AIR Spotlight: National Youth Conclave 2023

AIR Spotlight is an insightful program featured daily on the All India Radio News on air. In this program, many eminent panellists discuss issues of importance which can be quite helpful in IAS exam preparation.

This article is about the discussion on: ‘National Youth Conclave 2023’

Participants:  

1. Ranjit Mehta, Economic Analyst
2. S. Rangabhashiyam, AIR Correspondent

Context: National Youth Conclave was held on March 13 and 14th in New Delhi.

Introduction:

• India’s biggest youth summit- ‘National Youth Conclave’ was organised by the Smart Cities Mission, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, Department of Youth Affairs and National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA). 
• The event was organised under the aegis of India’s G20 presidency in 2023, and aligned with the Urban20 and Youth20 engagement groups.
• This event serves as a crucial platform for young people to understand their rights in governance and contribute towards national development, while also giving leaders the chance to benefit from the youth’s innovative ideas and enthusiasm.

Significant takeaways from the conclave:

• Discussions on themes for climate change resilience, governance and planning frameworks, catalysing skills and innovation for better urban futures took place at the conclave.
• The conclave brought together the country’s youth and government leadership as an opportunity for cross learning. While it provided the much needed impetus for youth to learn about their rights in governance and contribute to national development.
• SAAR Compendium 1.0 was released—15 premier colleges of the country have documented 75+ case studies of innovative urban projects under the SAAR program (Smart Cities & Academic towards Action Research)
• Various compendiums of articles, case studies and information by Prajatantra, Indian Smart Cities Fellow Programme (ISCFP), National Urban Digital Mission (NUDM), The Urban Learning Internship Program (TULIP) and National Urban Learning Platform (NULP) was launched during the conclave.
• Exhibitions on innovative urban projects by SAAR and NMCG (National Mission for Clean Ganga) Smart solution exhibition were set up at the event venue.

Urban 20:

• It is a city diplomacy initiative launched on December 12, 2017, at the One Planet Summit in Paris.
• Urban-20 (U20) provides a platform for cities from G20 countries to facilitate discussions on various important issues of urban development including climate change, social inclusion, sustainable mobility, and affordable housing, and propose collective solutions.
• C40 Cities (C40) and United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) convene the U20 under the leadership of a Chair city that rotates annually, based in the G20 host country.
• The U20 2023 Cycle was chaired by the City of Ahmedabad.
• 2023 U20 dialogue will emphasise on the need for changing the urban sector to achieve long-term beneficial results for the globe and set the way for coordinated city-level activities.
• The deliberations under U20 will be focused on six priority areas that are critical for grounding complex global urban agendas into actionable city-level initiatives. 
• Priority Areas of U20 are:
  • Encouraging Environmentally Responsible Behaviours
  • Ensuring Water Security
  • Accelerating Climate Finance
  • Championing ‘Local’ Identity
  • Reinventing Frameworks for Urban Governance and Planning
  • Catalyzing Digital Urban Futures

Youth20:

• The Y20 is the official youth engagement group for the G20 (Group of 20), the forum for the world’s largest and most advanced economies.
• Youth20 engagement group, with its first Y20 conference held in 2010, provides a platform that allows youth to express their vision and ideas on the G20 priorities and comes up with a series of recommendations which are submitted to the G20 Leaders. 
• The Y20 India summit in 2023 would exemplify India’s youth- centric efforts and provide an opportunity to showcase its values and policy measures so that India’s leadership of this summit can stand out among the youth cohort. 
  • India hosted the Y20 summit for the first time.
• The priority areas selected for the summit will showcase Indian leadership on these issues to both global and domestic audiences and help fulfil India’s vision of making the G20 summit truly participative.
• Priority areas of Y20 are:
  • Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation, & 21st Century Skills
  • Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life
  • Peace building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War
  • Shared Future: Youth in Democracy and Governance
  • Health, Wellbeing & Sports: Agenda for Youth

Role of Youth in Water Conservation:

• Youth can play a crucial role in promoting water conservation and driving behavioural change in India.
• Youth can create awareness and educate people about the importance of water conservation, the need to preserve our water resources and the impact of our actions on the environment.
• Youth can also mobilise communities to take action on water conservation by organising campaigns, awareness drives, and community initiatives to promote water-saving practices.
• They lobby for policy changes at the local, state, and national level to promote water conservation, such as regulations for rainwater harvesting, greywater reuse, and water-efficient infrastructure.
• Youth can use their knowledge of technology and innovation to create new solutions for water conservation, such as developing low-cost water-efficient devices or using social media to spread awareness.
• Youth can adopt sustainable practices in their daily lives, such as reducing their water consumption, using rainwater harvesting, and recycling greywater.

Read more on India’s G20 Presidency

Read previous AIR Spotlight articles in the link.

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