Side event details

Youth leaders from around the world are playing a critical role in the conservation and wise use of wetlands and freshwater ecosystems. Their efforts span across the Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania, demonstrating global commitment and innovation. Youth-led initiatives are integrating community action, Indigenous knowledge, science, environmental education, and policy advocacy, offering concrete contributions to the goals of the Convention on Wetlands. 

Since the adoption of the youth resolution, ‘Strengthening Ramsar Connections through Youth’ at COP14, the Youth Working Group and wider youth network have been actively engaged to advance its objectives. The efforts have focused on fostering meaningful engagement, collaboration and involvement of youth in the implementation of the Convention.  

Despite this progress, Contracting Parties continue to face challenges in meaningfully integrating diverse youth voices into wetland-related priorities and decision-making. This side event aims to showcase the progress made since the adoption of the first youth resolution at COP14, and to identify key areas that still require action to fully implement the resolution. A persistent challenge for Contracting Parties is how to meaningfully ‘seek, welcome and reflect on’ diverse youth voices in wetland priorities, policies and programmes. This session will directly address that challenge through practical, youth-partnered examples. 

To align this session with the Convention on Wetlands' goals, we will focus on three key Youth Workplan areas where youth involvement is crucial, specifically exploring:  

• How to co-design with youth on wetlands projects (Workplan task 2.4.3),  

• How to design wetlands projects with associated financial resources, for youth employment and livelihoods (Workplan task 3.4.1) 

• How to identify and explore with CPs ways to integrate youth considerations into existing and new wetlands policies, strategies, processes and programmes (Workplan task 3.6.1).  

At the conclusion of the session, participants will be invited to contribute to facilitated discussions. Using prompting questions, these conversations will help shape the preliminary guidance for the Ramsar Youth Working Group’s next steps.  

The side event will open with presentations from each Ramsar region, showcasing successful examples of youth engaging with Contracting Parties on wetlands projects and policy initiatives. These examples—from community initiatives and Indigenous knowledge to policy advocacy— will inspire and highlight effective models across diverse ecological and cultural contexts. The audience will then join an intergenerational facilitated panel discussion, to explore pathways for advancing the Convention on Wetlands and the COP14 Youth Resolution.  

To close the event, guests will have the opportunity to network informally over refreshments in a relaxed space for connection.