Youth for Sustainable Living

This project will increase awareness about the sustainable development goals among youth in the Nordic countries. The project collaborates closely with existing organisations encouraging youth to take climate action and inspire peers to live more sustainably. The project is expected to have public impact through information, inspiration, and demonstration of necessary behavioural and cultural changes.

The Nordic Region will be the most sustainable and integrated region in the world by 2030 according to the Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision for Nordic co-operation. The Nordic countries are at the forefront of work on sustainable development and progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, we have to address several challenges, in particular, associated with ecological sustainability. The Nordic countries have unsustainable production and consumption patterns, and this project will focus on working towards SDG 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

The project Youth for Sustainable Living collaborates with established organisations working with youth and sustainability. Through cooperation, events, campaigns and other activities, the project aims to increase knowledge of SDG 12 and encourage youth to take concrete climate actions. The project shall also provide youth with a platform to discuss and disseminate knowledge about sustainable development and promote networking with like-minded peers.

During 2023 the project will participate in the following events:

•  Ungdommens Folkemøde NORD in Copenhagen, 21–22 April
• ReGenereation Week in Åland (in August, dates TBA)
• Nordic Youth Month in Iceland in November

Sustainable living in the Nordic Region

The project is part of the programme Sustainable living in the Nordic Region. The programme consists of six projects that will make it easier to live in a climate-friendly way in the Nordic Region. It is a cross-sectoral Nordic collaboration between the Nordic councils of ministers for gender equality and LGBTI (MR-JÄM), environment and climate (MR-MK), fisheries, aquaculture, agriculture, food and forestry (MR-FJLS), education and research (MR-U), culture (MR-K), and Nordic co-operation (MR-SAM), as well as NORDBUK and the Expert Group for Sustainable Development.

The programme consists of six projects which look at our lifestyle challenges through a unique combination of perspectives and disciplines, across education, gender equality, nutrition, communication, and culture. The expectation is that there’s great potential for creating synergies between various professional groups.

The other projects are:

• Project 1: Sustainable and healthy food systems
• Project 2: Sustainable cultural experiences in the Nordic Region
• Project 3: The Nordic Swan Ecolabel’s contribution to the fulfilment of Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision and climate plan
• Project 4: Sustainable education in the Nordic Region
• Project 5: Sustainability, lifestyle and consumption from a gender equality perspective