Elders+Youngers: beyond Rio+20
In 2012 The Elders teamed up with four Youngers to start an intergenerational debate on how we build a sustainable and more equitable world.
Read the final report on what they achieved – and read more about their next steps after Rio+20.
In pictures: Elders+
Youngers in Rio
"I'm very pleased to see young people so engaged in building a better world at Rio+20. You're bringing a fresh perspective on environmental issues, not a technocratic approach." – Fernando Henrique Cardoso
In June 2012, the Elders and ‘Youngers’ finally met in Brazil, after eight weeks of online dialogue on sustainable development. View the photos here.
"We have already come a long way. You are the ones who will push us further."
Last year Gro Harlem Brundtland joined the Youngers for a final week of debate on the successes and failures of Rio+20 – and what we can do now to keep the momentum going.
Elders+Youngers answer your questions!
Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Mary Robinson and Gro Harlem Brundtland joined the Youngers to answer your questions from Rio de Janeiro as world leaders gathered for the Rio+20 Summit.
What kind of world do we want for our great-great-grandchildren?
Good jobs? Clean air? Leaders who listen to them?
Watch the Elders+Youngers video and join the debate.
What kind of world do we want for our great-great-grandchildren? People, profit and the environment – can we balance them, or do we have to make a choice? Can global summits achieve anything? How do we create change – starting now?
In June 2012 world leaders came together for Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development. Twenty years on from the first historic Rio Earth Summit, urgent action is now needed to address human and environmental crises on a global scale. It is time for a real, inclusive conversation about the world we are leaving to future generations – and it is vital that today's youth have a voice in the decisions that will affect them for decades to come.
The Elders have always placed great value on listening to and learning from young people in every area of their work.
In April 2012 they joined forces with TckTckTck to launch Elders+Youngers, a series of online debates between four Elders and four 'Youngers': leading climate change activists who are committed to putting sustainable development into practice and working to make sure that young people’s concerns are represented in decision-making at the global level.
Desmond Tutu, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Mary Robinson joined Esther (Nigeria), Marvin (China), Pedro (Brazil) and Sara (Sweden) to discuss what it means to live together sustainably. Read more about the four Youngers.
Elders+Youngers explores what we want our shared future to look like and ideas for how we get there. Open to contributions from people around the world, young and old, the debate began online and continued face-to-face in Rio itself.
Do you think we can address these long-term issues when we’re facing such immediate economic difficulties? Given the sheer scale of the problems, how can we make sure that ordinary people have a voice and a hand in working out the solutions?
Do we need to redefine ‘success’ – or even rethink capitalism itself? Who or what will drive the revolution we need – is it world leaders at big international conferences? Is it new, green business models? Can we do it ourselves?
We want to hear from you. While governments were negotiating, the Elders+Youngers have been exploring practical paths of action and new ways of thinking on the most urgent issues facing our world today. Rio+20 may be over, but the discussion continues – join the debate.