Up to 60 Spanish students were received at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York to present their social and sustainable proposals to the youth department of the international body. The expedition read a manifesto with some of the concerns and commitments of Spanish youth on issues such as climate change and social inequality, and shared a package of sustainable projects that they have developed throughout the course within the program of social entrepreneurship The Challenge of EduCaixa.
The group of students displaced to the United States is made up of 17 teams of 3 or 4 students each from 3rd and 4th ESO, baccalaureate and intermediate FP, selected from the more than 1,546 nominations that were submitted to The Challenge . Their projects focus on social challenges such as mental health and well-being, protecting the planet, peace and prosperity, and are all aligned with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On Friday, these young students had the opportunity to read a manifesto at the same UN headquarters. It included some of the concerns of Spanish youth on issues such as climate change and social inequality. Misinformation, the passive attitude towards the achievement of the ODS and the current consumption model were some of the highlights of the text.
“We know that there is a whole generation of young people fully committed to the social challenges facing the world and we want to put all their talent at the service of society”, explains Xavier Bertolín, corporate director of education and marketing at the La Caixa Foundation , who accompanied the selected group during the reception at the UN headquarters.
These boys – he continues – “have shown that they have an essential sensitivity and ingenuity to address the present and future collective challenges, and that is why we want them to be able to represent us beyond our country”.
The group’s stay in the USA will last until July 8 and includes visits to some of the most prestigious universities, such as MIT, Yale or Columbia, cultural activities and meetings with postgraduate scholarships from the La Caixa Foundation, a visit to the organization Beauty for Freedom, an organization that raises funds to combat human trafficking, and a talk with Eli de los Pinos, founder and director of Aura Biosciences, a project that researches new oncological therapies.
