The Future is written by the ones who are acting today. The Future does not belong to the ones who are waiting, the Future belongs to the ones who are planning, from today.
This quote was hung on the wall of the Universidad Siglo XXI, where I got the chance to represent Italy as delegate of the Youth Summit Y20, the most influential and recognized youth platform and forum gathering the young leaders of the G20 countries. Since 2010, young people are gathering to discuss the challenges of the world we live in, to create powerful solutions, that are inclusive and resilient for all populations.
I was amazed to listen to inspiring stories from youth leaders who are already creating positive impact in their communities. The determination of Ryan, founder of Virtualahan, a tech enterprise from the Philippines, that builds an ecosystem for vulnerable communities to thrive by empowering people with disabilities through education, digital skills and technical and vocational training. The courage of Wadi, founder and chairman of Wadi Ben-Hirki Foundation, fighting against the jihadist militant organization Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria through empowering children and supporting them from the trauma of war and destruction, through love education, giving back to society and getting an education to fulfill their dreams. The passion of Raya, founder of the Awe Academy, an online educational platform that offers global learners the opportunity to learn, connect and solve humanity’s grand challenges, offering Awecademy serves to empower a new generation of life-long learners and active doers, nurturing innovators and critical thinkers, who can see the big picture, taking a cosmic perspective, having a sense of awe and wonder into education (courses range from contemporary philosophy, to the meaning of Life, Love and Death, The Human Project, Future Studies, Arts, Culture and Society, Intelligent Optimism).
Human stories of Innovators who challenged the status quo, disrupting, adapting and changing the way we look at the world, bringing us new ways of seeing it, new opportunities, new possibilities. Leaders, mentors, guides from the World Bank, UNESCO, OECD, and young leaders organizations AIESEC and EIDOS, enlightened us on social entrepreneurship and the possibility for us to create a Social Innovation Warehouse, starting from already-existing projects, which we transformed into actionable projects, ready to be scalable and replicable, all around the globe.
With tenacity, long hours of writing, curiosity, open-mindedness and continuous dialogue, we created some Policy Recommendations that we will advocate back in our countries, for governments to understand the need to listen to the Voices of the Youth, who are shaping the present by questioning what for us is not right today, and what we propose to do, in order to make it better. To me, assuming that we are all Human Beings willing to live a life of happiness, purpose and love and that we are all in the “same life boat” ( as I like saying to my friends), Life is about changing and adapting everyday, according to environments and circumstances, we must be flexible and dynamic, willing to learn and to have a critical eye on the world, to be able to build an inter-generational dialogue with wise women and men of other generations, and bridging the gap of silence and inertia.
The Solution is Togetherness. Interaction brings Cross-cultural understanding and Empathy, willingness to change together and live in a fairer and more just world, including everyone. Listening and Negotiating is important, the core part of the process. Perseverance in the Ideas is Key, understanding the environment in which we live and surrounding yourself with good people who support and help you are equally essential.
Close to my heart is the topic is the Future of Work, which is so precarious nowadays, for me and my generation. Temporary appointments, yearly contracts and seasonal jobs do not favor financial stability, thus do not help, in the possibility and dream to create love and a stable family in one geographical zone. For this, we conceived some action points for G20 Governments to reflect upon, regarding, for instance, the establishment of a social protection scheme that protects the individual, irrespective of job and employment
status to ease workers’ transition across sectors and geographies. To make sure both women and men have the possibility to advance in their careers, without neglecting their families, we envisioned a world where non-transferable parental leave is ensured, so that both mothers and fathers take some time off work to be with their children, without jeopardizing the advancement in their career paths. Finally, re-skilling, re-training for professional development would need to be included in private and public sector policies, to enable workers to stay relevant in the ever-changing job market ( more skills- technological, hard and soft skills).
Building on the Future We Want, the revolutionary outcome document from the Rio+10 Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 2012 on Sustainable Development, we have our Summit Declaration from Cordoba, that we wish governments could take into consideration and understand that a Change is needed to ensure the happiness, health and preparation of Young Leaders of tomorrow, starting from today.
Now it is our turn to advocate, to make things real, to live and hope for the best, and for this, with energy and passion to make things real and tangible, i wish to inspire you with these quotes, that can cascade the inspiration and live up for a better tomorrow, and for the betterness of humankind, with kindness, respect, and actions.
The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without feat for newer and richer experience”- Eleanor Roosevelt
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness”- Desmond Tutu
Ciao!
@GaiaParadiso