The International Youth Forum of the CIS Member States on the Sustainable Development Goals was held on October 13-16 (arrival day was October 12, departure day was October 17) in Moscow. It brought together SDG Youth Ambassadors, representatives of youth associations, leaders of the youth social movement, young professionals, representatives of government bodies and international departments who are actively involved in the promotion and implementation of the SDGs in the CIS.
The International Youth Forum of the CIS Member States on the Sustainable Development Goals is part of the Action Plan for 2021–2022 for the implementation of the Strategy for International Youth Cooperation of the CIS Member States for the period until 2030.
The purpose of the event is to develop cooperation and consolidate the efforts of youth of the CIS Member States to facilitate the work to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and sustainable development benchmarks in their countries and the world.
The tasks:
- increasing awareness of youth of the CIS Member States about the SDGs and their involvement in activities to implement the SDGs,
- forming a pool of active youth leaders involved in the promotion and implementation of SDGs in the CIS,
- formatting the regular open dialogue platform for the exchange of experience, creation of new ideas and projects for the development and implementation of initiatives in the field of sustainable development in the CIS,
- stimulating youth activity, supporting and developing youth initiatives in the field of sustainable development in the CIS,
- developing new effective forms of international youth cooperation, expansion and strengthening of international and interregional cooperation in the field of sustainable development in the CIS,
- encouraging cooperation between youth public associations in the field of sustainable development in the CIS,
- combining the efforts of relevant government agencies and youth public associations to implement the SDGs in the CIS,
- developing proposals and recommendations for international youth cooperation in the field of achieving the SDGs in the CIS.
The work of the forum was carried out in the following areas:
- education and science,
- innovative development,
- social entrepreneurship,
- environmental sustainability,
- responsible consumption,
- health and wellness,
- volunteering.
The participants were 73 people (42 participants from the Russian Federation, 31 participants from the CIS countries) including Youth Ambassadors of the SDGs, representatives of youth associations, leaders of the youth social movement, young professionals, representatives of government bodies and international departments who are actively involved in the promotion and implementation of the SDGs in space of the CIS.
The key results: During the forum the participants familiarized themselves with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, discussed the contribution of youth to achieving the Agenda and reviewed the Strategy for International Youth Cooperation of the CIS Member States for 2021–2030 through the prism of the Sustainable Development Goals development. Workshops on developing skills and competencies and a foresight session on developing a national sustainability model were also held for the participants. During the forum the participants also had the opportunity to visit the All-Russian eco-cultural project #NOTGARBAGEMUSEUM and the Ecocenter of the environmental company "Sobirator".
As a result of the forum the participants developed and presented 15 projects aimed at achieving sustainable development in the Commonwealth. Among them were the Eco-Consulting hackathon aimed at introducing eco-projects into the activities of enterprises and informing businesses about the opportunities of social entrepreneurship, creation of a web interface to help promote small businesses in regional, federal, and international markets (CIS), project on sex education in Kyrgyzstan, school of young researchers aimed at increasing the scientific and professional potential of future specialists by providing independent mentoring support when writing scientific papers/conducting research, creation of an electronic trading platform for the promotion and sale of creative works in the Russian Federation and the CIS Member States, creation of a system for collecting illiquid plant products in chain supermarkets. The following were also decided: conducting a series of awareness-raising lectures/seminars/competitions among the population and managers of production and companies on the topic of responsible consumption of water resources in the household environment, a project to raise awareness and eliminate stereotypes in the field of responsible consumption among the older generation by placing advertising and art objects in public transport and at bus stops. A project to increase the attractiveness of the topic of ecology by training eco-influencers from scratch, creation of an educational program for volunteers to develop a value orientation in volunteer activities, a project to improve competencies in the field of social entrepreneurship for members of NPOs, holding a festival of culture, crafts and creativity, creation of a unified database of academic mobility programs in the EAEU were also considered.
