Sustainable development is key to sustaining peace and vice versa. But sustaining peace relies not only on the absence of war, it embraces the idea of inclusive participation of the entire society in its governance and economy. Ukraine still has the armed conflict on its territory and tries to set a course on its peaceful resolution. Many countries in similar situations have embraced SDGs as part of the solution and showed positive improvements. We believe that the central role in the process of the designing such solution shall be given to youth. Ukraine has a vibrant civil society and active youth community that’s shaping the future by rebuilding education system and developing participatory decision-making mechanisms. Moreover, Ukraine has already chosen to reform its governmental, societal and economic institutions and transit to a more sustainable form of an existence based on SDG’s and sustaining peace principles. This is a perfect timing for youth to come up with the consolidated  position on the directions and principles of the policies that will frame country’s sustainable development vector for the next decade.

The project overall aim to create a platform of the solutions for the sustaining peace in Ukraine and worldwide through starting an intercultural dialogue and network between Ukrainian young leaders and their peers across the world.

The main theme will be explored through six following topics:

– Environmental Peacebuilding: Dealing with Environment-powered Conflicts
– Conflict Resolution and Violence Reduction: The Role of Youth in Sustaining Peace
– Social Entrepreneurship: Building Resilience and Sustaining Peace
– Opening Dialogue Between Communities: The Role of Arts in Peacebuilding
– Building Peaceful Communities: The Role of Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue
– Education and Initiatives for the Culture of Peace and SDGs

The key questions we aim to answer throughout the Summit are:

– How peacebuilders, working in fragile states, can integrate climate risks and considerations into their work to ensure that it is sustainable and that it supports the transition from fragility to peace?

– What are the ways we engage young people and women in building a sustaining peace? How SDG’s can shape them to become agents of change in locally-led peacebuilding?

– Can businesses play a role in peace and sustainable development? How can youth adopt social entrepreneurship as a peacebuilding tool to end structural violence and social inequality?

– Does art bring us closer to sustaining peace? What is the evidence for the contribution of the arts to the security and stability of countries in states of fragility, conflict and transition?

– How some of the greatest risks of violence today stem from perceived inequalities between different groups?

– How the arts can address them? And what is it about the arts that can make it an effective force for sustaining peace?

– How is accepting the oneness of humanity key to just, peaceful & inclusive societies? What does it take to build a truly effective and inclusive of all sectors of society intercultural dialogue?

– What is the role of faith-based organisations and religious leaders in promoting sustaining peace?

– What is the role of education in promoting peace? How does education for sustainable development contribute to sustaining peace?

– How new innovative ideas and unexpected collaborations based on SDG’s can shape the future?

– How can we shift from good intentions into tangible actions? And why young people are key to achieving the SDGs?

Summit’s activities are designed to create a multinational functional dialogue and to inspire the development of new tool and creative means to build a sustaining peace. Besides, the event aims at providing a number of networking sub-events including activities and enhancement of the Y2Y Alumni Network, which serves as a hub for socially-beneficial actions and a space for strengthening unity between youth from different continents and regions of the world.

• Explore the main theme, answering key questions, share knowledge, best practices and uniques experience, connecting active youth with practitioners and experts for building sustaining peace solutions for global communities;
• Develop six specific actions which will be implemented back in home countries of the delegates in a post-Summit time;
• Equip delegates of the Summit with a unique set of skills, tools and methods for their successful personal and professional development, fulfilling their potential for fostering change and building sustaining peace;
• Empower young Ukrainian leaders, investing in their resilient capacity and cooperation opportunities with peers;
• Enhancement of a long term the civic competences of young leaders and supporting their grassroots projects that consolidate and activate communities;

By finding answers to the key questions, sharing knowledge, best practices and unique experience, connecting active youth with practitioners and experts, we want to build an integral atlas of opportunities and actions that will foster change and help to move forward to the sustaining peace. By providing participants with a unique set of skills, that they can take back to their organizations, communities, and projects, through planned workshops and boot camp sessions we want to create a pool of competitive activists with a great potential for fostering the change, bringing innovation to the next level, applying technologies to increase social impact and build inclusive society, influence policy-and decision making process, creating new infrastructure ready to face the changes of tomorrow.

The Summit serves as a starting point for participants, providing the food for thought and building the environment that encourages creativity and dialogue, allowing to plant seeds for partnerships and production of joint projects. These projects, presented during the event, are given a chance to be developed by a year-long online mentorship program at Y2Y Action Hub and the School for Social Entrepreneurs that will take place online in 2022.