Shaping the future together!

120 young people from 25 countries spent five days in Cologne discussing how to meet the United Nations' Agenda 2030 and the African Union's Agenda 2063 and how to overcome challenges. The conference "Countdown 2030, 2063, and beyond: Our common future" gave young people between 14 and 30 years of age the opportunity to exchange views on topics such as sustainable consumption, education and social innovations as well as develop strategies for implementation. Young people were not only participants of the conference but also its organisers. Teens from Benin, Burkina Faso, Germany, Cameroon, Malawi and South Africa have been organising the event since February 2019 with support from NEGO-COM (Benin), bridge_it! (Germany) and WESSA (South Africa).

While the priority on the first day was getting to know each other and setting the framework for the conference, on the second day the young participants explored the Agendas 2030 and 2063 and highlighted young people's opinions about our common future. This included young people from various African countries presenting their personal perspectives on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. The participants of the conference were able to develop a basic knowledge of the Global Goals (also called SDGs) and the African Union's Agenda 2063.

On the third day, the focus was entirely on the individual level. How can each individual contribute with his or her knowledge, skills and talents to the achievement of these common goals? In workshops on sustainable consumption, participants trained, taught and learned their skills. Furthermore, participants critically analysed topics such as the Fair Trade seal, sustainable meat consumption and the implementation of Fair Trade schools.

Paper bag instead of plastic? - That is no solution. In a workshop on "paper consumption", participants learned about the damage caused by massive paper consumption. Not only does deforestation play a role, but also the amount of water used to produce paper sheets, towels or boxes. Other consequences are damage to the ecosystem and the diversity of native trees, which are replaced by fast-growing trees. Using reusable materials such as fabric for cloths, napkins and bags is more environmentally friendly than using paper bags. Other solutions discussed were be a kind of deposit system for boxes that can be used when shopping online, and the use of recycled paper.

The third topic block of the conference was entitled "Looking at the big picture: How sharing social innovations can change societies in keeping with the Agendas" and offered young activists the opportunity to engage with innovative ideas, pan-Africanism, global challenges and social innovations in joint workshops, panel discussions and other activities. The conference participants were able to engage with social challenges in a structured and meaningful way and look for innovative solutions from young people.

In a creative workshop, participants had to find innovative solutions to problems such as lack of access to water, lack of health care, climate change and industrial technology. Group 1, for instance, looked at a community with no access to water. In small groups they had to develop ideas that could be implemented in the community. Ecological, economic and social aspects had be taken into account. At the end of the day, all groups met and presented their solutions in the form of a play.

Finally, the conference encouraged all participants to take action. Together, the 120 participants visited the Fridays for Future demonstration in Cologne and were inspired by the commitment of other young activists.