London+20: Part 1

June was a very busy month! I was involved with quite a few children and youth projects and events. I will write some posts on these, giving links, in case any of them interest you.

They are: helping to organise London+20 - a youth conference which took place in the run up to Rio+20; attending the Taking the Rights Steps Conference, on children's rights, at Swansea University, where a new children's rights Observatory was launched, and organising two fundraisers coming up in July for Children's Helpers Worldwide.

London+20

London+20, 5 June 2012

The UN conference on sustainable development took place in Rio de Janeiro from June 20 - 22. The movement, MyCity+20, encouraged young people to organise simulations and have their own conferences on sustainable development, in the run up to Rio+20. I was on the organising committee for London+20. 

The morning started with some talks from representatives of various organisations and then the participants were split into working groups with the themes: Informal Education for Sustainable Development; Green Jobs for Youth; Global Governance for Sustainable Development; and Sustainable Cities. Everyone then came together at the end of the afternoon and presented the outcomes of each working group. I have made some brief notes on the sessions here, which you can download, if you are interested. (It really is all in note form, so if someone else produces a report from the day, I will provide a link to it!)

Many have been disappointed with the outcome from Rio+20, as it was too weak. If we really care for the welfare of today's children, and future generations too, we must take action to make sustainable development a reality, or we will be handing over a world in a very poor state. The links below can be starting points for finding out more information and taking action:

Here are links to the organisations represented during the morning sessions at London+20:
1. Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future
This is a great site for keeping updated with global sustainable development issues.
2. Ecocide is a Crime
Join the campaign to make ecocide a crime.
3. Commonwealth Youth Climate Network
Network for young climate activists across the Commonwealth.

Another interesting campaign I heard about at London+20, was Future Justice and their campaign for a Ombudspersons for Future Generations. You can see their website here.

If you have any questions about London+20 or have any useful links of your own to share, please leave a comment!