Presentation at the RCE Youth Conference

神戸大学で行われたRCEユース会議に出席しました。RCEとはRegional Centre for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Developmentの略で、国連大学が認定する持続発展教育の地域の拠点で、北九州もその一つなので、私たちもユースメンバーとして活動しています。今年は「交差する知と実践〜ユース・実践者・研究者が描くESDのこれから〜」がテーマで、講演やポスターセッション、ワークショップ等に参加しました。日本中のESDを実践している研究者、行政官、起業家、学生などが出席されていて、多様な立場の方々と交流する貴重な機会となりました。私たちはポスターセッションでアジア太平洋地域のユースと行なった模擬国連についてと、ゴミを拾いながらジョギングを行うプロギングというイベントについて発表を行いました。他の参加者と意見交換を行う中で、多様な考え方や実践に触れることができました。本活動を通して、SDGsやESDへの理解が深まるとともに、社会課題を自分ごととして捉える意識や、主体性・協働の大切さを学びました。今回の経験を今後の学びや活動に活かしていきたいと考えています。

We attended the RCE Youth Conference held at Kobe University. RCE stands for Regional Centre for Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development; these are regional hubs for education for sustainable development accredited by the United Nations University, and as Kitakyushu is one of them, we are also active as youth members. This year’s theme was ‘Intertwined Knowledge and Practice: The Future of ESD as Envisioned by Youth, Practitioners and Researchers’, and we took part in lectures, poster sessions and workshops. The event was attended by researchers, government officials, entrepreneurs and students from across Japan who are actively involved in ESD, providing a valuable opportunity to interact with people from a wide range of backgrounds. During the poster session, we presented on a Model United Nations event we organised with other young people from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as on ‘plogging’—an event where participants jog whilst picking up litter. Through exchanging views with other participants, we were able to encounter a wide range of perspectives and practices. Through this activity, we deepened our understanding of the SDGs and ESD, whilst also learning to view social issues as matters of personal concern and recognising the importance of initiative and collaboration. We hope to apply this experience to our future studies and activities.