Naia Uriarte, a QSA3 student, and Ibai González, an AS2 student, took part this Friday, 11 September, in Bilbao in one of the regional consultations organised by Education Beyond 2030, an international initiative that aims to incorporate the perspectives of children and young people into shaping the future of education.
The event, held at the Elkartenet premises in Deusto, was organised by UN Etxea in collaboration with the RCE Basque Country–Navarre, as part of the global initiative promoted by UNESCO, the United Nations University and the SDG 4 Youth and Students Network.
The event brought together young people aged between 11 and 30 to hear about their experiences, understand their concerns and gather their proposals on how education should be transformed to better respond to the major social, environmental and technological challenges of our time.
During the session, participants reflected on three particularly significant challenges. The first was technological transformation and the impact of artificial intelligence on teaching methodologies. They also addressed the climate crisis and the need to integrate sustainability across all areas of education. The third area focused on social justice and equity, with particular attention to access to opportunities, different socio-economic realities and the emotional wellbeing of the students.
The contributions gathered in Bilbao, together with those made during other regional consultations in the Basque Country, Navarre and Iparralde, will be processed by UN Etxea and forwarded to the international working groups linked to the initiative.
The ideas of Naia, Ibai and thousands of young people from around the world will help shape the future Post-2030 Youth Agenda for Education and Learning. The results of this first phase will be presented at the 2027 World Education Meeting, where they will help to further define the education agenda that will succeed SDG 4.
Their participation ensures that our students’ perspectives form part of a global conversation on education that is more inclusive, sustainable and equipped to meet the challenges of the future.
