Day 3 began with three parallel offsite visits to some of Costa Rica’s most important organisations relating to the theme Respect your Environment. The visits included:
Dos Pinos the “Little Giant of Central America”
Dos Pinos is one of the most diversified companies in Latin America and a leader in the production and marketing of dairy foods and beverages. The youth delegates that attended reported that they learnt about community projects where they ask schools to collect their empty tetrapacks cartons so they can be turned into school desks.
They use ICTs to accurately calculate quantities of ingredients for consistency, at the end of the session, delegates were asked how the processes at Dos Pinos can be improved, this took place during a workshop at the end, which placed high emphasise on the importance of youth voices and opinions as we as young people are future innovators and problem solvers.
Escuela Agricultura Tropico Humedo (Earth University)
Earth is a university with one primary goal; to provide an innovative approach to education on sustainable development. Edda Montes, an ITU jam session winner described her experience; I went to the renewable energies laboratory and about different types of renewable energies including; solar energy, biogas sources, fuel cells, and geothermal energy.
We concluded that we have a responsibility to convince policy makers that renewable energies should be implemented, and even though economic factors should be considered, governments must find a way to lower the cost of alternative energies. Finally, we concluded that the use of ICTs are increasingly important when advising people of how to dispose of their e-waste.
Instituto National de Biodiversidad (InBIO)
InBIO is a biodiversity management centre that specialises in conservation and biodiversity, they said that during the 20 years they have been established, they have discovered an average of one new species, every four days.
They use ICTs in many ways, including the use of an online database system which encourages users to learn about the biodiversity they find. InBIO champion the belief that nature can inspire innovation through collaboration and alliances with academics and NGOs. We as young people can protect the environment and preserve it for future generations by spreading the word about global conservation and biodiversity.
The Change your world session involved an interactive session where young people voted on the issues that are most important to them, including;
The first question was: Which of the themes of the summit should be the priority for youth BYND2015?
From the vote, the theme Get Ahead is most important to young people, the delegates said that young people must be included in high level discussions and the international policy making process. We are important because we bring unique perspectives, skill sets and knowledge bases, further to this, we need to empower ourselves by exercising our rights.
A remote hub in Columbia suggested that getting ahead is important to them because digital illiteracy is high in rural areas, to solve this issue, initiatives such as m-education applications could provide informal education opportunities to young people.
The second question was: Which actions should decision makers prioritise to put youth at the centre of the global agenda?
Again, the results suggested that youth input should be a priority, because it is important for us as young people to be empowered through our governments and ministries so that we can be part of the decision making process for the long term, not just once. Another trend is the idea of thinking globally, acting locally, also known as glocal.
An active hub in Brazil joined us live to present their ideas, they said we must learn from this conference because everyone that is involved is connected, but many young people are still unconnected. Therefore, a priority for the future must be to connect the unconnected so they too can have a voice.
Ahmad Alhendawi asked the delegates: What are you going to do? Not what do you want the UN to do, not, what do you want your government to do, you as young people are not passive actors, what do you want?
The 24 hour Hackathon wrapped up by announcing the winners as team 1 for their idea Activistas del medio ambiente.
We hope you have enjoyed the first ever #bynd2015 global youth summit, thank you, we know it hasn’t been easy for all of you to get here, but your boundless energy, diverse ideas, and innovative solutions have contributed to the 2013 Costa Rica Declaration and have made this summit a success. We want to hear how we can continue with this process and any suggestions you may have regarding this, so please get in touch!
By Felicity Theaker – Reporting live from the #BYND2015 Global Youth Summit in San José, Costa Rica.
Filed under: Accessibility, Brazil, BYND 2015, bynd2015, Felicity Theaker, Global Youth Summit, Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), UN