23 Apr 2019 Story Youth, education & environment

Youth and Education Alliance: A new partnership for the future

In March 2019, UN Environment took a major step forward in redesigning and rethinking its work around education and youth, when experts from around the world came together to launch the new Youth and Education Alliance (YEA!). The meeting was held with leading professors from over 20 universities in the lead-up to the Fourth UN Environment Assembly and saw the creation of a new two-year plan of action.

The vision for this work is to support a new generation of leaders to be properly equipped to address the environmental challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

With this in mind, the programme will have two work streams. The first is the formal education stream which aims to integrate environmental education into university curricula around the world and to influence campuses to engage in green initiatives.

The second is the non-formal education stream, which includes collaborating with youth movements such as the Scouts, Girl Guides as well as other mass reach partners such as the video gaming industry which communicates with one in three people in the world. Real progress is being made on this front with the new Playing for the Planet paper and the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge which is being run with the support of the British government. Through this work, the aim is to reach youth wherever they are, and to not rely on the campus alone. 

Some of the work that UN Environment and the Youth and Education Alliance will be driving forward in 2019 includes creating new green-collar jobs for young people, exploring a new plan around advocacy and civics, and reassessing how we can support green campuses around the world. Critical to the success of this work will be partnerships with others, both inside and outside of the United Nations.

If you would like to join the Youth and Education Alliance, please complete the Membership Form.

If you’d like to get involved in these plans, please drop the team an email at  unenvironment-yea@un.org

Related Sustainable Development Goals