Have you ever thought about being part of something extraordinary? To use your voice and create awareness of the many things that affect your town, country, and planet? Have you ever thought about changing the world? The world needs you more than ever. You have the power to build sustainable cities, help people, and transform today for a better tomorrow. 

Don't believe it? 

When we are young and our minds are full of creativity, and imagination we can build dreams without restrictions. That inspiration, drive, and force are what we need to move away from the 'old ways' into a whole new way of living. This is where organizations such as the Diproinduca Foundation's Drawing Contest can inspire young minds such as yourself to start thinking about sustainability. 

António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations, said, "The Sustainable Development Goals are more important now than ever. Now is the time to secure the well-being of people, economies, societies, and our planet." 

Together, we can change the world. 

Creating Bridges to Sustain Development: 

Globalization is a word you might have heard before, either at school or on the news. Globalization focuses on the interdependence within countries and their economies, cultures, and populations. In other words, is when we trade goods or services, technology, information, and expertise across countries. Globalization has been vital for humanity, and it remains at the center of all economies. It works just like when you work in a team, and each one of the members of the team has a task. If we all do our jobs effectively, the team succeeds. But it requires communication between parties and a lot of collaboration. Have you been part of a team where one member sits around and does nothing? It hampers the success of the whole team. Just like that, all countries need to participate to become better at being sustainable and eco-friendly. Therefore the UN's 17 Sustainability Goals are so important. 

Can you think of ways you can work with local groups at school to achieve a common goal? For example, to encourage or develop a recycling scheme in your local community. Then, can you take it a step further and think about what you can do with those recycled materials? Recycling on its own is not enough; we need to find ways to reuse those materials and put them back into the economy. 
 

Rethinking Environmental Leaderships: Young and Leading 

Have you heard of Greta Thunberg? Greta started protesting outside the Swedish parliament in 2018 when she was just 15 years old. She stood her ground, and with conviction, she conducted a "School Strike for Climate" to pressure the government to meet their carbon emissions targets.

Her small and mighty campaign had a global effect, inspiring thousands of young people worldwide to organize their own strikes. And it worked! By December 2018, more than 20,000 students - from the UK to Japan - had joined her by skipping school to protest.

A year later, Greta received the first of three Nobel Peace Prize nominations for climate activism. Since then, she has also participated in many UN discussions and partnered with non-governmental organizations (NGOs). She is an example that no action is too small toward bringing awareness. However, we are not saying you should go on strike. Instead, we encourage you to think outside the box. 

Knowledge Sharing & Cooperation 

Sharing is caring. This is true in more than one way. For example, did you know one of the reasons humans have evolved over other species is because we share learned information? Back in the Paleolithic Period, also called the Old Stone Age, humans shared information about what food to eat, where to hunt, and how to use the materials available for the greater good. It was this sharing ability that led to our species evolution. Likewise, future development will only come from sharing knowledge and working together in today's world. 

Can you think of a situation where something you learned and shared helped someone else?