OUTCOMES AND HIGHLIGHTS
"Indicative results show the community found up to six pieces of microplastic per gram of riverbank – this number is less than previous counts taken by students as part of their fieldwork projects – and we believe the difference could be due to the recent flooding which resulted in a sand dump from upstream.” – Dr Michelle Ryan. The findings will inform the first ‘river report card' on the waterway to be released in 2022.
KEY PARTNERS
The community training day was an initiative of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Riverkeepers Waterkeeper Alliance (HNRWA). The Alliance is a working group under RCE-GWS and is a partnership between Western Sydney University, Greater Sydney Local Land Services, Greater Sydney Landcare Network (GLSN) with Streamwatch and GLSN member groups: Cattai Hills Environment Network, Hawkesbury-Nepean Landcare Network and Hawkesbury Environment Network. The event was co-funded by RCE Greater Western Sydney and Streamwatch's Local Streams, Local Communities project.
FUTURE PLANS
The event will become a regular occurrence for HNRWA, with annual data collected from the same spot planned for next few years. The hope too is that the trained citizen scientists will also collect microplastic data in their own creeks and tributes. The methodology will also be morphed into a learning activity for undergraduate science students at Western for the coming years as part of a key unit of study. The students data will also be used for further reporting. “Our next step will be to scale up this successful engagement across the region with diverse river users by incorporating and promoting a range of citizen science platforms. Focusing on place-based water issues and solutions will hopefully lead to greater social awareness of and better appreciation for the value of our waterways and water resources. Working collaboratively at a grass-roots level on improving the river health gives individuals a sense of ownership of the river, and that issues faced by the river are their issues. We want to empower locals to take action and advocacy, supporting the SDGs at a practical localised level" Project Co-Leads REGION: Asia-Pacific COUNTRY: Australia LOCATION: The Hawkesbury, New South Wales PROJECT LEADS: Mrs. Brittany Hardiman
Dr. Michelle Ryan Mrs. Jessica Lumbrosco PROJECT TEAM: Mr. Sebastian Florian Guzman Ms. Nicole Bennett Ms. Catherine Welsh Ms. Serene White Ms. Natalie Purcell CHALLENGE THEME SDGs: 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse. 12.8: By 2030, ensure that people everywhere have the relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature. 15.1: By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements. ADDITIONAL SDGs: 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous
chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally. 6.6: By 2030, protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes. LEARN MORE AND CONNECT: westernsydney.edu.au/rcegws Volunteers collecting sediment samples along a transect as part of the microplastic training day on Windsor Beach. Photo Cr IGYS NUELSEW ЯЕТАЕЯ RCE SALISBURY, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA RCE Salisbury seeks to address the socio-cultural challenges, such as gender inequality, in our region through conflict prevention and creative problem-solving. While RCE Salisbury encompasses a large peninsula, recent information regarding gender awareness and uncovering the drivers of gender inequality is difficult to find for the community. Furthermore, the information tends to be only in English, when a large portion of the population in the Delmarva speaks Spanish. We provided an introduction of the topic, then identified crucial areas that introduce some key points in the debate on gender. This project was not addressing the ideology of gender but the perspective of gender. HIGHLIGHTS participants from across the world, mostly youth (60%), took part in two webinars 10 youth supported the implementation of the training workshops
PROJECT SUMMARY AND ACTIVITIES
This project addressed increasing awareness about gender disparities, especially for vulnerable populations within the local region, and lack of awareness of the topic. The aims were to present successful cases, derived from scientific research, that covered basic concepts and best practices on the gender perspective in the field of conflict and peace. Through online webinars and training, participants (predominantly youth) were engaged in discussions and learnings around gender. The first session was introductory webinar. The second webinar presented a systematic examination of the analysis of gender in reality and best practices. This type of analysis makes it possible to understand the social processes and institutions that produce and reproduce inequality; the mechanisms of domination that men use, as a social group; the ways in which others are expropriated of the benefits of their work; the asymmetric assessment of the capacity and behaviors of both sexes, as well as the different access to resources and power that is thus generated. The webinars were both presented by a variety of academics, practitioners of conflict resolution, and some United Nations officials who have extensive experience with teaching about gender. The authors of this webinar examined gender-based norms, values, expression, and relations across diverse Western and non-Western societies. “Gender identity is a concept mainly held in a binary, but through these webinars we found that gender is far more complex than that. Although gender is a complex social construct it’s indelible effect spares neither those acquainted with it nor those unwitting, and thus should be explored and discussed." – Dr. Brittany Foutz All activities were delivered online. This meant they were able to have more attendees due to the virtual format, and as such a more inclusive discussion due to providing interpretation in many of different languages.
OUTCOMES AND HIGHLIGHTS
“I teamed up with Dr. Brian Polkinghorn to lead the project. There were also ten other team members that assisted with the project. Most of the team members, including myself, are youth and are already actively involved in our RCE region promoting gender awareness and working with vulnerable communities. We incorporated SDGs 5, 11, and 10 and through our webinars through the promotion of providing safe, inclusive and accessible spaces for women to reduce inequality and promote gender equality." – Dr. Brittany Foutz Training activities engaged 20 individuals at the first introductory webinar. Over 300 individuals, mostly youth, participated in second the webinar and training. All participants received certificates for their involvement. The webinars were globally attended and were attended primarily by youth. Excitingly, the overall project was recognised by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
KEY PARTNERS
The host of RCE Salisbury, the Bosserman Center for Conflict Resolution, was a key partner in the project. The Bosserman Center is a non-profit that promotes peace and conflict resolution. The Director of the Bosserman Center helped promote the training through its social media and listserv from the RCE Americas database.
FUTURE PLANS
Due to its success, the project co-leads plan on delivering additional webinars for young people and the wider community, diving deeper into specific topic already offered as part of their former webinars. “All countries need to prioritize gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, in a comprehensive manner. The fulfilment of all gender equality commitments and the realization of women’s and girls’ human rights will be essential to the achievement of all SDGs by 2030. The entire agenda must deliver for women and girls. We hope that are participants can build a visionary and practical roadmap for putting gender equality at the center of recovery from COVID-19. The pandemic has revealed and worsented inequalities, such as gender inequality.” – Dr. Brittany Foutz REGION: The Americas COUNTRY: United States of America LOCATION: Salisbury, Maryland PROJECT LEADS: Dr. Brittany Foutz
Dr. Brian Polkinghorn (non-youth) PROJECT TEAM: Mrs. Alexandra Ginta-Martin Ms. Francesca Falasca Ms. Brittany Bursa Ms. lye Ogbs Ms. Hannah Prouse Ms. Shannon Romme Ms. Cassandra Duncan Ms. Sandra Zelaya Ms. Erin Karrh CHALLENGE THEME SDGs: 11.7: By 2030, provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities. ADDITIONAL SDGs: 5.1: End all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation. 5.5: Ensure women's full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status. 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.
Appreciative Inquiry and Gender
How can we use appreciative inquiry to understand gender and resolve gender based issues? How can it contribute to the previous conversations of gender vs sex, gender stereotypes, sexism, social constructs of gender, etc? When would we use AI to solve gender based issues/conflicts? "All Genders;" Denison University, 2018, denison #du/eampus/gender-sexuality/wh/127879. ANASITYSコ
HIGHLIGHTS Indonesia Rupiah raised to create free vegetable packages for 150 local families vouth volunteers supported the implementation of the program and events There are more than 270 million Indonesians who have been affected by COVID-19. We are sad when we see that our neighbours, who are mostly farmers, struggling to sell their produce to local customers. We are also aware that the availability of food is very important for the young generation. However, in our area, the Sleman Regency, not all households are able to meet their needs. The pandemic has left many families struggling economically. We're here to help them in providing vegetables so that people’s nutrition remains fulfilled, as well as to help farmer’s income by selling their agricultural products. Our project provides online platform to do so by connecting farmers and buyers.
PROJECT SUMMARY AND ACTIVITIES
Addressing the COVID-19 challenges faced by the local community of the Sleman Regency in Yogykarta, this social enterprise connected farmers and consumers through an online platform. The aim of the program was to empower local farmers, vegetable traders, and micro - small enterprises to sell their fresh produce through their online platform. Over the last 2 years, the project was developed in overcome lockdown orders and economic difficulties. To support these farmers and families every Friday vegetables were available to purchase. These were also combined free weekly vegetable packages distributed to locals in need. The online platform created an online shop from home model, something that was previously available in Sleman. “The project was developed with a humanitarian mission and economic empowerment of the small and medium sector affected by the pandemic. It is purely for social program to help the residents. The important thing for us is to be able to see vegetable traders survive, farmers smile because their vegetables are sold, buyers who can shop from home, and local society who can eat fresh and healthy vegetables." – Janu Muhammad To make the project happen, individuals donated money from various locations across eastern Indonesia, as well as from Thailand, Australia and Europe. Instagram was used to communicate on weekly package distributions and fresh food available, and gain buy-in from potential donors. Regular updates were also sent to the donors documenting the project highlights and encourage further contributions. The project also had support from ten diverse youth volunteers, plus the core project team, who were provided with training and information to better 12 understand the SDGs, particularly SDG 12. The volunteers included entrepreneurs, students, housewives, freelancers, youth organizations and non-profits.
OUTCOMES AND HIGHLIGHTS
Over 150 families in total from low socio- economic backgrounds were provided with vegetable packages, with a further 50 customers using the online platform to purchase their own vegetables. The produced for this project was provided by 30 local traders and 8 traditional markets in Sleman, who provided various items, including vegetable, fish, fruit and meat. A total of 70 food markets (including the distribution of free vegetable packages) were held every Friday across 2020 - 2021. Donations were received by over 100 individuals since September 2020, with more 90 million Indonesia Rupiah raised (approximately USD$6,300) to support the initiative. “The people who have received vegetables so far have felt the economic impact taken off them. We often get testimonials from them, saying ‘thank you for your help’ or messages from donors ‘keep this good program up, so more people can get the benefit.’.” – Janu Muhammad For their innovation of the initiative and contribution to their community, the project team received a Paragon Innovation Award for ‘Sociopreneur Category of the Year 2021'.
KEY PARTNERS
RCE Yogyakarta played an important role in providing guidance for the youth lead and youth team - from beginning to finish, they provided conceptual and technical guidance. The Sedekah Sayur project also partnered with several communities. Ngemplak Authority was an important partner providing youth organizations and volunteers. Gerakan Mari Berbagi foundation is intensively involved providing many donors and volunteers. The Equity Fellow Community from University of Gadja Muda also made a major contribution in guiding the concept of socio-entrepreneurship.
FUTURE PLANS
The project aims to expand and recruit an operational teams (marketing, legal, and finance), as well as attract more young people to be involved. As a social start- up, the project is looking for investors who can support the program long-term rather than donations. “The future of this earth is determined by what we do today. The pandemic has left many families struggling. Our dream is to become a social entrepreneur incubator that connects agricultural businesses with customers from various age groups and locations in Yogyakarta and beyond. We encourage young people to useful things for ourselves, families, society, and our country. Big changes, starting from small things!” – Janu Muhammad REGION: Asia-Pacific COUNTRY: Indonesia LOCATION: Sleman, Yogyakarta PROJECT LEAD: Janu Mhammad PROJECT TEAM: CHALLENGE THEME SDGs 12.1: Implement the 10-year framework of programmes on sustainable consumption and production, all countries taking action, with developed countries taking the lead, taking into account the development tapabilities of developing countries. ADDITIONAL SDGs and ensure access by all people, in bor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round. 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment. 8.5: By 2030, achieve full and productive employment and decent n and men, including for young people and with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value. EARN MORE AND CONNECT: ЯАЖАУЭ ОУ
IMPACTS FROM 2018-2021 85,000 digital ‘hand print’ pledges to enact the SDGs in everyday activities (India) 20,000 plastic bottle top lids saved from landfill and repurposed into artwork (Australia) 14,000 school students accessing new water and sanitation facilities in 10 schools (India) 10,242 seedlings planted as part of a conservation camp and school activities (India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Kenya) 1,262kg of rubbish collected from local beaches and rivers (Malaysia, Vietnam and USA) 668 youth trained through train-the-trainer models to enact change (Australia, Malaysia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria and USA) 330kg of donations of hygiene productions, clothing, school supplies and food for slum communities (Australia to India/ Nepal and Mexico) 81 youth with physical disability participated in training sessions and e-sport competitions (Malaysia) OUTCOMES FROM 2018-2021 22,396 youth participants and a further 5,433 non- youth engaged through Challenge projects 56 youth led sustainability projects were completed working towards to addressing the SDGs 156 youth lead projects, as individuals and teams, engaging in the Challenge 24 global RCEs and 7 NGOs, organisations and international agencies were represented “The present time is that of transformation. Today, therefore is an opportunity to empower the youth to fashion a tomorrow based on ideas oriented and committed to making lives better on the planet- economically, socially, politically and environmentally. They have the potential and charisma to effect change in the status quo of the society around SDGs." – 2018 Youth Leader, India The RCE SDG Youth Challenge has had a global impact and models how to successfully mobilise existing sustainability networks to engage with youth in a meaningful and empowering way. It takes on the global agenda for sustainable development directly through education and partnerships to localises the goals for each place. The initiative targets youth at all levels of formal and informal learning and from a wide range of social contexts and cultural backgrounds, to transform education delivery and to develop knowledge, skills, values and behaviours needed for sustainable development. The Challenge was set up and co- designed by Brittany Hardiman (RCE Greater Western Sydney, Australia) and Emmy Yuniarti Rusadi (RCE Yogyakarta, Indonesia, who has since moved on) as youth for youth program; a first of its kind across the RCE network. The initiative developed in 2018 to fill a gap and ensure a youth voice across the RCE Asia-Pacific region, expanding to the global network thereafter. It was not a requirement, nor pushed or led by UNU-IAS, but completely independent, driven by passionate youth leaders to energise the region and see the inclusion of young people. The Challenge supported the networks collective mission to generate and scale up concrete actions in ESD to contribute to the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. MS EMMY YUNIARTI RUSADI, DEPUTY ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL YOUTH FOCAL POINT (2018-2019) If you ask who wants to change this world, the answer is real and exact. It is youth. To revise the world condition also depends on youth... Keep supporting us, keep supporting youths to build a brighter, more sustainable future through the SDGs. The Challenge was built for youth leaders to engage through a participatory and emergent process that brings youth along, rather than the standard top down approach undertaken by RCEs in delivering youth-based activities. The majority of project leaders are university students (mainly because most RCEs are hosted by a tertiary institution), who were invited to participate by their RCEs. It demonstrates an outstanding leadership exemplar of how to engage youth across continents using a place based approach linked to a global platform for mentoring support and peer-to-peer learning. Youth are the focus of academic teaching and research and via social media can be inundated with mixed messages of being instrumental change agents and/or overawed by the extent of global challenges. There are often very few opportunities for a large number of youth to actively lead. This initiative gave youth leaders a voice, motivation and valuable experience in learning to be the drivers of change in their communities and how to effectively mobilise their peers. “Youth are the driving forces toward a defined society. They need to be shaped towards their roles. By providing them with training and capacity development, we would better expose young people to developing proper relationship an understanding with their environment. It is imperative to adjust and create an enabling environment for youth innovations in areas of climate change, economic growth, and sustainable cities which are areas that directly impact on the lifestyles of youth; and to thrive in order to attain a more inclusive growth where no one is left behind." – 2020 Youth Leader, Nigeria The way in which youth leaders responded to the Challenge differed, as did their interpretation of implementing the SDGs and the targets that underpin them in their local places. For example, the Facilitating learning on WASH project by RCE Delhi, India (2018) targeted schools on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) issues. They provided primary schools with access to WASH infrastructure and incorporated behaviour change awareness campaigns for teachers, students and their parents on WASH issues to encourage safer habits like washing hands and drinking clean water. Another project, the Sports Exergaming Competition for Individuals with Physical Disabilities by RCE Central Semenanjung, Malaysia (2019) is shaping the values and attitudes of youth with disabilities, not only to improve their physical wellbeing but also their mental health. It was hugely empowering discovering possibilities they hadn't realized were possible. By investing time into youth leaders, the SDGs are being mobilised at a grass-roots level having an impact on the wider society. “There was no one-point conclusion and this has been great learning. The most important thing is the impact we made from the youth based initiatives can make people move and be aware of this big issues.” – 2019 Youth Leader, Indonesia Youth leaders also spent time building partnerships and networks to support their projects either through mentoring, funding, donations of goods and services or access to youth and non-youth participants. These partnerships represent local businesses, community groups, schools, youth clubs, faith groups, NGOs and local government. Other projects relied on existing RCE partnerships for the same purpose. The approach taken by the Asia-Pacific Youth Focal Points, Brittany and Emmy, in the overall coordination of the Challenge was that leadership should be about motivating, empowering and engaging young people to be their own change makers. Our core responsibilities is to mobilise and inspire youth commitment towards operationalising the SDGs, and many hours of virtual support (through WhatsApp, emails, social media and virtual conferences) was spent driving the initiative. This work was reccongised and celebrated through a number of international awards. The Challenge recieved RCE Outstanding Flagship Initiative Award Winner (2018), Okayama ESD Award Finalist (2019), and an Australasian Green Gown Finalist (2019) as an institutional initiative. The initiative also received the ‘Best Paper Award’ at The ICCEESD Conference (2018) in Indonesia entitled “Education on Sustainable Development Goals (ESD): A Best Practice Of RCE Asia Pacific – Youth Movement on SDGs Climate Action & Life Below Water". A comprehensive report of all the projects for the last four years is available online. MRS BRITTANY HARDIMAN, ASIA- PACIFIC REGIONAL YOUTH FOCAL POINT (2018-2021) The SDG Youth Challenge signifies our active participation in the 2030 agenda. We as young people have made a significant collective contribution not only understanding sustainable development but taking meaningful action for a more just and sustainable future. As I step down from the Regional RCE Youth Focal Point role I would like to deeply thank and acknowledge everyone involved in making this initiative such a success, particularly the institutional support from Western Sydney University and my colleagues Jen and Helen for their invaluable guidance.
CONTACT INFORMATION
RCE Greater Western Sydney Hosted by: Sustainability Education, Office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning Futures) Western Sydney University sustainability@westernsydney.edu.au | westernsydney.edu.au/rcegws Western Sydney University Locked Bag 1797 Penrith NSW 2751 Australia