ETBI Journal of Education - Vol 2:1 - June 2020 (Sustainable Development Goals 2015 -2030)

ETBI Journal of Education June 2020
The Sustainable Development
Goals - A Student’s Perspective
Jack O’Connor - United Nations Youth Delegate for Ireland (2019-2020)
This year, 2020 sees the 5-year anniversary
of the UN Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). These Goals fall under
the United Nations’ Agenda 2030, and 2020
begins the Decade of Action to achieve these
ambitious Goals. The future of the world, and
the achievement of the SDGs, will be shaped by
the youth of today, and I am a firm believer that
the youth must be adequatwely educated on
sustainable development regardless of their life
ambitions to shape a better tomorrow.
A common misconception about sustainable
development, and indeed the SDGs, is that they
are aimed solely towards developing countries.
This could not be further from the truth. The
SDGs touch on every possible element of life
globally; from human rights, to business practices,
to diverse ecosystems. With that said, I find it
crucial that people are afforded the capacity
and education necessary to deliver positive,
sustainable change.
The SDGs provide a pragmatic framework for
creating a better world and is a system that
I have held great interest in since my time as
a student at Desmond College, Co. Limerick.
With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that
receiving my second level education through
an Education and Training Board (ETB) school
provided a strong perspective on the need for
MOYO NUA IS AIMED AT
REVOLUTIONISING THE
AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES OF
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES USING
AN ERGONOMIC SEED PLANTER
FOR SMALLHOLDER FARMERS
sustainable development both globally and
locally. Issues such as reducing inequality and
providing quality education, two core elements
of ETB schools, are engrained in the SDGs, which
provide the opportunity for systematic change
to occur. However, despite the abundance of
resources readily available for the SDGs, coupled
with initiatives and ideas to implement this
development, there tends to be a large divide
in buy-in on these Goals. Perhaps the most
important Goals that have existed globally.
My initial interest in sustainable education and
subsequent work related to the SDGs, started
through a project I entered in the BT Young
Scientist and Technology Exhibition in 2017.
The project, now called Moyo Nua, is aimed
at revolutionising the agricultural practices of
developing countries using an ergonomic seed
planter for smallholder farmers in Malawi,
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