Are you a UN Youth Delegate or Representative on Sustainable Development or a member of a national youth council from one of the European countries? Write us an email at mariia.kostetckaia[at]wu.ac.at and we will be happy to inform you and welcome you at one of the ESDN Youth Network’s events.

Upcoming Events

ESDN Youth Workshop 2024

The ESDN Youth Workshop 2024 will take place in September 2024. It will offer a platform for the members of the ESDN Youth to discuss matters related to them, to learn from experts and to share experiences. Stay tuned for more information on the Workshop! Please find information about previous ESDN Youth Workshops here.

About us – Youth in the ESDN

Young people should have a say on matters that concern them and should be able to engage in the decision-making process at the EU level in a structured and formal way as critical agents of change. With this in mind, the ESDN in consultation with the young people started developing a concept of the ESDN Youth Network in 2020.The Network was formally established in 2023 with an aim of incorporating the voice of Youth in the ESDN activities. The main target group of the ESDN Youth Network is the UN Youth Delegates and other Youth Representatives for Sustainable Development from European countries.

The ESDN Youth Network is supported by the Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (Germany).

What we do

One of the main goals of the ESDN Youth Network is to support UN Youth Delegates and Representatives for SD from Europe in their activities by: facilitating networking, providing access to practitioners and decision-makers from the ESDN countries, inviting to be an active participant in the ESDN events and offering workshops and lectures on relevant topics.

Why should you participate?

Are you a UN Youth Delegate or a Youth Representative on Sustainable Development from one of the European countries? Join the ESDN Youth Network and enjoy the following benefits:

  • Networking. Several times a year, the ESDN Youth Network organizes informal meetings and workshops where you can get to know UN Youth Delegates/Representatives from other countries and discuss issues that are relevant to youth.
  • Active participation in the ESDN events. Members of the ESDN Youth Network are invited to attend the ESDN events and to speak at them, voicing the opinions of the youth.
  • Direct exchange with high-level European policymakers. The ESDN Youth Network provides a space for Youth Representatives and policymakers and to connect and exchange perspectives on SD issues regularly at the events of the ESDN and at the yearly ESDN Youth Workshop.
  • Strengthening your position as a voice of youth. Participation in the network offers numerous opportunities to express your opinions to your peers and to European policymakers.
  • Participation in the ESDN Advisory Board. 1-2 Youth Delegates/Representatives, nominated by the youth themselves every year, can become part of the Advisory Board upon invitation by the Executive Committee. The ESDN Advisory Board supports the tasks of the ESDN, advises the Executive Committee and helps to decide on the content of the annual work program.
  • Webinars. The ESDN Youth Network organizes webinars on topics of relevance, inviting specialists to speak about their area of expertise. In the course of the webinars, young people can ask questions and discuss the topic with their peers.

ESDN Youth Support - More information

Write us an email at mariia.kostetckaia(at)wu.ac.at with any questions you have. We would be happy to welcome you at one of the ESDN Youth Network’s events.

ESDN Youth Support Team

ESDN Youth Support Team

 

Ursula Kopp

 
Institute for Managing Sustainability at the Vienna University of Economics and Business
 
Email: ursula.kopp[at]wu.ac.at
 
 

 

Mariia Kostetckaia

Institute for Managing Sustainability at the Vienna University of Econmics and Business
 
Email: mariia.kostetckaia[at]wu.ac.at
 
 
ESDN Youth Network History
Events organised for Youth Delegates/Representatives

Webinar with Dorine van Norren, 10.01.2024, online. Dorine is a diplomat, a researcher at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society, an adviser to the Dutch Ministry for foreign affairs and an artist. She gave a presentation comparing the SDGs and non-western wellbeing theories, such as Ubuntu, Gross National Happiness (Bhutan) and Buen Vivir concept, and the members of the network had an open discussion about these concepts.

ESDN Youth Workshop 2023, 25-28 October 2023, Berlin. Under the title “How can Europe shape a sustainable world?”, the event dealt with the topic of spillover effects, Europe’s responsibility for them and policies to address such effects. 41 Youth Delegates and Representatives from 21 European countries attended the event. For the first time, young ESDN civil servants were also invited to take part, and 9 young civil servants from 6 countries attended the ESDN Youth Workshop. As a result of the Workshop, young people produced a Policy Brief “Integrating Youth Perspectives in Addressing SDG Spillovers”. Photos from the event can be accessed here. The workshop report can be found here.

Webinar with Peter Schmidt, 4 October 2023, online. Peter Schmidt is a President of the Section for Agriculture, Rural Development and the Environment (NAT) and a chair of the Ad hoc group on COP at the European Economic and Social Committee. During the webinar, he openly discussed with the young people needed fundamental changes in the economic model.

ESDN Youth Workshop 2022, 2-3 September 2022, Berlin. 21 Youth Delegates from 13 countries met the German State Secretary for Consumer Protection, Dr. Christiane Rohleder, received several short expert inputs and then discussed the three main topics:

  • Climate Justice, biodiversity, energy transition, and ecological economics
  • Youth involvement, digitalization and education; and
  • Human rights and forced migration.

These discussions served as a ground of youth participation and presentations at the following events: ESDN Conference 2022 and the 20th ESDN Workshop.

Virtual getting-to-know meeting, June 2022, online. At this meeting, the Youth Delegates/Representatives got to know each other and shared their ideas about the creation of a permanent ESDN Youth Network.

ESDN Youth Workshop 2021, 13 November 2021, online. Seventeen Youth Delegates and Representatives from all over Europe met to discuss, exchange experiences and together develop a manifesto with demands to the ESDN and European policy-makers.

European Youth Camp 2020, 10-11 October 2020, Berlin. European young people were invited prior to the ESDN Conference 2020 to formulate inspiring and challenging ideas for a sustainable European Green Deal as a roadmap towards a sustainable European future. As a result of this event, young people produced Youth Manifesto.

ESDN Events in which Youth Delegates/Representatives took part

8th ESDN peer-learning platform 2023, 9-10 November 2023, Bern. Three Youth Representatives went to Bern to represent the ESDN Youth: Ellie Hutterli – UNYD from Switzerland, Mohammad Naeem – UNYD from Ireland, and Lukas Kasica – UNYD from Poland. The delegates presented the results of the discussions on the spillover effects that they had developed during the ESDN Youth Workshop in Berlin.

21st ESDN Workshop 2023, 22-23 May 2023, Vienna. The workshop dealt with two topics, “Culture and Sustainable Development” and “SDG Implementation in Policymaking – Approaches in SDG Budgeting, Mainstreaming, and Performance Management”. Four Youth Delegates took part in a round table and presented their ideas on Youth-proofing Policies through the Intergenerational Test(s): Marvin Huber (Austria), Victoria Savova (Bulgaria), Lara Bertemes (Luxembourg) and Michal Salini (Slovakia).

ESDN Conference 2023, 15-16 March 2023, Stockholm. The title of the conference was: “Halfway to 2030 – Where does Europe stand and how does it move forward?” 13 Youth Delegates took part in creating a video “17 steps for the 17 goals, which was featured during the conference. 9 Youth Delegates participated in the conference and presented the video “17 Steps for 17 SDGs” , their thoughts on the conference theme and participated actively in working groups in Stockholm.

20th ESDN Workshop, 23 November 2022, online. The title of the workshop was “SDGs and Human Rights”. Two Youth Delegates participated in the panel on Human Rights Defenders and presented their input on Human Rights and Forced Migration due to Climate Change: Emma Merikanto, Youth Representative from Finland & Ellie Hutterli, UN Youth Delegate from Switzerland

ESDN Conference 2022, 4-5 October 2022, Bucharest. Two delegates from Romania participated in the Conference on “Europe’s Position as Leading Change Agent against the Triple Planetary Crisis – Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Pollution”: Elena Miron, UN Youth Delegate, Social Innovation Solutions & Mihai Marica, UN Youth Delegate. They could voice their opinion during the Session on Europe’s Position in the Triple Planetary Crisis – Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss and Pollution. They also had a chance to meet with the ESDN Executive Board and to share their ideas on how youth can be involved in the ESDN activities.

ESDN Conference 2021, 30 November – 1 December 2021, online, on “European Recovery and Resilience Mechanisms - Challenges in systemic approaches in SD”. Two UN Delegates presented the Youth Manifesto. Lara Schummer, UN Youth Delegate for Luxembourg, Luxembourg & Daniel Samuelsson, UN Youth Delegate for the High Level Political Forum, Sweden.

ESDN Conference 2020, 12-13 October 2020, online, on “The European Green Deal: Our Pact for the Future”. Three UN Delegates and Representatives, Dana Patricia Novăcescu from Romania, Nicolas Kurek from Switzerland and Pia Jorks presented the Vision Document – Youth Manifesto.

Documents