As per experience of myself and my partners (we facilitate a lot of marketing and strategy development for local commercial organizations and NGOs) younger people have significantly more genuine concern for sustainability issues than do more senior members of organization.
As per current global trends covered under SDG6 and SDG14 teenagers when they grow up will have to face more water challenges than we face today as adults. They however have advantage of consciously tackle those challenges now when they are growing up − an opportunity that was not available to their parents back in 80-90s.
We propose to set the creative space for aged 14-18 so that they develop ideas to handle the crisis and later support their prototyping and deployment efforts.
We consider this as one whole day event in January + few hours next day to build reports + online call in late March to have an update on the progress. The day 1 splits out as following:
- Reception and light snacks − 9:30
- Setting the context, raising the issue − 10:00
- Set the Open Space − 11:30
- Lunch − 13:30
- Conclude the Open Space 18:00
- Dinner and the celebration
- Day 2 will produce meeting reports and action plans
As the format will be based on Open Space Technology (OST) there is no predefined agenda − it will be developed by participants on the venue.
We will guide them into development of 1-3 month plans. We, the organisers, will take responsibility to come back and check the implementation status as least once after 2-3 months.
Solutions they develop shall include
- Individual action they can bring into their life which may impact the behavior of their immediate family and close ones
- Local team action they can undertake online or in-person
- Global team action they can propose to their peers in St-Petersburg, Baltic states, Ukraine and other SI-covered locations
Although we don’t want to impose any agenda we assume these topics may surface as the result
- Joint expeditions to Baltic shores of Russia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to clean the aquatory
- Initiatives to study natural water reservoirs utilizing the biochemical tools and instruments they have in place in their school labs (Waldorf schools often have quite a few)
- Mobile technology to promote their ideas to their peers around, including other countries
Again we leave it to their imagination and responsibility to select and take hold of ideas. We will not limit ideas solely to our region − if they will tackle SDG4 more seriously and decide to support the far countries struggling with access to clean water we will support them.