To respond to the need for system adaptation we must include young people! Not because they are young, but because who is going to implement today’s decisions if not us?
More and more people contest the idea that young people are not experienced enough to make important decisions. Indeed, after a long time of praising experience and maturity, we have to admit that making bad decisions is not a question of age. If we want proof, we just have to open our eyes to our unfair and unsustainable global system. The current system, which gives power of decision mainly to those who are part of the current paradigm, is responsible for our crisis. So let us work together to change it. But how do we do this when the actors of the future, young people, are not part of the decision-making process?
Indeed, whatever the field, it is an almost impossible mission to find young people who reach the top of the hierarchy. The ‘glass ceiling’ is a reality for the young (both boys and girls)! There are some initiatives that could change this. Inviting young people to international conferences is one of them. However, the true question is not whether young people are present, but in what capacity and also what kind of young people. Most of the time when young people are invited they are still considered to be spectators who have everything to learn and nothing to share, even though many of them participate in the green transition and sustainable development. They would be able to offer inspiring ideas, especially if the organisers of such conferences would stop always going through the traditional system which does not allow the diversity among the youth to be represented. Indeed, nobody says that young people are going to do better than others, firstly because, unfortunately, some of them do not care about sustainable development or political decisions, and secondly because young people who want to participate in this change of paradigm will not be able to do it alone, they need their more experienced elders.
That is why the Erasmus+ programme could really empower young people: its young participants are not only observers, and they are not all from the same background and type of education. They have worked together before and give their vision. Outdoor gives more able us to learn and put in practice what we learnt. If we want to change our system and refuse to allow the lack of interest in politics keep growing, young people have to be fully involved and taken into account in political decision making together with their elders.
This is not only because they are the future, but also for a pragmatic and effective reason. Indeed, the only question policymakers should keep in mind is: who is going to implement their decisions if not young people? They speak about the energy transition, green growth and new business models for the future, but they are often older than 50 and will probably not be around to implement the decisions they take. An important first step would be to generalise and reinforce the participation of young people as real actors in all international conferences. We do not want to replace policymakers or to be considered as a special actor with special rights. On the contrary, we want to learn from them, but to make that possible we need to be considered as equals, under the same rules. Of course, we do not have as much experience as the current decision makers yet, but maybe that is what we need to accomplish system change.
Experienced people from within the current system and young people working hand in hand to think outside the box in a structured and efficient way: that was the idea of Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations in the Guide to Youth Delegates to the United Nations. In 2010, he called ‘to support youth participation at intergovernmental meetings and to allow the voices of young people from all over the world to be not only heard, but acted upon.’ To achieve this, the United Nations promised to invest massively in education and particularly in education on sustainable development. They also encourage the inclusion of at least two Young Delegates in every international conference. As Youth Secretary General of the UN Ahmad Alhendawi often underlines, many young people who had the opportunity to be a young delegate at international conferences are today key international actors and are indispensable to improving our system. A better inclusion of young people in political decision-making should also be a matter of concern for other fields and sectors. From an economic perspective, many young people create new, more sustainable business models, and they should be encouraged to do so and supported by their local policymakers and banks. Muhammad Yunus began to establish his huge microcredit empire in his thirties, and the Airbnb founders were even younger when they helped develop the sharing economy. Young people could also help multinationals become more sustainable for the sake of our economy, our society and our environment. For instance, the French international hotel group Accor decided in February 2016 to start a pilot in a French hotel with a ‘shadow’ executive board that only included people under 35, with more women and international members than the current one. The aim is to compare the decisions made by the ‘classic’ board (mainly composed of French men in their fifties) and the ‘shadow’ one (much younger, more gender-equal and international) to create a more sustainable dynamic for the group. Consulting young people for the highest level of strategy of a multinational is a real innovation in decision-making. Erasmus+ Programme encourage young people to participate and act !
Young people did not wait to be consulted to act: they already show and prove their ability to be a fundamentally important actor in sustainable development every day. So many examples of young initiatives could be given to justify the need to integrate the young in decision-making processes in every field. For example, Youngo, the youth constituency of CCNUCC, fought successfully for the inclusion of intergenerational equity and climate change education in the COP21 agreement. As a more local example, a group of students of the Bureau Du Développement Durable (B3D), inspired by the César-winning documentary ‘Demain’, decided to enhance sustainable development initiatives, like La Dynamiterie, a responsible and creative way of doing parties. They did so through a Tour Des Solutions Alternatives crossing France from north to south.
Many initiatives already exist, and young people can spread them through a creative, dynamic and positive perspective – which are the core ID of young people. It is indispensable to reinvent our way of communicating about sustainable development. Young people could show how it can improve our life. No more guilt: we need to stop blaming people for their behaviour and, on the contrary, convince them to change using positive and innovative means. Unformal education is one of the solution. Indeed, Outdoor gives mores for learning! Sustainable development is attainable and sexy, so let us be seduced! Many young people are full of ideas and are ready to play a role in making decisions at the highest level. Thanks to Erasmus+ to be part of the solution.
Now, will decision makers let young people be fully involved in our current system to help them change it? Outdoor gives more helped me to create a project, Youth ID, to try to have this answer! I hope to diffuse this answer and many others project which will begin in February. Let’s Highlight the youth with Youth ID.
