A ‘Young persons guide to RIO+20 and the Millennium Development Goals’ was launched recently by ECO-UNESCO, Ireland’s environmental education and youth organisation, at the Greenhouse in Dublin.
As the world leaders gathered in Brazil for the Rio+20 UN World Summit on Sustainable Development from 20th-22nd June, young Irish people joined ECO-UNESCO to celebrate their own ‘Dublin+20′ initiatives.
The ‘Young Person’s Guide to Rio+20 and the Millennium Development Goals’ was compiled with the help of ECO-UNESCO Youth Peer Educators.
A youth photography exhibition entitled ‘Camera on Citizenship – Global Views’ was also launched, which is showcasing photographs taken by young people all over Ireland demonstrating their own ideas of what it means to be an active European and Global Citizen. The exhibition is now open to the public at the Greenhouse, 17 St Andrew Street, Dublin 2.
ECO-UNESCO’s Dublin+20′ is the culmination of a series of events and activities which have been organised as part of the ECO-UNESCO Youth for Sustainable Development Programme, supported by Irish Aid and Leargas, which has provided young Irish people the opportunity to voice their own concerns about the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Through the ECO-UNESCO programme, young people have had the opportunity to learn about the key issues on the Rio+20 agenda including food, water, energy, job, cities, the oceans and natural disasters. They have also had the opportunity to voice their concerns and to discuss these issues with a panel of experts, including Paul Cunningham, RTÉ News Correspondent and representatives from the National Youth Council Ireland and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government at the ECO-UNESCO National Youth Meeting. The young participants have demonstrated great enthusiasm and interest in Rio+20 and their ideas and creative images have been an invaluable contribution for Young Person’s Guide and the Photo Exhibition at the Dublin+20 event.
‘We are delighted to run these youth events and to produce this young persons guide to RIO+20 and the Millennium Development Goals’, commented Elaine Nevin, National Director of ECO-UNESCO. ‘We want to make RIO+20, understandable and a reality for Ireland’s young people, many who won’t be able to attend the conference in Brazil, and to give them an opportunity to voice their issues and concerns related to global development, environmental protection and youth participation.’