Together with other Luxemburgish NGOs involved in development education, the Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were presented last week to the students of the National School for Adults (ENAD), to raise awareness about SDGs and explore with them their role and opportunities to participate in their advancement.

Overview of the SDGs by the OWODOF consortium: “Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future” with Scout-FNEL, Chrétiens pour le Sahel, Les Amis du Tibet, Klimabündnis, Caritas et Aide à l’enfance de l’Inde et du Népal (AEIN).

Aged between 18 and 26, the youth from ENAD showed great interest and commitment in the workshops. It was a great joy to meet them! 

After reviewing the nature of each of the 17 SDGs and their interconnections, the youth were able to share their deep convictions and themes that are dear to their hearts, particularly health, poverty, gender equality and the importance of education.

Games of placing various objects in the category of the SDG to which they correspond; some participate in the SDG and others do not, and that some objects can sometimes be placed in several categories at once.

Unity Foundation then looked in more detail at SDG 4.7: “Quality Education. Education for development” with some 30 students, through which we explored the different dimensions of our education and how they serve to contribute to the improvement of society when they are guided by common values and put into practice in our daily lives.

Four groups were formed according to the interests of the students to cover the four goals of SDG 4.7: 

1. Promote sustainable development and lifestyles,
2. Promote human rights and gender equality,
3. Promote a culture of peace and non-violence,
4. Promote global citizenship, appreciation of cultural diversity and the contribution of culture to sustainable development.

Workshop on SDG 4.7.

During one of the activities, the youth sorted the cards they received according to whether the statements on them promoted their subgoal or not. Then they organized the cards according to whether they were a knowledge to know, a value to believe in, or an action to take.

Identifying these three interconnected pillars of education strengthens their understanding of how the knowledge they acquire through their education must be complemented by moral values, and how they can be agents of change in their communities. By identifying individual knowledge, values, and attitudes that can help promote their goals, the youth came away from the workshop motivated and confident in their power to act.

Another exchange inviting them to identify their talents allowed them to reinforce their awareness that each of them, according to their talents and interests, can participate in the achievement of one or more of the SDGs. This perception also allowed us to redefine together our human identity: the identity of an individual is not limited to his or her physical or social characteristics but to his or her capacity to make efforts to contribute to positive changes in his or her environment.  

At the end of the workshop, the youth gave feedback on the workshop and shared the words that summarized the day for them: realize the role you have, stand up for justice and human rights and change ways of thinking, don’t make racist jokes even with friends, respect values and put them into practice. 

Many thanks to ENAD for hosting us and to our dear colleagues from OWODOF! 

“Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that… he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No… there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.” 

Bahá’í writing