Where: Ottawa, Gatineau, Cornwall and Kemptville, Canada
Solutions: Sustainable cities and communities, Involvement of local communities and indigenous people, Youth
Generation SDG (UNA Canada initiative) is a youth-led programme on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Each year, 60 SDG Ambassadors are equipped with tools to co-create service initiatives in Gatineau, Ottawa, Kemptville and Cornwall. Through leadership skills training and mentorship opportunities, these youth also train and empower their community and peers to design the best possible solutions to address community challenges while driving sustainable innovation and action.
The programme also provides youth with enhanced skills and knowledge on various topics related to the SDGs, project management and international development. Youth obtain an Ambassador toolkit, a step by step guide on how to create community service initiatives, allowing them to succeed in their current and future projects.
In the past two years of the programme, Generation SDG reached about 104 youth aged 15-25 as ambassadors in the programme and engaged 54 mentors to help support the ambassadors. Generation SDG also collaborated with more than 112 partners and community members.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Generation SDG had difficulties establishing the project in new cities such as Kemptville and Cornwall with technology barriers to participants without laptops or internet connection. There was an accommodation need for language minority groups. By delivering all activities in both Canadian official languages and providing access to technology and mental health services, the programme ensured that no participant was left behind during training in the comfort of their homes. Through UNA-Canada＊s dashboard (unacdashboad.unac.org), SDG Ambassadors continue to connect in an online community, track their progress on the initiatives while sharing updates with community members.
Photo provided by Chrystal Bureau
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