Brazil is celebrating the First Children and Youth International Conference with children and youth from all the continents taking part

The Children and Youth International Conference “Let’s look after the Planet”, is organised by the Brazilian Government through the Ministries of Education and The Environment,

and will take place in Brasilia, Brazil from 5th to 10th June, 2010. The conference is a further initiative which forms part of the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014), promoted by the United Nations.

The objectives are centred on enabling children and young people from the whole world to take on global commitments at local level, assuming responsibilities for the construction of sustainable societies and promoting a network of actions for looking after the planet.

The aim is to give an educational dimension to current environmental policy. In order to do this, a process , has been established which is carried out in schools and at national level in all the participating countries. During this phase, students, teachers and local communities are mobilized and the environmental subject matter introduced into the formal education systems. In Spain, the Spanish National Conference is already working towards this.

The close to 600 children and adolescents estimated to be taking part in the Conference will debate socio-environmental issues through a combination of activities, practical workshops, intercultural discussions, etc., sharing their experiences acquired in their own communities and countries. They will collectively draw up a final document, the Charter of Responsibilities, which will set out the collective responsibilities and actions that should be implemented at both local and global level.

The Charter of Human Responsibilities can be used as teaching material by whoever wants to take part in the Conference, as well as by those who are not taking part but wish to work on the subject in the classroom.