Because AEGEE-Budapest is not just a simple student organisation, but a member of an international interdisciplinary network, it is important that our members get updated on topics concerning youth.
The V4DSG conference took place between 23rd and 24th May at Google Grund. The conference was held in English. The main topic of the conference was the current state of the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, especially focusing on Environmental sustainability, and the situation of Youth. The conference consisted of mostly workshops and panels, sometimes in two-three parallel slots, and on the first day there was a networking evening possibility. I mostly attended sessions concerning youth topics, but sometimes I went to a gender equality or a sustainability one as well.
The most important message of the conference was the role of collaboration: the lack of it will result in an inhabitable Earth in a much faster pace, and it is not enough to collaborate on the local level without getting regulations from the states as well. Strengthening the entrepreneurial mindset was also an important conclusion, because it is a field where youth has a lot of possibilities. Lifelong learning will also be an important concept, because it will result in better quality jobs in the future. To lower the generation gap, mixed age groups can provide more leadership experience for young people at work. Female leadership was also considered underrepresented, especially in the V4 countries, where being the first female leader in a company should result in more females being able to secure a leadership position in the future. Last, but not least, I could learn more about the UN Major Group of Youth and Children, which apart from free online courses offers a wide range of grants for youth organisations, so AEGEE-Budapest could check them and maybe get an advantage of them.
To summarise, the conference covered several important topics. Apart from the general conclusions, I think the most important for AEGEE-Budapest was getting in contact with other (student) organisations and getting to know the opportunities at the UN. I strongly suggest that in the future the Board members should attend similar conferences, representing the organisation.
Report was written by Tekla Hajdu