1 March 2019, Jeju, Republic of Korea - Centre International de Formation des Autorités et Leaders Jeju (CIFAL Jeju), in partnership with Global Inner Peace, organized the 13^th Youth Workshop on Accelerating SDGs Achievement through ICT in Jeju Booyoung Youth Center from 20 to 22 February 2019.

The workshop aimed to raise young people’s awareness of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as well as strengthen their capacity for being active advocates of the global goals. In addition, the workshop also focused on Information and Communication Technology (ICT) as the sub-topic, exploring the role, utilization, and impacts of ICT, which is considered highly important for SDGs achievement in the fourth industrial revolution. 46 undergraduate and graduate students from 19 different countries attended the workshop and shared their ideas and discussed on how the youth can contribute to SDGs by 2030.

The 3-days workshop is composed of three parts including lecture, field trip, and action plan development. On the first day, Ma Youngsam, Director of CIFAL Jeju gave a lecture on the background, condition, and impact of SDGs as well as the role of youth and their social responsibility for achieving the global goals. For the second session, Park Mi Kyoung, Associate Research and Policy Analysis Expert, United Nations Project Office on Governance (UNPOG) presented on “ICT and SDGs: Opportunities and Challenges”, where she reviewed the impact of ICT and explored ways of minimizing the negative impact and maximizing the positive impact of ICT to contribute to the achievement of SDGs.

The third session was presented by Nanda Noor, Project Leader, World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, sharing his experience of planning and implementing the Sustainable Land Use Project through ICT. As a young leader, he also provided practical know-how and advice on ways of identifying local problems and setting up the initiatives to make a solution.

The concepts and theories they learned on the first day got strengthened on the second day with the field trip to the relevant organizations and agencies. The places for the visit were National Information Society Agency (NIA) Global Center, Kakao Headquarters and Jeju Smart Farmers Incubating Center, all of which contribute to social value and SDGs through ICT.

On the third day, the participants had an opportunity to present their own action plans, which motivated them to be active supporters of SDGs achievement. This workshop greatly contributed to the young people’s awareness of ICT and SDGs, as well as nurtured their skills and abilities to make a positive impact on global affairs in the future.

Photo 1: Group Photo

Photo 2: Lecture

Photo 3: Final Presentation