about us
The YouSustain Conference seeks to create a platform for young people,
developmental agencies, and researchers to have an intellectual discourse on how best young people
can be supported to contribute to urban sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa through ecopreneurship.
The conference specifically seeks to:
Achieving sustainability in urban cities is a struggle for most countries in Africa. Although the challenges of achieving sustainability in some of these cities are unique, shared challenges are ubiquitous across the continent such as low institutional capacity, poor infrastructural facilities, and environmental degradation. At the forefront of these challenges are young people because they represent the majority of the region’s population. While African cities strive to overcome the hurdles, governments in the developed world are partnering with international development agencies and other stakeholders to create avenues for young people to establish business enterprises that draw on the nexus between entrepreneurship and sustainability known as ecopreneurship. Such business principles generate income and sit at the heart of sustainability through efficient resource use and a significant cutback on environmental degradation.
Opportunities for young Africans to venture into ecopreneurship are dire due to the socio-cultural practices and a lack of financial and technical support for them as they venture into business. Hence, the YouSustain Conference seeks to create a platform for young people, developmental agencies, and researchers to have an intellectual discourse on how best young people can be supported to contribute to urban sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa through ecopreneurship.
thematic areas
The thematic areas to be covered during the conference will include but not limited to the following:
Waste management & circular economy
Agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas, climate-smart agriculture, and sustainable food systems
Climate adaptation and climate policy
Urban planning and governance
Urban transportation and innovation
Sustainable energy transitions
Education for sustainable development and environmental stewardship
Climate-related hazards and nature-based solutions
Conservation and regeneration of urban areas and the implementation of green infrastructure
Climate interventions
Water supply, sanitation and hygiene
partners
Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) is a youth-led gender-balanced advocacy group that focuses largely on environmental sustainability and community development. GAYO operates under three main thematic areas, climate change, circular economy, and disaster risk reduction. GAYO has branches in Kenya, Uganda, and Botswana with its headquarters in Ghana.
The University of Ghana, the premier university in Ghana, was founded as the University College of the Gold Coast by Ordinance on August 11, 1948, for the purpose of providing and promoting university education, learning, and research. Our mission is to create an enabling environment that makes the University of Ghana increasingly relevant to national and global development through cutting-edge research as well as high-quality teaching and learning.
The Center for Climate Change and Sustainability Studies (C3SS) is a key research and learning institution under the College of Basic and Applied Science of the University of Ghana. The core research areas of the Center is shrouded around the nexus between climate change issues and economics, biodiversity and health, food security, sustainable resource management, green economy, environment and renewable energy.
Youth Climate Council Ghana (YCC) is an institutional mechanism for the youth climate movement in Ghana. YCC is a formal mechanism to collect and bring the opinions of youth CSOs, young people, and the public into national climate-related decision-making processes. The YCC is an independent youth group sourced from existing youth-climate NGOs and given the political power to make input into all national climate policies as an equal stakeholder.
GAYO Eco-Club Campus Chapters (GECCC) is a non-profit student-based group, founded by Green Africa Youth Organization (GAYO) in 2020 to engage youth on environmental sustainability issues through community action and awareness creation. Our goal is to empower and educate young people about environmental sustainability and engage them in community action to address environmental issues through our activities.
Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN) is inspiring sustainable growth by providing higher education and training in agriculture, natural resources, and other allied and related subjects. BUAN is an innovative and research-intensive university producing innovative graduates and technological solutions for sustainable development in Agriculture and Natural Resources.
sponsors
The Adaptation Research Alliance (ARA) is a global coalition launched at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) to respond to the urgent challenges faced by vulnerable communities from climate change. Its membership is made up of researchers, funders, policymakers, development bodies, and community-based organizations committed to action-oriented research for adaptation that supports climate-resilient futures.