An international, youth-led conference in Cologne from 2nd to 6th December 2019

* * * Now it’s over again! In our blog you find some reports and videos so you can gain an insight into five unbelievable days. * * *

All over the world youth is raising their voices.

On streets, schoolyards and in parliaments, a new generation demands their right to a climate-friendly and sustainable livable world. Last year’s „Our Common Future“ conference invited young people from South-North projects to join the movement and to share, make progress and promote their ideas of sustainable development.

The conference „Our Common Future“ from 2 to 6 December 2019 brought together youth who are already active in international exchanges. In particular, all members of South-North School Partnerships and all South Volunteers who are currently in Germany were invited.

The countdown is running. Time for action.

Should temperatures continue to rise beyond 2030, we will face more frequent droughts and floods, more extreme heat and the poverty of 100 million people. In extreme cases this means: the end of humanity. To meet this most pressuring problem requires a new kind of collaboration. The participants discussed new approaches on how to guide the debates on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. They learned how they can participate in the Agenda 2063, which is to lead the African continent into a social, economic and ecological transformation. They shared their projects and took next steps for collective action – globally and locally.

The conference programme has been organised by young people in Benin, Burkina Faso, Germany, Cameroon, Malawi and South Africa. These teams had defined all themes and formats. There were three thematic blocks.

  • Theme A, 03.12.2019 – Exploring and Challenging the Agendas 2030 and 2063
  • Theme B, 04.12.2019 – Taking action on an individual level: Sustainable Consumption in the focus (SDG 12)
  • Theme C, 05.12.2019 – Exploring Social innovations as a means to transform society in light of the agendas.

The programme in detail can be found here.

We had 142 people from 22 countries and five continents at the conference. It was amazing!