Young urban leaders from 52 cities across the world selected to make their cities “smart, fair and sustainable”

NEW YORK, April 27: The UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network - Youth Initiative (SDSN Youth) has selected its inaugural class of the Local Pathways Fellows – sixty young innovators, urban planners, architects, advocates and sustainability leaders that will “champion local pathways for sustainable development” in more than 52 cities across the world.
 

Intended to build on the momentum around the adoption of the New Urban Agenda at the UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III) last year in Quito, the Local Pathways Fellowship is the first global training program aimed at empowering youth to advance progress on the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development within cities and human settlements.

The program equips the fellows with the knowledge, resources and platform to guide and inform their advocacy and outreach work, and to support their efforts in promoting local understanding, dialogue and problem solving in cities and local communities.

The fellowship was officially kicked off in April, bringing together a group of 60 young people who represent a broad spectrum of backgrounds – young municipal leaders, urban planners, architects, sustainability advocates, researchers and entrepreneurs – and experiences living in different urban settings – from Dhaka, Jakarta and Mumbai, to New York, Mexico City and Buenos Aires.

The fellowship utilizes two of SDSN’s flagship products: the SDG Cities Guide, which had served as a foundation of the training program design, and the SDG Academy’s Sustainable Cities MOOC, integrated as the core component of the curriculum.

A practically-oriented training program is designed to provide a guiding framework for action, and connect fellows with leading development experts and practitioners in the field. The program will take fellows on a 12-month journey, throughout which they will explore the practical steps, strategies and solutions their cities may put in place to ‘localize’ the globally adopted goals and targets.

The process of learning and exploration is intended to amplify the impact fellows are already making through their various endeavors and help them become “local SDG advocates”, working to promote public policy dialogue around concrete strategies and initiatives their city needs to adopt to build a better future for its citizens.

Towards the conclusion of the 12-month training program, the fellows will develop an idea for a local initiative aimed at solving one of the pressing problems facing their city (a ‘project concept note’). The results of the fellowship will be presented at the World Urban Forum in February 2018 and the High Level Political Forum in July 2018.

The fellowship is being led by SDSN Youth in partnership with the United Nations Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat), the City of Milan (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact) and a range of stakeholders.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Advisor on the SDGs and Director of the Sustainable Development Centre at Columbia University, has supported the initiative, saying that the aim of the Fellowship is to “guide the fellows to be the creators of smart, fair and sustainable cities”. This means cities that are “economically prosperous, equitably fair in the benefits that they offer and environmentally sustainable”.

Aromar Revi, the Sustainable Cities MOOC lead author, Director of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements and world’s leading advocate for putting cities at the forefront of global policy debates, has also supported the initiative, emphasizing that “young people are the key agents of change, the bridge between the past and the future, the local and the global”.

Siamak Sam Loni, Global Coordinator of SDSN Youth, says that young people must be seen as key stakeholders in the localization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

"To create communities that offer hope instead of desperation, cities must promote a sense of belonging and treat young people as equal and capable partners. If local authorities harness the qualities of youth and work closely with them to plan, design and manage cities, we could see more livable communities"

For more information on the Local Pathways Fellowship visit: www.localpathways.org

For media enquiries and interview requests, please contact: info@localpathways.org

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Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was launched at UN Headquarters in September 2015 and adopted by 193 member countries of the UN. The SDGs, which are relevant to all countries, aim to achieve social inclusion, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.

SDSN was launched by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in 2012 to mobilize global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for sustainable development, including the design and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDSN Youth is the youth initiative of UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, focused on empowering youth globally to create sustainable development solutions. SDSN Youth educates young people about the challenges of sustainable development and creates opportunities for them to use their creativity and knowledge to pioneer innovative solutions for the SDGs.

Launch of the 2017 Youth Solutions Report

SDSN Youth launches the first edition of the Youth Solutions Report to provide solutions to address global problems

NEW YORK, January 31 - The first edition of the Youth Solutions Report, which identifies 50 youth-led projects aiming to solve the world’s toughest problems, was released today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

The report, produced by the youth initiative of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN Youth) identifies and celebrates youth-led projects and ground-breaking ideas to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It reflects a growing interest in supporting and scaling innovative solutions to address problems such as poverty, inequality, clean and affordable energy, access to healthcare and education, e-participation and waste.

The report highlights the work of youth-led organisations, such as Liter of Light who bring over 750,000 affordable solar lights to 15 countries; the talented team behind BenBen who operate a Blockchain-based land registry that facilitates secure land transactions to encourage investments and transparent land resource management; FinFighters who run a citizen shark science program to collect genetic data and information from Moroccan fishing ports and market; and the group running the SHAPE project using mobile technology to promote citizens’ e-participation in their city’s public life.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs, UN Secretary General’s Adviser on the SDGs, and Minister Karen Ellemann, Danish Minister for Equal Opportunities, launched the report during a two-day forum on youth and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The report was produced in partnership with Ashoka, Sustainia, the Resolution Project and Panorama (joint initiative of IUCN and the German government) and has been reviewed by a panel of experts, comprising leading figures from business, civil society and academia.

Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever, has supported the initiative. “SDSN Youth and its Youth Solutions Report are excellent examples of initiatives crucial for helping young people realize the full potential of their abilities, innovations and solutions.”

“Today we have the largest generation of youth in history - a powerful force for change. 84 percent of millennials are convinced they have a duty to make the world a better place, and many already are, through socially aware businesses and youth-led campaigns in support of the Sustainable Development Goals.” Mr Polman said.

Siamak Sam Loni, Global Coordinator of SDSN Youth, says that young people must be seen as key stakeholders in the sustainable development debate and that there is a pressing need to acknowledge their essential role in achieving the SDGs.

“Young people are already contributing to the implementation of the SDGs but they face common challenges that prevent them from realizing the full potential of their ideas and solutions, including the lack of visibility, limited access to finance, and the lack of training and technical support. The Youth Solutions Report will help investors, donors and supporters better understand the multi-faceted role of young people in sustainable development and give them additional opportunities to showcase and scale their work.” Mr Loni said.

For more information on the Youth Solutions Report visit: www.youthsolutions.report

For media enquiries and interview requests, please contact: solutions@sdsnyouth.org

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The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals included in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which was launched at UN Headquarters in September 2015 and adopted by 193 member countries of the UN. The SDGs, which are relevant to all countries, aim to achieve social inclusion, economic prosperity and environmental sustainability.

SDSN was launched by UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, in 2012 to mobilize global scientific and technological expertise to promote practical problem solving for sustainable development, including the design and implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SDSN Youth is the youth initiative of UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, focused on empowering youth globally to create sustainable development solutions. SDSN Youth educates young people about the challenges of sustainable development and creates opportunities for them to use their creativity and knowledge to pioneer innovative solutions for the SDGs.
 

2016 - A Year in Review

2016 was a year full of action, excitement and surprises in the arena of sustainable development. SDSN launched a new SDG Index and Dashboards, rolled out new courses at the SDG Academy, hosted several successful international conferences and more. Some of the key highlights are summarized below.

• In the spring of 2016, SDSN, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the SDG Charter, and the European Economic and Social Committee jointly convened a multi-stakeholder meeting in Brussels to explore the question of how to make the SDGs “Europe’s business” and position the EU as a key leader in sustainable development.
• The summer got off to a great start with some hot new releases including the SDG Index and Dashboards, launched in partnership with The Bertelsmann Stiftung, one of the largest foundations in Germany. The Index and Dashboards will assist countries in operationalizing the SDGs using data available today.
• In July, the SDSN, Ford Foundation, the Office of the Mayor of New York City, and 100 Resilient Cities co-convened a workshop on SDG localization. The workshop provided an opportunity to reflect on a range of practical tools to support implementation, including a new SDSN guide for cities getting started with the SDGs.
• The new SDG 16 Data Initiative, on which SDSN collaborated, showcased currently available data on all SDG 16 targets. The global data compiled and presented on the SDG16 website were selected from a variety of official and nongovernmental sources by specialists from fourteen independent organizations.
• During the September Leadership Council meeting, the SDG Academy was launched. It now has 10 courses and has reached 125,000 students worldwide.
• During the same week the 4th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development featured several high-level speakers, including Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica and Prime Minister Erna Solberg of Norway. The conference had over 1,000 people in attendance for the second year in a row.
• Later in the fall of 2016, the global urban community came together in South America for two milestone events: the World Summit of Local and Regional Leaders, in Bogota, Colombia, and Habitat III, in Quito, Ecuador. Following the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, Habitat III presented a unique opportunity for the world’s cities to signal their commitment to a more sustainable world and to assert their role in delivering it.
• In November, the Government of Morocco, SDSN, WBCSD and ICLEI co-hosted the COP22 Low-Emissions Solutions Conference. Cities, business, academics and government came together to scale up solutions for climate action at COP22 in Marrakesh, Morocco, and accelerate the implementation of the historic Paris Agreement.
• The Jeffrey Cheah Foundation generously provided a $10 million Gift to SDSN and launched the Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development at Sunway University in Malaysia in December of 2016.
• Finally, SDSN Youth had an instrumental year in the expansion of their network and activities. They are now operating with 60+ core youth, in 40+ countries, on a variety of initiatives including Local Pathways Fellowship, Global Schools Program, Vatican Youth Symposium, TwentyThirty and the Youth Solutions Report