Maybe you already know what you want to do about it. Maybe all you have is a question.
Either is enough to start.
Festival of Hope invites you to explore what is happening around you, connect with others and find a form of action that makes sense in your context.
Start with what matters to you
You do not have to solve the biggest problem in the world.
Start with something you notice.
Something you care about.
Something you wish people talked about more.
Something happening in your school or community.
Something you want to understand before deciding what you think.
The existing Festival approach explicitly states that no challenge is too small and invites young people to bring the issues closest to their lives and communities to the foreground.
Explore before you act
Action starts with curiosity.
Ask:
Look beyond the obvious answer.
Listen to people affected in different ways.
Understand the wider systems, choices and circumstances around the issue.
Learn from people who are already working on it.
Turn what you have learned into possibilities.
Find your form of action
There are many ways to contribute.
You might:
- start a conversation that is not happening yet
- create a campaign, exhibition or performance
- organise a workshop or community gathering
- prototype an idea
- raise awareness or challenge an assumption
- volunteer or work with an existing organisation
- conduct research and share what you discover
- change something within your school or community
- develop a longer-term project
- bring other people together to explore what can be done.
Action does not need to be spectacular to matter.
From idea to project
Sometimes a first action develops into something bigger.
If you are aged 12 to 19 and have an idea or project that responds to a need in your community, the Global Youth Action Fund may provide another pathway through Generation Global.
The Fund supports eligible youth-led projects advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals through funding and additional support.
Explore the Global Youth Action Fund
Learn from what happens
Action rarely follows the exact plan you started with.
Ask what worked.
Ask what did not.
Listen to the people involved.
Change direction when you learn something new.
Reflection is part of action, not something that happens only when the work is finished.