4.2 New generations. Creating the citizenship of the future

between civil society and institutions. World Enable has started a collaboration with Microsoft because the digital world can promote social inclusion. Building resilient societies, recalls Batista Poitier, means equipping them with the ability to adapt to the changes that occur in the course of everyone’s life and prepare them to face new challenges through the introduction of innovative tools, including digital.

Flexibility and adaptability were at the heart of the intervention of Marina Ponti, Director of the UN SDG Action Campaign, who highlighted the extraordinary nature of Agenda 2030. For the first time in fact, the debate on the future is universal and no longer fragmented into actions aimed at the countries of the South and North of the globe. The issues addressed by the Agenda have international relevance and at the same time give local governments the opportunity to ensure that the needs of their citizens are not disregarded. Ponti believes that there is an urgent need to create a new, global citizenship, in order to give hope to people and in particular to young people. The key performers in the testimony given by Julio Andrade, Mayor’s Councillor for Foreign Action and Development Cooperation of the City of Malaga, are young people and participation. Andrade illustrated the participatory trail started by the Municipality that led to the creation of an “SDGs network”, a group of citizen-stakeholders involved in the implementation of Agenda 2030. For several decades Malaga had already experienced the involvement of young people in local planning, and over the years has aggregated ten thousand activists who in turn train new volunteers. This has also been possible thanks to the training tools made available to the United Nations and available online. In order to reach as many people as possible, it is necessary to identify an engaging methodology for citizens that includes the use of digital platforms. The dynamism of the City of Malaga with regard to Agenda 2030 issues is demonstrated by the decision to equip itself for the first time with a global strategic plan to which is added the action of aligning the SDGs with the Urban Agenda. Finally, Andrade highlighted the importance of measuring the impact of local indicators and involving politicians and private sector representatives in the monitoring so that they are aware of the progress and difficulties of their territory on the road towards sustainable development.

An example of successful collaboration between institutions and new generations was presented by Kontxi Odriozola Eizagirre, Head of the European and International Strategy Office of the Province of Barcelona, who brought the case of Cornellà de Llobregat Municipality to the attention of participants. Here, the city council and the high schools collaborated in the activities of implementation and awareness raising among the citizens on issues related to Agenda 2030. The students undertook to carry out a twoyear research project on aspects related to the Sustainable Development Objectives, on which the mayor and the municipal administration subsequently undertook to define local policies. The innovative aspect of this approach lies in the ability of institutions to network and involve young people, transforming them into participants able to influence administrative decisions taken at local level. From being mere addressees, citizens have thus become co-creators of policies and have helped to spread the knowledge of Agenda 2030 in their community.

Martina Gonano, Delegate Lecturer for Sustainability at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, dealt with young people and the future in her speech, about with the fact that young people are

not the citizens of the future, but are the citizens of the present, and are well aware of what concerns and interests them. For this reason, the University must earn their trust by engaging in concrete actions that involve their active involvement. Education is transformation, but for it to be able to imagine a better future, it is necessary to adopt universal thinking that creates connections between different disciplines.

4.3 Business. How social and economic players can contribute to SDGs at local level

The third working group was moderated by Lucy Slack, Deputy Secretary General of the

Commonwealth Local Government Forum

(CLGF)5, and focused on the role of social and economic stakeholders in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals at the local level. As mentioned by Slack, stakeholders with different interests can undertake joint initiatives to achieve common objectives consistent with Agenda 2030, thus promoting a genuine and concrete localization of SDGs. The role of partnerships and networks is therefore essential to ensuring the full satisfaction of the three areas of economic, environmental and social sustainability, and to inaugurate a new relationship with citizens, of which the first intervention is a good practice.

Yolanda Martinez, Secretary for Social Development of the Government of Oaxaca, spoke about the ways in which the participation of citizens and stakeholders in the area on the issues covered by Agenda 2030 has been promoted. The experiment aimed to address three specific issues: the lack of knowledge of SDGs by citizens, the frequent renewals in the government of local administrations, which did not guarantee continuity in policy planning, and the willingness of the Government of Oaxaca to work to promote a more active and responsible citizenship on the aspects of sustainable development. To respond to these needs, the Council for the Implementation of SDGs was established, a political body chaired by the Governor of the State, in which Cabinet members, secretaries, social and economic players of the territory and citizens participate.

5 The Commonwealth Local Government Forum is a global organisation that brings together local authorities, their national associations and local government ministries from Commonwealth member countries.