The Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Youth Forum took place on 19 and 20 April 2022 in a virtual format. The Forum addressed the theme of “COVID-19 recovery: Youth taking action for a sustainable future”. The World Eco-Design Conference is invited to participate in the Forum by the UN ECOSOC.

The Forum is co-organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and the Office of the Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth (OSGEY). Participants mainly discuss on concrete actions to rebuild from COVID-19 and to advance towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for a better and sustainable future!

The Youth Forum provides a significant international platform for young people from around the world, UN officials, government representatives from various countries, representatives of youth-led and youth-focused organizations etc., to identify solutions and share innovative ideas on education, gender equality, environmental protection and sustainable development etc. They will also review progress in the areas of quality education (SDG4), gender equality (SDG5), life below water (SDG14), life on land (SDG15) and partnerships for the goals (SDG17).

Advocacy on youth issues is a strong theme. In the most recent Youth2030: Progress Report 2022, it mentions that the UN entities facilitated knowledge exchanges on global youth using various platforms, including South-South and triangular cooperation, as well as regional, online and face-to-face communication. While nearly 40% of UN Country Teams included youth components in their knowledge exchange plans, knowledge exchange plans on youth in the Asia-Pacific region, at 55%, were higher than in any other region. 97% of UN entities supported advocacy events in intergovernmental forums and global or regional summits and conferences for and with youth.

The World Eco-Design Conference has continued to pay close attention to the youth education, and provide more education support for the youth. In 2021, the World Eco-Design Conference, the United Nations Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries, and the Zhejiang University, Ningbo jointly initiated the International Design Education Program. The program aims to enhance the design education capacity for the least developed countries (LDCs), cultivate talents with interdisciplinary skills, and enhance their innovation and problem-solving capacities, so as to promote economic growth and accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

In the future, the World Eco-Design Conference will persist with its efforts to promote the IDE Program, strengthen the construction of International Design Education Alliance. This will provide more opportunities and wider platforms to facilitate the youth knowledge exchange and cultivate young design talents, and also to make contributions to the implementation of the SDGs.