and productive employment and decent work for all. It’s important to not just see it like a growth of profit, but like a way to have a balanced development, which creates inclusion and social outcomes. I really think that’s the main contribution of co-operatives and we don’t just provide services or goods, we also offer an opportunity to extend the citizenship into the economics. How can youth, particularly who are involved in co-operatives, make their voices and ideas through the SDGs’ platform heard?
» Chaillou (front, second from left) and the rest of the ICA Youth Network members listen to former ICA President Monique F. Leroux speaks during the plenary session.
In my view, the best asset of youth is to spread the SDGs in peer-to-peer session. Youth is stronger if we can engage our whole generation in commons goals.
Young people are the key to achieving the SDGs, but what we see today is our youth always face considerable challenges, for example, lacking in skills and opportunities needed to reach their potential in creating a bright future for themselves. What is your opinion on this matter? I’m not sure that young people have a lack of skills. In general, youth is even more educated and have better capacities to adapt to a changing and innovating world than the older generations. But youth are facing all the difficulties coming from our age: lack of capital, lack of experimentation, and of course lack of credibility and opportunities. And that’s a pity because I think our generation feels the SDGs is something normal to be achieved and it’s more natural for us than it is for our elders. So with more support from the authorities and the well-established companies, we could transform the society in a good way faster. Let me be clear, I don’t think that youth is always right, but, as we say in France, those who want to oppress youth are always wrong. You must have certain goals relating to SDGs that you want to achieve. Would you mind sharing them with us? It’s complicated because all the SDGs are connected to each other. It’s more like a global society project. I start my commitment when I was a student, so I think I feel a special relationship with the SDG 4, which is “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Education is the key for all the other SDGs. It’s because you have to know one thing before you are able to do the rest of the things. For example, you will respect the environment once you learn about it. It’s also true for the SDGs linked to economic development, which is the next generations can achieve the goals if they knew how to act as worker or consumer. As a co-operator, I’m also sensitive about the SDG 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full
What activities are currently being conducted by the Global Youth Network as an engagement to the 2030 Agenda?
What we (Global Youth Network) want to succeed is providing to the youth movements the co-operative tools. We start a global campaign this month to map all the initiatives led by youth in co-operatives. We’re talking about initiatives in land-access, housing, co-operative insurance, co-operative entrepreneurship and etc. We want to know better all the amazing initiatives already existing, then contact the leaders of those initiatives and help them to create tools and workshop to train people, who can replicate the same initiatives or create much better ones. And to conclude the campaign, we would like to organize a Global Forum for Youth & Co-op during which we could train hundreds of young people to establish co-operatives and replicate the best initiatives. We want to show to an entire generation that co-operative can be the tool to make their initiatives more impactful.
What is your advice for youth who want to get involved in the SDGs but do not know where to begin?
Three points I would say: Start with something which really affects him or her. Think about how to include more people in it since the beginning of the project, and always be focused on the sustainability of the project. PROFILE Sébastien CHAILLOU, aged 30, live in Paris, is the representative of the youth committee of ICA in the ICA board. A former student unionist, he became president of the first student co-operative in France. He is one the co-founders of the Young European Cooperators Network, the ICA’s Youth entity for Europe. He’s also the vice-president of the French young cooperators network and committed in many co-operative projects like co-operative co-working spaces.
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