A special exhibition was opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, at the initiative of Hungary's UN Youth Delegate, with the cooperation and support of the Climate Policy Institute. The exhibition features an installation of selective waste bins decorated by young Hungarians and Israelis to raise awareness about the importance of a sustainable future. The event continued the next day with a round table discussion organized by the Climate Policy Institute, where “young people and climate change” was the subject of a fascinating exchange of views.
Domokos Kovács, Hungary's UN Youth Delegate, gave a presentation on river protection and sustainability in 14 schools in villages along the Tisza, in Transcarpathia and Hungary. Encouraging the participants to take action, the Youth Delegate worked with the children to create an installation artwork using waste bins painted and decorated by the youth themselves. An exhibition of these projects was opened at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 3 October 2022, in cooperation with the Climate Policy Institute, attracting a wide range of visitors.
At the opening ceremony, Máté Litkei, Director of the MCC Climate Policy Institute said that call-to-action programs helped to turn the impulses that many young people feel when the topic of climate change comes up into creative power. The Climate Policy Institute has backed the initiative because it combines artistic activities with awareness-raising and responsible thinking. The willingness of the next generation to take action and the attitude of future leaders will determine how we can respond to the problem of climate change, and MCC has a key role to play in training both today's youth and tomorrow's leaders," said Máté Litkei. He also recalled that we were living in a time of crises. We have not even recovered from one crises, and we are already plunged into another. Even in these difficult times, there must be initiatives to remind us that, while overcoming the problems of today, we must not forget the challenges of tomorrow.
The exhibition was organized in partnership with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the United Nations. The exhibition will be on display at the UN headquarters in New York until the end of the week. The creative artworks are located in the corridor connecting the two main UN buildings, so that a whole range of world leaders and representatives working at the world organization will have the opportunity to see the exhibition, which was created by young Hungarians, to raise awareness of the role of young people in environmental protection.
Climate change and youth: round table at the UN
The panel discussion which was organized by the Climate Policy Institute of Mathias Corvinus Collegium at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on 4 October 2022, was attended by a large international audience, and the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi was also an active participant in the event.
The primary goal of MCC is supporting, training, and educating talented young people, while the Climate Policy Institute focuses on climate change. The intersection of these two strategic issues was the theme of the professional day organized by the Climate Policy Institute in partnership with the Permanent Mission of Hungary to the United Nations and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
How can the generations of today and tomorrow work together to overcome the challenges of climate change? What can adults learn from young people and what lessons can older people pass on to the younger generation about sustainability? How can the next generation be better involved in the decision-making process about issues that shape the future? How do young people today think about climate change?
These and similar questions were discussed at the event organized by the Climate Policy Institute, which was opened by Csaba Kőrösi, President of the UN General Assembly and Máté Litkei, Director of the Climate Policy Institute. The roundtable, moderated by Kinga Biró, Research Fellow at the Climate Policy Institute, included Csaba Kőrösi, President of the UN General Assembly; the Dutch Hubertus Ruel, a researcher at MCC and expert in management science, international business, and diplomacy; the Spanish Rodrigo Ballester, Head of the MCC Center for European Studies, Péter Domokos Kovács, Hungary's UN Youth Delegate and former MCC student; Ziga Ciglaric, Slovenia's UN Youth Delegate.
The panel was followed by a question and answer session from an audience of nearly 60 UN experts and representatives, which led to a lively discussion where considerations from Africa, South America and various European countries were also included. The panel discussion concluded a two-day professional program, which aimed, among other things, to promote the work of the MCC and the Climate Policy Institute at the UN.
