SDGs: Research from youth perspectives

Author

By Andrés Gaeta.

 Tijuana, Mexico
During the first week of October, young people from all latitudes of Mexico met to discuss the importance of the Sustainable Development Goals and the follow-up to their implementation using research as the main tool.

The development of research from a youth perspective is a paradigm shift that questions knowledge and places youth at the centre, with the possibility of measuring and sharing the problems we experience on a daily basis; research available to young people. To research a rigorous methodology is needed; however, there are many ways to carry out studies from the community, far from just studying the community.

From this idea, we had the opportunity to rethink how access to information and technologies can help us to overcome economic and geographical barriers. We built a space from where we carried out pragmatic research approaches, with direct objectives towards the modification or implementation of public policies, from the measurement of the application of protocols or health programs. One of the key elements for the integration of Mexican youth perspectives is the involvement of social activists from different regions of the country.

ACT! 2030 Mexico achieved the above when including young people who live in the northern region of the country, who live dynamically attached to the neighbouring country, with a construction of citizenship far from centralist logics. As well as involving young people from the southern region, where the challenges of multidimensional poverty and the recognition of indigenous peoples are greater.

​However, despite the contextual differences we all share violence based on gender, discrimination based on sexual orientation, as well as ethnicity and the deficiencies on the health systems to reduce the vulnerabilities of youth in each region of the country. Towards the closure of the activities the sense of network was strengthened, where not only an affirmation of the triumphs of social activism from a latitude different from ours was achieved, but also a kind of support to the knowledge that the difficulties are shared, with a genuine recognition of the experiences and knowledge of the young people.