Members from the GYA working group on Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction participated in the 2019 Global Development Conference on the theme of “Knowledge for Sustainable Development: The Research Policy Nexus” on 23-25 October 2019 in Bonn, Germany. Working group co-leads Shabana Khan (India) and Khamarrul Razak (Malaysia) as well as group member Chioma Daisy Onyige (Nigeria) organised a booth at the conference, where they were able to engage with conference participants on climate change and sustainable development, and the various activities of the GYA.
Some takeaways from the conference included an acknowledgement of the fact that effective implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires access to as well as application of the best available knowledge from global communities. Moreover, the interface between research and practice remains a contentious area in development research. Discussions at the Conference highlighted that the SDGs are not about convergence, but about everyone moving ahead towards sustainable living. It was also acknowledged that without gender equality, there cannot be sustainable development. The issue of gender sensitivity was seen to supersede funding issues or poverty. Overall, communication was identified as an important element for sustainable development, which requires an active engagement of all stakeholders.
The group also used this opportunity to launch their GYA Climate Change YouTube Channel, which constitutes an important step for increasing communication and public awareness of climate change issues, as it not only gives a platform for the young researchers and scientists to share their knowledge with a wider audience but it also allows receiving feedback, comments and concerns from the viewers. This two-way communication will enhance the outreach of the scientific work where young scientists can communicate the relevance, importance and contribution of their work in dealing with global issues such as climate change and disaster risk reduction.
The working group is now calling on young scientists to submit short videos (1-3minutes) on issues relating to climate change and disaster risk reduction to . The best videos will be uploaded to the GYA Climate Change Channel.