UNESCO Partners with UNEVOC Centre in Hong Kong to Promote Green Skills and Youth Empowerment

UNESCO, partnered with EdUHK, successfully hosted the UNESCO and UNEVOC (Hong Kong) Symposium themed “Empowering Youth with Green skills” on 26-27 Feb 2024.

UNESCO partnered with the Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) a UNEVOC Centre successfully hosted the UNESCO and UNEVOC (Hong Kong) Symposium themed “Empowering Youth with Green skills” on 26-27 Feb 2024. The symposium, was organized by the UNEVOC center (Hong Kong) at the EdUHK and supported by UNESCO Regional Office for East Asia, including experts, educators, students, government representatives, industry and NGO representatives, environmentalists, social innovators, and entrepreneurs. This is the first step of the joint initiative and a long-term project-based platform will be jointly implemented by UNESCO and UNEVOC Centre at EDUHK. The symposium focused on the overarching theme “Skills for Green Innovation: Fostering a Green Transition to a Sustainable Future.”

Green transition, green economy, climate change, environmental degradation, urban youth unemployment, lack of green skills manpower, rapid urbanization and other challenges required significant transformation of growth-oriented and fossil-fuel-intensive economies, changes in consumption patterns. World leaders have stressed the need for a green transition towards a decarbonized and environmentally inclusive sustainable economy to limit global warming to 1.5°C (adopted by the Paris Agreement). Within this context more countries, regions, cities, Universities and companies are establishing carbon neutrality targets. 

Green innovation is a significant driver towards finding solutions needed for our sustainable future and economic and social transformation. Youth is perceived as the most active agent of change that can support green transitions. Leveraging technology and innovation within the context of green jobs and entrepreneurship is a crucial enabler for youth engagement and empowering the youth to contribute to sustainable development. Thus, UNESCO has been actively promoting youth empowerment and green skills through various global and regional initiatives related to education for sustainable development and climate change education. UNESCO has been actively engaged in initiatives that contribute to environmental, social and economic sustainability across several key aspects including policy advocacy, promoting science and innovation, capacity building and training, education for sustainable development aligned with youth declaration at the UN Transforming education summit and greening education initiative. The Symposium is aligned with UNESCO Global Strategy on TVET 2022-2029. 

This Symposium on green skills and youth empowerment had been designed within the framework of the UN Transforming Education agenda with a strong focus on how to actively engage youth and empower them through various policies and initiatives in the areas related to green economy, green skills, sustainable development and climate change Education. The Education University of Hong Kong a UNEVOC centre is a leading university in the Asia Pacific for nurturing educators, youth and social leaders through its diverse research and academic programs. Its strategic plan for 2025 emphasizes the promotion of sustainability in terms of greening infrastructure, SDGs localization and institutionalization and curriculum reform and development and active engagement of students is a priority for extra-curricular activities and project. 

The opening day of the Symposium featured sessions, started with the Opening Session, and Sessions 1 and 2. In the Opening Session, Mr. Robert Parua, Education Programme Specialist at the UNESCO Multi-Sectoral Regional Office for East Asia, delivered insightful opening remarks that highlighted the crucial role of green skills in the current social landscape. The joint partnership between UNESCO and Education University of Hong Kong via the UNEVOC platform will continue to promote policy dialogue, capacity development, and sharing of good practices through the UNEVOC global network, and produce resources and materials for green skills development. He stressed on UNESCO’s strong commitment to promoting ESD2030 agenda, youth empowerment, green skills in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) for a sustainable future. Mr. Che Hin Chetwyn Chan, Vice President (Research and Development) at EdUHK, extended a warm welcome and introduced EdUHK’s perspectives and practices in fostering a green transition. Dr. Margarita Pavlova from EdUHK outlined the objectives and expected outcomes of the symposium. To kick off the symposium, Ms. Charlotte Lafitte and Ms. Harmandeep Kaur hosted ice-breaking games,and stimulated discussions around climate change and its consequences, underscoring the importance and timeliness of the Symposium’s theme “Skills for Green Innovation: Fostering Green Transition to a Sustainable Future”.

Session 1, themed “Green innovation in industry”, commenced with a presentation by Ms. Cherry Yeung from the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), exploring the topic “Sustainability in the GBA: Unlocking Opportunities and Empowering Growth.” Followed by, Mr. Raymond Mak, Co-founder and CEO of Farmacy HK, delivered a presentation titled “Catalyst for Change: How Green Innovation Can Contribute to a Sustainable Transition.” Next, Mr. Walter Marin from Plug Impact delved into the theme of “Driving Economic Growth: How Green Innovation Can Impact the Wellbeing of Communities.” The final presentation was given by, Mr. Kelvin Wong from Sensestek Solutions shared insightful perspectives on “Regenerative Circular Economy.” Each presentation added a unique dimension to the session, offering diverse insights into the crucial aspects of sustainability, green innovation, and economic growth.

Session 2, focused on “Greening and Youth Innovation,” commenced with a presentation titled “The Green Project Thing: Cultivating a Sustainable and Inclusive Campus,” presented by students participating in EdUHK’s Specific Student Empowerment Work Scheme Project. A digital photo contest was held, wherein students submitted images highlighting potential areas for greening the campus, emphasizing sustainability across three key dimensions: environmental, economic, and societal. Followed by a roundtable discussion and Photo Challenge ensued, wherein participants engaged in a detailed analysis of the photos, identifying issues, proposing solutions tailored to their expertise, and sharing insights. Subsequently, Professor Dr. Affero Bin Ismail, the coordinator of UNEVOC Center at University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), delivered a presentation entitled “Green Campus and Community Initiative by UTHM.” Lastly, Dr. Pavlova concluded the session with closing remarks.

The second day of the symposium featured Sessions 3 and 4, and the Closing Session began with the welcome remarks given by Ms. Kenneth Barientos from UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training. In Session 3 “Green skills for Green Innovation”, Mr. Parua presented on “Policy Integration - UN TES Initiative: A Political Imperative for Transforming Education Led by UNESCO and Its Implications for Greening Education.” Dr. Pavlova discussed “Green Skills for Green Transition: How Collaborative Work Across Stakeholders Can Support Green Skills Development.” Mr. Federico Fontoian from CRIF Hong Kong spoke on the “Industry Perspective on Skills Required for SMEs Formulation and Implementation of ESG: Demand for Education.” Dr. Ricky Ng from the Federation for Self-Financing Tertiary Education (FSTE) shared views on “From Bring Your Own Device to Sustainability in Creative Arts Education: Support in Raising Awareness.” 

Session 4, titled “Social Enterprise and Green Innovation,” commenced with a presentation by Ms. Miranda Wong from the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, sharing insights on the “Journey of Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability.” Followed by a Social Enterprise Pitching Competition showcased the top 10 ideas, culminating in an award ceremony recognizing the three best concepts. Subsequently, Round-Table Discussion 2 delved into “How to transform ideas presented and challenges identified in Round-Table Discussion 1 into Social Enterprises and who can address them.” Dr. Margarita then shared a video highlighting sustainable souvenir production at EdUHK and concluded the symposium with closing remarks. As a follow-up activity, a workshop titled "Creating Sustainable Products for a Green Campus: Candle Making from Used Cooking Oil" was organized. Participants had the opportunity to engage in a practical and informative exchange session, learning about the process of transforming waste into a useful and aesthetically finished product. 

The UNESCO and UNEVOC (Hong Kong) Symposium held at the Education University of Hong Kong was a resounding success with the participation of 59 attendees (34 women and 25 men) from public and private sector. The symposium held under the theme "Empowering Youth," the symposium served as an innovative platform for current and future collaboration among educators, students, youth, industry professionals, NGOs, environmentalists, and entrepreneurs. The successful conclusion of the symposium had laid the solid foundation to advance the discourse on green skills and green transition, as well as the crucial role of TVET in shaping a sustainable future in terms of producing green skilled manpower aligned with the needs of the labour market and green economy.

Source: UNESCO