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.
2024 Events
ESDN Youth Workshop 2024 took place on 05-06 September
Day 1 of the ESDN Youth Workshop 2024 was a very intense day filled with keynote discussions and interactive group work on foresight and future scenarios.
Youth Network Members were able to hear from expert Sylvia Veenhoff from the German Environment Agency who provid a background and backdrop for the workshop on strategic foresight and how it is used in your work. In addition, we learned how foresight can help in supporting the transition to sustainability by understanding the structure and dynamics of societal systems, developing visions and goals, recognizing new opportunities and risks at an early stage, as well as supporting future-robust and resilient policy and strategy development.
Youth Network Membes also heard from keynote speaker Miranda Boettcher, from the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, who presented on navigating multilevel challenges in Europe’s climate policy futures. We learned that climate policy is a multifaceted field characterized by the interplay between domestic, regional, and international dynamics. Thinking through the possible future complexities of EU climate policy requires an approach that considers these interconnections. Foresight can help anticipate of interactions between a range of political, economic, technological, and social factors that will play a role in achieving climate
neutrality in Europe.
After our keynote presentations, we asked our Youth Network Members to imagine themselves in four different scenarios, in which the EU achieved climate neutrality by 2050 and asked them how they imagined life and the wellbeing of their generation would look like in 2050 based on these different scenarios thought out by the Joint Research Center.
We also had an hour-long visit from State Secretary Christiane Rohleder from the Ministry of the Environment, where the Youth Members were able to ask questions about how they could get involved more in government processes and what governments need from them to be most effective.
Day 2 of the Workshop was also a very long and intense day of exchange and discussions that built upon the results of the previous day, where the Youth Members worked on crafting a desirable future.
Our Youth Members reevaluated their main ideas and discussed them further. With the help of our moderator Tanja Busse, we were able to distill 4 main issues on where youth would like to see stronger action taken. The issues centered around trust and strong institutions, power, financing and redistribution, and changing mindsets around sustainable development.
The ESDN has tasked the Youth to come up with a way to formulate a way in which they can put their ideas, desires, and demands into writing for their collective and sustainable future.
We as the ESDN are looking forward to the final results and being able to share them with everyone! Stay tuned over the coming weeks for more information.
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.
Memorandum of UnderstandingDownload
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
Since 2020, the Youth Delegates/Representatives started having annual meetings, organized by the ESDN Youth Office. Below are a list of the events that were organized for the Youth Delegates and Representatives, as well as a list of the ESDN events where the young people were invited to participate.
In 2023, the Youth Network was formally established. At the end of 2023, Youth Network Members elected four of their colleagues to serve as ESDN Youth Network Representatives in the ESDN Advisory Board throughout 2024.
The 2025 Youth Network Representatives to the ESDN Advisory Board will be chosen very soon! The elections and voting ends on 13.12.2024.
Webinar with Kristiina Niikkonen, 05.12.2024. She has been a part of the global negotiations for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the 2030 targets for halting biodiversity loss. She now works for the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office on the Priodiversity Life project, aiming to reinforce biodiversity policy coherence according to the 2030 biodiversity targets. She will present on the main question: What are the three levels of biodiversity policy and how can we empower citizens for biodiversity action?
Kristiina will be joined by Antti Ala-Heikkiä and Anna-Sofia Krjukov, who are members of The Young People’s Climate and Nature Group (NUOLI) operating under the Finnish Prime Minister’s Office. In October 2024, NUOLI organized the Finnish Local Conference of Youth (LCOY), bringing together over 300 participants from across the country. The conference acted as a learning experience for the recently founded NUOLI group and an empowering space for community-building and knowledge-sharing, resulting in the Finnish National Youth and Child Environment Statement. Antti and Anna-Sofia will reflect on the key messages voiced in the statement, the current landscape of youth environmental advocacy in Finland, and the lessons gained from organizing LCOY. They will focus on the question: What defines the spirit of Finnish youth as political action on the environmental crisis continues to waver, years after the start of global youth climate strikes?
ESDN Youth Workshop 2024, 05-06 September 2024, Berlin. The ESDN Youth Members dealt with the topic "Europe´s sustainability and climate neutrality in 2050", which featured a lot of work with foresight and scenario building. 33 Youth Network Members from 19 European countries joined this year's Workshop. The Workshop Report can be found below, as well as on the ESDN Events page under Workshops. The Youth Network Members are also working on producing 4 separate ESDN Policy Notes, which will also be featured below and on the Policy Briefs page.
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.
9th ESDN Peer Learning Platform, 22-23 October, Bucharest. 5 Youth Network Representatives went to Bucharest and represented the ESDN Youth Network. 3 of them, Ellie Hutterli (Former Swiss UN Youth Delegate), Mohammad Naeem (Former Irish UN Youth Delegate), and Anisija Ugrinovska (North Macedonian UN Youth Delegate), presented on the outcomes of the ESDN Youth Workshop, as well as to the theme of the Peer Learning Platform, which was the shift in cultural mindset towards more sustainability. They were joined by Antti Regelin (Finnish UN Youth Delegate) and Lauren Jones Brennan (Irish UN Youth Delegate).
ESDN Conference 2024, 05-06 June 2024, Brussels. Three Youth Network Members went to Brussels to represent the ESDN Youth: David Esatia from Georgia, Elisabeth Hosszu from Belgium, and Lukáš Švaňa from Slovakia. All three of these Youth Network Members opened Session 2 of the Conference with a keynote presentation on "Future Forward: ESDN Youth Network Insights on Europe’s Key Issues".
ESDN Young Civil Servants Workshop, 15-16 April 2024, Vienna. One Youth Network Member went to Vienna to represent the ESDN Youth: Saana Ylikruuvi - Member of the Finnish 2030 Agenda Youth Group. She also held a keynote presentation on "Meaningful Participation: How to involve youth in decision and policymaking" and participated in a fishbowl panel discussion.
8th ESDN Peer Learning Platform 2023, 9-10 November 2023, Bern. Three Youth Network Members 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 Network Members 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 Network Members took part in creating a video “17 steps for the 17 goals, which was featured during the conference. 9 Youth Network Members 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 Network Members 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 Youth Network Members 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 Youth Network Members 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 Youth Network Members, Dana Patricia Novăcescu from Romania, Nicolas Kurek from Switzerland and Pia Jorks presented the Vision Document – Youth Manifesto.
Youth Workshop 2024 Discussion PaperDownload