by Iryna Ponedelnik, Global Schools Advocate, Belarus
Working with adolescents is critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. These
people are the future of our country and the world. It is very important to convey global problems to them, to tell them about the local context. And then say that there is a plan - the Sustainable Development Goals. In my work, I often communicate with teenagers and I am sure that a lecture on global problems is not all our work. It is important to involve the children in the work and talk about how their decisions affect the whole picture.
For this, I use the SDG quest. As part of the quest, school children run around the stations and perform various tasks. For example, according to SDG 5, it is necessary to determine which professions can be occupied by women, men or regardless of gender. There is a law in Belarus that prohibits women from doing certain types of work. The task for SDG 12 to sort out the garbage correctly, for SDG 11 to play the role of a deputy and think about what decisions will make the city sustainable. Combining different activities such as a lecture and a quest, schools have a whole extra-curricular day dedicated to the SDGs. Now I have conducted such classes in Minsk and several small towns in Belarus. Organizing such days is also a great opportunity to talk about global initiatives, for example, the Global Schools Program.
‘‘Participation in the Lesson gave me a full understanding of Sustainable Development Goals, and new acquaintances with young change-makers, and, subsequently, motivated me to enhance people’s awareness about them. Thus, I decided to take the initiative and organize the same for children in my school. We combined game and knowledge, that is why pupils were exploring while playing. I appreciate contribution making by the initiative Youth for sustainable development in Belarus, which also provides an opportunity to unleash your ambitions and implement various ideas in reality. I definitely will continue my assistance to the initiative and SDG achievement‘‘ -Darya Chernukhina 16 yo, Gymnasium 16 in Minsk
