Our News
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ACTIS signs MoU with UNEP in Nairobi
ACTIS recently signed a new MoU with UNEP in Nairobi in order to design and host YES courses in Africa. YES courses were previously hosted with UNEP in 2005 and 2007, and this new agreement will allow for additional courses to be hosted from 2012 onwards. Both partners look forward [...]
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YES Students Participate in the World Resources Forum
ACTIS was invited to bring a delegation of YES participants to the third annual World Resources Forum in Davos in September. A total of 35 participants from 22 different countries represented the YES course at the conference, and contributed to the conference by running parallel sessions, speaking in the wrap [...]
About YES
The Youth Encounter on Sustainability (YES) is a pioneering concept in education for sustainable development, targeting university students and young professionals. Young leaders at this stage of their lives are motivated, concerned about their future and making important decisions about what to do with their career. The multidisciplinary YES course provides a once in a life to experience to connect to like minded individuals from all around the world, understand the complex challenges facing humanity and build up the skills and knowledge necessary to take the lead in creating appropriate solutions.
The first YES course was held in the remote village of Braunwald in the Swiss Alps in the year 2000. Since then over 35 courses have been held around the world, and over 1200 participants from 110 countries have been trained in the program.
A typical YES course brings together 40 participants from 30 different countries to live and learn together for 17 days. The courses are held in inspiring and remote locations that offer relevant field trips for the course content. Participants are offered a variety of lectures, case studies, project work, field trips, simulation games, group work and interactive workshops around the various challenges of sustainable development. The basic courses focus on the themes of human and natural systems, food and water, energy and materials, living space and consider the cross cutting roles of governance, the corporate sector and civil society.
Each course also involves a range of social, cultural, creative and outdoor activities that give participants a unique opportunity to learn about different cultures around the world and about the particular country where the course is being hosted.
In addition to the basic courses, ACTIS runs special courses on particular challenges and solution approaches, for example: “water and sustainability”, “food security and sustainable agriculture” and “social enterprise for sustainable development”.
A list of all the courses held to date is available here.