UxGE Youth Leaders for a Sustainable Future (Part I)

On 23th December 2024, in Brussels (Belgium) from 15:00 to 17:00 CET Out of the Box International hosted the Workshop 1: Youth Leaders for a Sustainable Future where the United for a Green Europe project (UxGE) was overviewed and further discussed the project’s future activities. This event had as a main aim to provide a safe space for Youth leaders to co-create and deliver an impactful workshop in order to inspire sustainable change in participants’ local communities based on principles of leadership, critical thinking, active participation and environmental protection.

We took the chance during this meeting to facilitate team building and getting to know activities, as well as to present the activities that will follow in the project implementation (creation of proposals, Brussels mobility, etc.) to encourage, motivate and engage participants to be part in these following activities as well. This workshop provided the perfect opportunity for participants to meet each other and create strong bonds, as well as get hands on experience to trigger their leadership skills, critical thinking and active participation in their local communities, intertwining youth participation and green innovation to shape sustainable solutions for the future of Europe!

The discussion was concealed for participants to reflected on their own experience in their local communities and how important youth involvement is in the conversation regarding the digital and green agenda, as well as how to intertwine these priorities areas to support sustainable cities with the goal of building a better future in Europe. Main takeaways of the event concern hands-on activities which foster leadership, critical thinking, active participation in the community and sustainability activities.

Finally, participants acknowledged that it is crucial to develop key competencies in young people who are willing to become youth leaders; activities like this one are necessary to promote active participation of young people in democratic life and in society; and ultimately, the work done by civil society organisations (CSOs) is highly important to pave the way to conquer greater, greener and more inclusive democracies.