UNESCO World Youth Conference

Greetings from Stuttgart, Deutschland! I’m here attending the UNESCO World Youth festival. Essentially, the festival is a chance for youth to exchange ideas and culture as well as to be educated on particular issues affecting the world. For two of the days, there has been a World Youth Congress, which was focused on energy and climate change. I’m one of fourteen International Climate Champions from six countries who came to help lead the climate change workshops and speak at the opening ceremony.

This evening, several ICCs and I spent time with staff from the festival to formulate all the ideas borne in the workshops into a single, cohesive Stuttgart Declaration. Although the language of the document in itself is nothing of note, the fact that such a diverse crowd of youth is assembling to discuss solutions to these problems without attention to national pride, patriotism, or selfishness is significant. Regardless of the actual substance produced on paper, the real benefits of this festival, albeit intangible, are the connections and friendships made amongst youth of such myriad cultures. It is when people have these experiences early in their lifetimes that they grow up to treat and respect others’ cultures with zeal unseen in those who have only been confined to their own people. It is an experience I wish others could be so lucky to also enjoy!