By Gabriela Monteiro and Lisa Jokivirta

Sunday, 25 November

The Youth Leadership Team (YLT) kicked off the second day of the Conference with a bang! The 12 hours that we spent at the Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) were split between a wide range of activities – from facilitating workshops, to sampling local foods and delicacies, to meeting the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Forests of India. A number of our Team contributed to working groups of personal interest (Sustainable Consumption, World Heritage Sites, Cities of the Future, and HIV/AIDS) and we were particularly involved in the Youth Working Session over the course of the day.

In the morning, Lisa, Didier and Dominic combined forces to facilitate a session aimed at developing a youth vision for environmental education. This involved drafting a sorely-needed definition of sustainable development by youth and coming up with a visual representation of sustainability through a participatory process. Both were later presented to the Secretary of the Ministry of the Environment and Forests, Government of India, Ms. Meena Gupta.

The result of the Youth Session was great. We had more than 30 young people from around the world who actively participated in creating a definition of sustainable development and a call to action:

“Sustainable development is the commitment to and implementation of a balance in all development activities of society, while conserving the environment.”

“Ensure environmental integrity by working together to engage and empower the population for a secure future for all.”

Youth were encouraged to discuss their perspectives about sustainable development on the basis of their own local realities and contexts. These discussions highlighted a number of different contributions and opinions, but the process leading up to the final definition was widely described as both an enriching means and end onto itself.

After a long day of workshops, we had an informal gathering at the CEE to get to know other Earth Charter Council Members, Advisors, Affiliates, youth and staff who were also participating in the Conference. We introduced ourselves as the new YLT, and had a great time sharing experiences and learning more about each other. The YLT was very happy to finally put a face to those names that we had heard so much about, and who contribute to such wonderful and inspiring work being carried out by the Earth Charter.

As we write, we are exhausted after 12 hours of intense activities, but are very happy about the many contacts we made and things we learned. Now, only 4 days remain before the end of the Conference, and we are ready to make the most of every second of every minute of every hour until we leave!! So, watch out Ahmedabad – here come the YLT for Day 3!!