To lead Hong Kong in the development of "Education for Sustainable Development", Young Changemakers Incubator ("YCI") has been launched as part of Global Citizen Capital's ASCEND principle for holistic youth development. This program is designed to help young professionals and students, based on their own passions and interests, differentiate themselves through individualized initiatives and profile-building in their communities, in alignment with the United Nations and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) - with a strong focus on Climate Action. In 2020, as we battle COVID-19, we have completed a cohort of 10 youth-led projects for #TurnItAround initiative of UN SDG Action Campaign. In 2021, we aim to expand the cohort to 20 youth-led projects, supported by corporate sponsorships and NGO engagement.

There are six core objectives for implementing SDG action: (i) become a real global citizen, (ii) make a positive impact in this world, (iii) transcend the joyless box-ticking of extracurricular activities, (iv) cultivate their own initiative, foundation, or community, (v) utilize their gap year to apply themselves before apply to university or a first job and (vi) find a productive outlet during the COVID-19 outbreak while waiting to return to their high school or university abroad. Education is a basic right and elementary to human dignity. SDG 4 (Quality Education) also has reciprocal linkages across the 2030 Agenda. Access to quality education is an avenue for social mobility and reducing inequalities. Education is essential for building the knowledge base we need to tackle critical challenges like climate change. Education will help youth prepare for employment in the high-skill jobs of the fourth industrial revolution. In addition, education is a foundation for peaceful societies and effective institutions. As such, the YCI is designed to help young people connect to the real world and explore infinite possibilities, develop ideas about what they want to do, and tailor experiences to help them achieve that. During and after this starter project, students will gain access to a range of experiences such as internships, entrepreneur programs, community involvement, sustainability initiatives, sports, arts, tech and blockchain, etc. Students gain access to UN events and introductions to UN-affiliated companies and charities based in accordance with their project nature, and by joining other “live” initiatives of other global organizations aligned with the initiative. Students, who have been raised to follow, now get the chance to take the lead. All of these experiences undergird the student’s application narrative and incipient intellectualism. Students collate research. Students write weekly blogs to document their progress. Students learn to write letters of approach to professionals, academics, or other adults they have never met. Students reflect through essay writing to develop ammunition for the varied application prompts.

According to World Economic Forum and its Education 4.0 initiative, the gap in quality education in the post COVID-19 world is further widened by limited innovation in learning systems, which were largely designed to mirror factory-style growth models. Public and private sector leaders to reset primary and secondary education frameworks, and co-design content and delivery that deliver on children’s needs for the future. Hong Kong and its education systems need to actively adapt and innovate in alignment with the Fourth Industrial Revolution. To scale the impact of SDG innovation in education, diversity and inclusion of and protections for vulnerable groups in the context of education need to be strengthened. This requires educators, among others, are to take measures to counter discrimination and abuse against anyone no matter their race, ethnicity, nationality, class, caste, religion, belief, sex, sexual orientation, gender or language. Additionally, it should be further enshrined the right to education for persons of all minority communities, including rights to access all levels of education, to be free from discrimination in the context of accessing and participating in the education system, to be provided with teachers and materials geared toward accommodating specific conditions (with a renewed focus on mental health), and to access technical and vocational training schools and systems. These are all ideals which the YCI instills to the students through their projects. Education is essential for sustainable development, but innovation in education that are not accompanied by concurrent progress in other aspects of human well-being will fall short of enabling all people to realize their full potential in life. YCI believes that education has a transformational role to play in addressing the development challenges that the world faces today and over the next 15 years. Building Hong Kong's largest young SDG advocates community, YCI will focus on supporting local and international schools to innovate, based on a holistic SDG blueprint and on a multi-stakeholder approach, and contribute to creating a consensus for meaningful change in Hong Kong’s education sector.

As 2020, the year marking the beginning of the Decade of Action, draws to an end, many children and their education has been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It has unleashed an unprecedented crisis and caused further stress to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or the Global Goals, and their progress in quality education for all in countries around the world. In Hong Kong, the educational landscape has also been transformed, and an innovative approach to education through the lens of the UN SDGs hold the key to building back better. Students often begin by first learning about the United Nations and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It is important they take ownership of their curiosity or passion for three SDGs. Then, they will move towards developing their own social impact initiative and registering it on the UN SDG Knowledge Platform. The SDGs are the cornerstone for any global citizen in the Decade of Action (‘20-’30). Almost all students already have a strong moral compass. This project, however, is students’ first taste of becoming a moral actor, rectifying everyday injustices in the communities around them. Reflecting the ASCEND principle and its six core pillars of thought and action leadership, which are: (i) Accessibility for All, (ii) Success Amplification, (iii) Changemaker Empowerment, (iv) Experience Building, (v) Network Scaling and (vi) Development of Intellect, students within the YCI program can fully embrace young global citizenship and localize their impact with globalized resources. The ultimate philosophy of the YCI: Students pursue a project and detail it so profoundly that their application provides robust insight into their passions and ability to realize their goals. Through this pursuit, a student truly demonstrates his/her capacity for accomplishment beyond academics.

Global Citizen Capital, KIDsforSDGs, The MXA Group, ITS Education and Better Together Foundation