Green Youth Indaba is an annual conference, scheduled to take place on the 28th and 29th June 2018 in partnership with the Department of Science and Technology, Energy and Water SETA, Fibre Processing and Manufacturing SETA, Industrial Development Corporation and Standard Bank at The Innovation Hub, Pretoria.
As part of the celebration of the last leg of South African Youth Month 2018 with the theme: “Live the Legacy: Towards A Socio-Economically Empowered Youth”. This has been a long month filled with programmes of activities aimed at addressing youth unemployment, youth expos, dialogues and youth entrepreneur hubs to showcase opportunities available to young people at the Green Youth Indaba.
The objective of the Indaba is to go beyond exploring opportunities for youth within the green economy but to effectively explore and unpack necessary strategies that can create easy access to support and fund green innovations and green careers, to empower youth with the information and skills transfer needed to eradicate youth unemployment and poverty by tapping into the Green Economy Jobs and business opportunities.
The Indaba is not only a conference, it has established The Green Youth Network which is a national network of action-oriented youth in South Africa concerned about environmental issues and determined to make a positive change. The Network runs a innovative programmes in the green economy. Green Youth Indaba 2018 is one of our flagship programmes which has been running for the past 5 years.
In particular, the 2018 Green Innovators pitch 5.0, was conceptualised to support and encourage young innovators to collaborate and build green co-operatives.
“The development of youth co-operatives in the green industry is critical to the effective functioning of the South African economy,” says Mr Zulu.
“Our government already provides much-needed support to co-operatives through public education and training, and promotion of co-operative development initiatives in society at large. To assist in this cause, the 5th annual Green Youth Indaba aims to create a platform for young innovators to collaborate and build co-operatives, while rallying the necessary support from both government and private sector to ensure our young entrepreneurs gain access to support to pursue their dreams.”
As former Minister of Science and Technology and current Minister of Higher Education Naledi Pandor emphasised in her keynote address at the Green Youth Indaba in 2017, “…The future of our country and the African continent depends on our development of talented scientists and entrepreneurs who can take up the opportunity to develop new technologies and innovative solutions for our pressing problems…”
Green Youth Network is responsible for the advancement of youth interest and sustainable skills development in the green economy as well as promoting comprehensive education and innovation on issues relating to environmental conservation in South Africa.