NMC 1st World Youth Meeting: Making Plans & Initiating Progress
I attended the NMC 1st World Youth Meeting for a Sustainable Future as a representative for Solar Generation. The meeting was held in Bari, Italy on January 19-21, 2010. Over a thousand young people converged on the idyllic Italian city to discuss topics that are the most vital in ensuring sustainable development for a better future. Education, Environment, Citizenship, Economy and Human Safety and Development - these were the workshops that were the meeting’s focus in its effort to achieve a sustainable future.
Like all gatherings for change - international and local - this one has undoubtedly affected the perceptions, opinions, advocacies and lives, in general, of the young people who came. Even in three short days, I knew that things were better. Not because of some earth-shattering revelation or event, but because young people with visions of a brighter tomorrow came together for a singular dream.
We might have gone there with diverse causes. Our plans in mind may have been unlike or sundry. The backgrounds that got us to that conference may have been different, but it all came down to one goal - making our future a sustainable one. It’s when people gather for one goal that you can really count on a change coming. It’s when you witness passion and dedication to one goal that you know it’s gonna happen. All you can do is brace yourself and enjoy the infectious enthusiasm. And you’ll be thinking all the while, “This is it. I’ll look back and know that this is where it all started.”
There were workshops, forums and capacity building events for three days. We discussed social issues and pondered solutions for the environment. We dissected the trends and looked into economics. We talked about new techniques and improving old ones in education and development. We learned more about our part in this giant ecosystem we call Earth. Then we went to the drawing board. Planning, drafting, editing and putting together all our ideas for projects and activities we could initiate in our communities.
In those three days, that is what kept me excited: the next step. The thought that we could link up so many networks for a project or give an idea that could help a village or present a plan that a governing body will follow up on. There are no 100% guarantees, but hell, we gave it our all and tried our best. In a world bursting with apathy at every corner, not letting the odds beat you is what counts.
It’s not for me to say whether it was an outright success or not. Let the countries we came from or communities we live in judge that for themselves. Because really the ultimate measure of this meeting’s effect will be what we do afterward. And I’m being optimistic about the possibilities. I have a feeling that from all this, there will be fruition. Something good, bright and tangible. I know that from those plans we made there will be something that can make a difference, maybe not right-here-right-now but somewhere someone will benefit from the projects we came up with (and the ideas we still discuss even after the meeting). Like the NiMoCiv motto says, “The future is not over.“
Like all gatherings for change - international and local - this one has undoubtedly affected the perceptions, opinions, advocacies and lives, in general, of the young people who came. Even in three short days, I knew that things were better. Not because of some earth-shattering revelation or event, but because young people with visions of a brighter tomorrow came together for a singular dream.
We might have gone there with diverse causes. Our plans in mind may have been unlike or sundry. The backgrounds that got us to that conference may have been different, but it all came down to one goal - making our future a sustainable one. It’s when people gather for one goal that you can really count on a change coming. It’s when you witness passion and dedication to one goal that you know it’s gonna happen. All you can do is brace yourself and enjoy the infectious enthusiasm. And you’ll be thinking all the while, “This is it. I’ll look back and know that this is where it all started.”
There were workshops, forums and capacity building events for three days. We discussed social issues and pondered solutions for the environment. We dissected the trends and looked into economics. We talked about new techniques and improving old ones in education and development. We learned more about our part in this giant ecosystem we call Earth. Then we went to the drawing board. Planning, drafting, editing and putting together all our ideas for projects and activities we could initiate in our communities.
In those three days, that is what kept me excited: the next step. The thought that we could link up so many networks for a project or give an idea that could help a village or present a plan that a governing body will follow up on. There are no 100% guarantees, but hell, we gave it our all and tried our best. In a world bursting with apathy at every corner, not letting the odds beat you is what counts.
It’s not for me to say whether it was an outright success or not. Let the countries we came from or communities we live in judge that for themselves. Because really the ultimate measure of this meeting’s effect will be what we do afterward. And I’m being optimistic about the possibilities. I have a feeling that from all this, there will be fruition. Something good, bright and tangible. I know that from those plans we made there will be something that can make a difference, maybe not right-here-right-now but somewhere someone will benefit from the projects we came up with (and the ideas we still discuss even after the meeting). Like the NiMoCiv motto says, “The future is not over.“