Sporadic contact with youth and senior networks. "4 per 1000" partners have established active partnerships with regional youth and senior networks. Objective D3 - Youth & Seniors
Label Title Description Youth & Seniors Foster the engagement of youth and seniors in the transition to agroecology for Soil Health (SH) and climate Youth and senior networks are mobilized and support producers (farmers, pastorals, and foresters) and local action groups in their transition towards agroecology and sustainable land management. Targets D3 - Youth & Seniors
Baseline 2020 Target 2030 Target 2050 Partnerships with youth and senior networks are active in all regions.
Context D3 - Youth & Seniors
Problem D3 - Youth & Seniors
| Problem Statement | Description | Consequences |
|---|---|---|
Young people and seniors are not sufficiently engaged in climate action. | Massive engagement of young people and seniors is crucial to the necessary system change. The productive population is too busy to participate sufficiently in the initial stage of the transformation process. The establishment is tied up in conflicts of interest. Without the youth to lead and drive change and the seniors to support the process, change will not be enough to solve the crisis, create a stewardship system for sustainable natural resource management, and establish a sensible new way of life. | Lack of engagement will delay the necessary system change and increase the risk of catastrophic climate change. Pressure on policymakers will not build up as strongly and fast as is required to ensure that regulations are put in place to meet the climate targets and get climate change and development under control. The lack of active and self-determined forward-looking action by youth undermines the overall creativity of our societies which is indispensable for change. It diminishes our chances of success. Low involvement undermines ownership of the process and will make it more challenging to cope with the consequences of climate change and to switch to a new way of life - "happy with less." |
Causes D3 - Youth & Seniors
| N° | Cause | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disinterest in the agricultural sector | Some population groups are not interested in the agricultural sector. Not all young people, especially those who live in the city, are interested in rural life. For some young people, rural life is entirely foreign to their reality of life. The attitude of governments to take care of all social problems may undermine the commitment of citizens. |
| 2 | Lack of knowledge about the importance of SH and SOC. | There is a lack of knowledge about the importance of healthy, carbon-rich soils and how to restore them. With each harvest, the carbon content of soils decreases. At the current rate of carbon depletion, we are losing 60% of the crop. Human action is required to regenerate soil and restore its carbon content. |
| 3 | Inappropriate educational system | Education focuses on performance in a competitive environment that leaves little room for developing alternative lifestyles. |
| 4 | Lack of awareness of the gravity and urgency of the situation | Lack of understanding of the seriousness and urgency of the problem. |
| 5 | Mixed and distorted messaging | Scientific findings of the likely course of climate change and the likely consequences of different scenarios resulting from our behavior (action and inaction) are not communicated with the necessary clarity and honesty by the establishment. The scientific community's consensus is not taken seriously enough and is watered down by a polarizing pro-contra presentation in the media. Climate deniers are hugely overrepresented in the public debate. |
| 6 | Little room for experimentation | Society is not providing the space and opportunities to youth for self-determined self-reliant action and experimentation. Bureaucracy discourages creative people. Government's attitude to take care of all societal problems. The only way citizens can act is through the ballot box and protest. |
| 7 | Low proportion in elections | Especially in industrialized countries, young people make up only a tiny part of the electorate. |
| 8 | Pushback from politics and corporates | Politics and corporate continue pushing growth and increasing debt driving unsustainable resource exploitation. To defend their short-term interest, they do not encourage and support youth engagement in climate action and do little to prepare the next generation for what's to come. Both policy and corporations continue to suggest that we are dealing with a complicated problem, and it only takes a technical fix that will be found and allow us to continue our way of life. They deny the complexity of the situation. |
| 9 | Analysis paralysis | Action by our system is guided by the desire to maintain the status quo. Most attempts to deal with the crisis follow the assumption that the situation is complicated and requires a technical fix that will emerge provided we have continued growth. This is absurd. It denies that we are dealing with a complex situation and have a limited time frame to solve it. Trying to master a complex situation with the approach for a complicated situation is doomed to failure. The approach carries a high risk of losing valuable time through endless analysis, "Analysis Paralysis" and limited resources are wasted on purely mental exercises that fail in the real world. |
Implementation strategy D3 - Youth & Seniors
Activities D3 - Youth & Seniors
| N° | Activity | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Partner with CBOs | Develop partnerships with Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) to capitalize on their know-how, experience, and recognition within the communities. |
| 2 | Launch campaigns to mobilize youth and seniors | Organize attractive campaigns to get the youth and seniors on board. Establish a solid social media presence to reach youth and develop their ownership of the process. |
3 | Strengthen teamwork for problem-solving | Strengthen the ability of teams to solve challenges collaboratively and commit to active engagement for the sustainable development of their communities. Mobilize the support of experimental projects that open spaces for creativity and unconventional thinking. |
| 4 | Strengthen capacity to act | Develop educational material and provide training opportunities for youth and seniors to improve their knowledge and capacity to act. |
| 5 | Promoting interaction between young people and seniors | Empowerment by bringing together the drive of young people with the experience of older people. |
Critical Success Factors (CSFs) D3 - Youth & Seniors
| N° | Critical Success Factor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alternative and relevant youth life projects | It is crucial that children and young people clearly define their life projects in their school phase and respond in one way or another with creativity and variety to current challenges and special needs. |
| 2 | Imagination and courage to experiment | Action needs to be guided by a clear vision of the future. The challenge is complex, not complicated. To succeed in a complex situation, one needs to have to courage to invest in safe to fail experiments, learn from the system's reaction and promote what works - "The proof of the pudding lies the eating". We need a mindset of emerging practice. A good practice is for complicated and best practice for simple situations. |
| 3 | Robust incentive schemes for farmers | Farmers need guaranteed long-term incentive schemes that support their up-front investment in regenerative agriculture. |
| 4 | Income opportunities in the regenerative sector | Capacity to create job and income opportunities for work in the regenerative sector through the provision of ecosystem services and for helping producers and citizens. |
| 5 | Tailored communication strategies | In each region, farmers will face different challenges. New proposals need to consider how these interact with existing pressures to adapt to a realistic approach to each specific context. |
| 6 | Efficient and effective use of social media | Efficient and effective use of social media for youth dialogue. |
| 7 | Facilitate implementation | Guidance needs to be very easy to follow, facilitating access to required resources for implementation. If the implementation is difficult, farmers might simply give up as they already must deal with multiple pressures. A "plug-and-play" kind of concept might enhance engagement. |
| 8 | Partnering with CSOs, FBOs, and CBOs | Partnerships must be formed with civil society organizations (CSOs), faith-based organizations (FBOs), and community-based organizations (CBOs) that invest in youth and community development. |
| 9 | Resources | Youth & senior networks in agriculture and forestry need the right resources (communication strategy, engagement tools) to engage farmers effectively. |
| 10 | Climate change in curricula | Include climate change and sustainable global natural resource management as the main subject in curricula. |
| 11 | Monitoring and Improvement | Record activities, outcomes, and actions arising from the different network interventions so that it is possible to identify what are the required resources to enhance the achievement of objectives. |
Barriers D3 - Youth & Seniors
| N° | Barrier | Description |
|---|---|---|
1 | Skepticism | Risk-averse behavior and conflict of interest are rooted in the ambition to preserve the current lifestyle. |
2 | Insufficient understanding | There is insufficient understanding of the situation, future scenarios, and ways to deal with them. |
3 | Traditional education | Education focuses on performance to serve in a competitive economy without social impact. |
4 | Already existing economic pressures | Existing economic pressures leave little room for developing an alternative lifestyle. |
| 5 | Insufficient understanding | Many youths have little factual knowledge about climate change and how it will impact their future. |
| 6 | Insufficient know-how | Youth might have the creativity and power to act, but success also depends on the available competence. |
| 7 | The low reward for engagement | Work in the renewable sector does not pay well and is insufficient to support a living. |
