Youth for Sustainable Living

The Youth for Sustainable Living project is all about increasing awareness and engagement towards sustainable lifestyle choices in the Nordic countries with a special focus on young people. The project has collaborated closely with organisations encouraging youth to take climate action and inspire peers to live more sustainably. Through cooperation, events, campaigns and other activities, the project aim was to increase knowledge of SDG12 (sustainable consumption and production) and encourage youth to take concrete climate actions.

"Those who are committed are a small clique, (...) but there is a large mass in the middle who are just trying to survive the teenage years and figure out what they want to do with their lives. How do we reach them?"

– Interview quote, Climate, Youth and Gender report

Key outputs

In practice, the project has initiated collaboration and facilitated policy discussion with several youth-led organisations across the Nordics to boost their outreach and impact – getting their members and followers to act for sustainable living and climate-neutral communities. For instance, through peer-to-peer learning, an online leadership programme, inter-generational dialogue, high-school hackathons, youth inclusion in local politics, activism, and campaigning.

The project had a broader public impact by also sponsoring broader participation and activities at Nordic youth conferences and meeting places such as ReGeneration Week on Åland. The aim was to offer youth more platforms to network, share and build knowledge about sustainable living and promote it among peers. The project also invited young role models to speak at panel discussions and important events promoting SDG12 – including the UN High-level Political Forum on the SDGs 2024 and Sustainable Living Summit. We also collaborated with Nordic sustainability influencers to promote mindful consumption and lifestyle choices. For example, an informational influencer campaign over Black Friday, "Escaping fast fashion", that resulted in 315k+ views in total.

Furthermore, the project initiated a study in collaboration with NIKK who coordinates the Gender and Sustainable Living project, exploring youth and climate engagement from a gender perspective. The study, based on a survey and interviews with Nordic youth organisations, resulted in a report and webinar Where are the boys in climate action? in August 2024.

More youth-focused activities include:

Webinar on youth engagement for sustainable communities launching the policy brief, Youth as Partners in the Green transition (nordregio.org)
The report on climate engagement from a gender and youth perspective together with NIKK, Climate, Youth and Gender: Inclusion Strategies for Nordic Youth Movements (nordregio.org)
Youth focus group on just green transition and sustainable living with the Nordic NJUST project, with main messages and recommendations summarised in a policy brief.
Workshop on sustainable living in rural areas with Nordregio’s GenZ Agency project.
Panel discussion at Nordregio Forum and MR-R meeting in Iceland in October 2023.
Youth engagement chapter written in collaboration with the Nordic Youth Network for Sustainable Development, for the 2024 Nordic VSR report to the United Nations: The Nordic View on Sustainability (VSR): Learnings from the Local Level (nordregio.org)
Workshops for youth to learn hands-on methods for upcycling to promote mindful textile consumption, hosted by Icelandic designer Ýrúrarí at the Nordic House in Reykjavik 2023 and at the Nordic-Baltic Youth Summit 2024 in Vilnius.

Policy recommendations

Key messages from youth to local governments:

Implement principles for real participation in all youth inclusion measures
Create local youth councils and youth groups in collaboration with schools
Utilize social media and digital platforms to reach youth where they are, beyond the youth council members
Focus more on all SDGs in education, not just climate issues

Future directions

Checklist for effective youth engagement for sustainable development:

Meet them where they are. Reach out to young people in their natural environments, such as schools, youth clubs, and online platforms where they are active.
Set clear expectations. When organising meetings or discussions, define clear objectives and agendas. Instead of vague questions, ask for input on specific topics to focus the conversation.
Listen to their needs. Approach young people with an open mind. Avoid preconceived notions about their needs, concerns, and desires. Actively listen to their perspectives; their insights are invaluable.
Empower them to lead. Trust young people to take the lead and contribute to the development of solutions. Engage them in activities like hackathons that encourage creative problem solving.
Highlight positive examples. When discussing topics like climate change, emphasise positive examples and achievements. This can help alleviate climate anxiety among young people and inspire hope.
Make and keep commitments. Make concrete commitments to young people, and then provide regular updates on the progress of these commitments. Transparency is key to building trust.
Sustain the dialogue. Continuously engage in dialogue with young people and ensure follow-up on their ideas and concerns. Such ongoing conversation is vital for meaningful youth participation in local development.
Acknowledge diversity. Do not approach youth as a homogenous group. Acknowledge and address young people who are rarely invited or from marginalised communities, including vulnerable groups and those with fewer opportunities.