After three inspiring and interesting roundtable discussions, one high school student from each campus has now been nominated and invited to participate in the Global Youth Institute in Des Moines, USA, this fall.
All the high school students who took part in this year's round table discussion showed great commitment and interest in the global challenges that exist with secure food supply. It was a tough choice for the expert jury, but after weighing up the oral presentations and the written judgments, there were three students who had shown extra great commitment. From Maja Beskowgymnasiet in Umeå, Maja wrote her essay about sustainable agriculture in Zimbabwe, Erik from Celsiusskolan in Uppsala wrote about access to clean water in Somalia and Melisa from Öresundsgymnasiet in Landskrona wrote about education for a secure food supply in Albania. In the fall, the three will have the opportunity to go to Global Youth Institute in USA, an international round table discussion with experts and participants from other Youth Institutes around the world organized by World Food Prize Foundation.
During the year, 450 students from Landskrona, Malmö, Lund, Ystad, Uppsala, Lycksele, Strömsund and Umeå have been part of SLU Youth Institute and taken on the challenge of writing about a global problem linked to food security. By choosing a problem linked to a specific country, the students have had to immerse themselves in one or some of the complex challenges the world is facing and present sustainable solutions to them. A task that requires great commitment from both teachers and students. The teachers have been able to design the task based on any school subject of their choice but with two thing in common – the connection to Agenda 2030 and global food security.
New for this year is the inspirational programme given in parallel with the round table discussions. The students who are not part of the round table discussions are invited to learn more about SLU's education and research. The inspiration programme was very successful and the plan is to continue with the concept next year as well.
"That so many teachers and students are interested in taking on the challenge and writing a Global Challenge is fantastic! The interest in sustainability issues in society is great and being able to connect it to the UN's sustainability goal number 2, No hunger, feels extremely important. The fact that we can contribute to spread knowledge and increase interest in these issues among our youth feels great," says Anna-Klara, SLU Youth Institute project manager.
For more information please contact one of the coordinators on e-mail: youthinstitute@slu.se
Anna-Klara Lindeborg (Uppsala region):
Telephone: +46-(0)730-88 64 47
Kristina Karlsson Green (Skåne region):
Telephone: +46-(0)40-41 53 02
Elisabeth Nyström (Umeå Region):
Telephone: +46(0)90-786 82 38