“How can I, as a young person, increase my positive impact on Earth, being part of the change?”

You will inevitably have thought or heard youth express this question. This is certainly something that our UN Decade on Ecosystems Restoration team in Europe has heard. So to try to answer this and help Youth find a way to take meaningful action in support of the environment - we have recently reached out to young Europeans. 

This blog seeks to reveal some of the actions we have recently taken in Europe to inform youth about the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and invite them to join the movement.

UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration in Europe

As stated in its strategy, one of the UN Decade’s main objectives is “to build a strong, broad-based global movement to ramp up restoration and put the world on track for a sustainable future”. The involvement of youth in this is critically important, both for intergenerational equity and for the sustainability of restoration initiatives beyond 2030. Therefore, within the UN Decade, strong emphasis is given to engaging the next generations to undertake restoration initiatives and promote youth actions on the ground.  

Meeting YOUth

Meeting and interacting in person with youth has been challenging due to COVID-19. Therefore, virtual gatherings, such as the “YOUth Reconnecting with Nature” pre-World Environment Day 2021 webinar, have been the primary way of engaging with civil society in the past year.

The European Youth Event (EYE) was an animated occasion to engage with a wide representation of European youth. The event took place on the 8th and 9th of October and is Europe’s largest youth event, bringing together 10,000 young people, both online and in Strasbourg (France). Thanks to many fruitful and interesting discussions, the EYE was a unique opportunity for youth from across Europe, including non-EU countries, to make their voices heard, share ideas and shape Europe’s future.
As the UNEP Team on-site, we had the opportunity to invite them to share their stories and ideas and hear their insights. In addition, we brought to the table several UNEP’s resources and quizzes to test and acknowledge youth about biodiversity, restoration and education.

Learning from YOUth

It has been fundamental to engage with youth organisations, such as the Young European Ambassadors (YEAs), to have the chance to connect and discuss. The YEAs is a non-political, voluntary communication network that connects and builds bridges of friendship among young people from the EU Member States, the United Kingdom and the Eastern Neighborhood Countries. They actively engaged with our activities and shared their opinions on ecosystem restoration.

“When we are speaking about restoration it includes human hands and the future is in our hands” Despoina –YEA (check out their video here!)

In the context of restoration, it is essential to build connections and learn from one another, enabling us to act now and inspire others to follow. The insights that young people with ambitious dreams can bring are incredible.

At the EYE and during the run up to COP26, we have launched a call for stories on Ecosystem Restoration for young Europeans willing to share their experiences on the topic. We received many inputs, both on-site and online.

We have decided that great stories need a place to be showcased, to gain visibility and inspire others. For this reason, we share here below the story of Anais, from Spain…

“We are a youth-led association, called Equipo Europa, and we have developed a national campaign in Spain that promotes the planting of trees in cities and towns. [..] named #ATreeForEurope (or #UnÁrbolPorEuropa in Spanish), is supported by the European Parliament Office in Spain and tries to raise awareness so that local entities understand that small actions can have a global impact.
The local entities joining our initiative must plant at least one tree in their town as a symbol of their commitment to the protection of local green spaces, to a more sustainable town and to involve young people in the decision-making process in relation with the environment. So far more that 600 towns in Spain have joined our campaign planting more than 27,000 trees in barely two years.

[…] Soon, we will be launching this campaign at the European level […].

[…] This has been a successful initiative […] developed with 0 funds, just with a group of engaged young people who want to have an impact on the present, to build a brighter future.”

 

Science communication to YOUth

We were delighted to see that our activities – the quizzes and the resources shared - attracted attention and interest. Through a Mentimeter, we gathered perspectives on what areas would require more significant scientific input and communication. For example, according to youth, food systems and circular economy are amongst the highest priorities.

 

The enthusiasm, passion, and willingness to learn displayed during the EYE and the previous activities around the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration have been of great inspiration and importance for the UN Decade team in Europe.
UNEP stands ready to support, educate and encourage young people, working with them to protect and restore nature, creating the future we all need.

 

Find more stories we received following our call here