The primary objective of Generation SDG was to empower young people aged 15-24 to become local champions of the Sustainable Development Goals. Specifically, the project aimed to: (1) increase comprehensive understanding of all 17 SDGs and their interconnections among at least 120 young people across six European countries; (2) equip participants with practical advocacy and project planning skills through a structured Youth Action and Participation Toolkit; (3) promote active citizenship and social responsibility by supporting the design and implementation of youth-led community initiatives aligned with the SDGs; (4) strengthen the capacity of partner organisations and youth workers to deliver high-quality SDG education using innovative digital and non-formal learning methodologies; (5) foster a culture of environmental sustainability and climate action among young Europeans; and (6) create freely accessible, multilingual educational resources for youth organisations across Europe.
The Generation SDG project was conceived to address a critical gap between young Europeans' awareness of global challenges and their capacity to take meaningful local action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Despite growing concern among youth aged 15-24 about issues such as climate change, inequality, and poverty, research conducted during the project design phase revealed that most young people lack the structured knowledge, practical tools, and institutional support needed to translate this concern into concrete community-based initiatives. The consortium of organisations from Spain, Ireland, Bulgaria, Greece, Cyprus, and Romania identified that existing educational resources on the SDGs were largely theoretical, fragmented, and not adapted to non-formal learning environments. Furthermore, youth workers and educators reported a lack of comprehensive, multilingual, and action-oriented toolkits that could guide young people through the full cycle of advocacy (from understanding global goals to designing and implementing local projects). GenSDG was therefore designed to bridge this gap by creating an integrated ecosystem of digital learning modules, practical participation tools, and promotional resources