SustainUS is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization of young people advancing sustainable development and youth empowerment in the United States. Through proactive education, research, and advocacy at the policy-making and grassroots levels, we are building a future in which all people recognize the inherent equality and interdependence of social, economic, and environmental sustainability.

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SustainUS partners with the Swedish Embassy for DC event: "Paving the Way for the First Sustainable Generation"

On May 15 SustainUS is co-sponsoring a seminar, "Paving the Way for the First Sustainable Generation," with the Swedish Embassy in DC. Our External Communications Coordinator Mitch Lowenthal will be speaking on the panel, along with experts from the EPA, Lund University, and Worldwatch Institute.

If you're in DC, please check out the seminar! Registration is free, but required for security purposes. Event info below:

Register here!

Read more: SustainUS partners with the Swedish Embassy for DC event: "Paving the Way for the First...

Engage in Rio+20!

^{A million things you can do to engage in Rio+20}

So you want to take part of Rio+20, but don’t know how… SustainUS has put together a list of actions to help you to better understand and engage with the Rio+20.

What is Rio+20? Why does it matter to you?

Join the hundreds of youth at the Rio+20 conference and working on Rio+20 worldwide by joining the Major Group on Children and Youth, a group sprawled across the world and open to anyone under 30. You can get involved in working groups that do everything from crafting policy submissions to raising media awareness. For more information on how to participate in the different taskforces, visit: http://uncsdchildrenyouth.org/get-involved/

• Rio+20 Youth Participation Guide: An introductory guide for children and youth on how the Rio+20 process works http://rioplustwenties.org/documents/Participation_Guide_Rio+20_web.pdf
• Watch the Rio+20 Webinars organized by the Earth Charter and EOTO World in collaboration with the UNCSD MGCY: http://uncsdchildrenyouth.org/rio20/your-input/hot-topics/
  
  

What can you do to spread the world about Rio+20?

• Engage with U.S. leaders: They represent us, and it is important to make our voices heard. Send a telegram to the White House to tell Obama to come to Rio! Just kidding, that was the plan twenty years ago. Today, you can sign these petitions: here and here or just give Mr. Prez. a call at 202-456-1111.
• Rio+You: Participate in one of the Rio+You events being organized worldwide during Earth Day in more than 50 cities. Rio+You is an awareness campaign about sustainable development, a youth movement for all those who feel young, for those who want to change, participate, scream and work together for a better world! For more information: http://www.riomasvos.org/?lang=en
• MyCity+20: The project is aimed at mobilizing youth the world over, educating them on the urgency of sustainable development issues, and encouraging them to involve themselves in the negotiation process of Rio+20. Check out their website: http://mycityplus20.blogspot.com.br/
• Rio+20 House Party: The Human Impacts Institute has developed a guide for Rio+20 house parties with ideas on how to start a conversation on healthy communities and a healthy environment with friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Your party might include petition writing, creating videos and PSA’s for national campaigns, or simply discussing the state of today’s sustainability movement. Take a look at their guide: http://humanimpactsinstitute.org/Resources%20Rio+20/HII%20Toolkit%20Items/HII_RioHousePartyGuide.pdf
• MobilizeU International Competition between Colleges and Universities: The initiative encourages students to engage their campus communities in four weeks of environmental activism surrounding Earth Day 2012 (March 29 - April 29). Over the month-long competition, students have mobilized their campuses to generate as many “acts of green” and organizing major Earth Day events, as well as amplifying environmental initiatives that their schools are already working on. Every act of green generated during MobilizeU will contribute to Earth Day Network's global A Billion Acts of Green® initiative. For more information contact visit the website: http://www.earthday.org/mobilizeU
• Date with History: This is is a global competition organized by the Global Campaign for Climate Action (GCCA) which aims to identify the best speech from a young person addressing the world on the occasion of Rio+20. The winner will fly to Rio and present there her/his speech. IAAI and the GCCA are exploring possibilities to have the winners of the contests presenting their winning entries all together during an event as part of the Thematic Days (16-19 June) or the official conference (20-22 June). Visit the website at: www.datewithhistory.com
• PLURAL+ Youth Video Festival: is a video contest organized by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) aims to encourage young people to submit videos addressing the topics of migration and inclusion. The competition details are available below and at: http://pluralplus.unaoc.org Winners will attend an award ceremony in New York, in July 2012.
• UNEP Rio+20 Blog Off: Earlier this year, UNEP and TreeHugger invited green bloggers across the world to write an article for the World Environment Day competition. The prize is a fully paid round trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to blog for World Environment Day on 5 June 2012. To see the entries and vote visit the competition website: http://www.unep.org/wed/bloggers/

 
If you are in Rio de Janeiro this June, what can you do?

• The Youth Blast is the official event of the Major Group of Children and Youth (MGCY) with the aim of empowering young people to participate the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development – Rio +20.  Youth Blast will be held in Rio de Janeiro June 10-12, 2012. Besides providing information and training to participants, the event will be a space for youth to share experiences and solutions related to sustainable development issues and forms of participation in decision making at the international level. It will also be an occasion to build strategies for the activities to be developed during the conference.  You can register here: http://uncsdchildrenyouth.org/rio20/youth-blast/
• The Youth Camp at People’s Summit: The Brazilian Youth is organizing a camp before and during the People’s Summit, there will be two days of global action, marked by protests around the world during June 5-20, 2012. For more information on how to participate visit: http://cupuladospovos.org.br/en/
• US Stakeholders’ Dialogue: The US Department of State will host eight days of dialogue with the different stakeholders that will be participating at the Rio+20 Summit. More information can be found at the USRIO official website: http://www.state.gov/e/oes/sus/rio20/index.htm
• TEDxRio+20: The second edition of TEDxRio takes place from June 11th to 12th and will unite thinkers of diverse areas of knowledge in order to understand and analyze HUMAN POWER, a force with great capacity to destroy, maintain, and above all, to construct a new planet and a new way of life. Take a look at the official website: http://en.tedxrio20.com/

Join the SustainUS biodiversity negotiations delegation to CBD COP 11!

The SustainUS Agents of Change (AoC) program is now accepting applications to join the SustainUS youth delegation to the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, which will be held in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India from October 8-19,  2012.

COP11 will help determine future international policy on biodiversity, and youth must make our voices heard. Young people from across the globe are organizing to voice our perspectives and hold the negotiations accountable to future generations. Countries at the negotiations must reach consensus and work together to protect the planet’s diversity and the health of interdependent human and ecological systems.

Read more: Join the SustainUS biodiversity negotiations delegation to CBD COP 11!