2025 PRME Global Students Sustainability Award

The Youth of Sustainable Development club is passionately committed to promoting and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) among the college community. Our mission is to apply sustainable development in the university community and make sustainable development accessible, innovative and effective while promoting inclusivity. Our club focuses on two main important topics: the environment and climate and social sustainability. So, our objective is to enable college students to actively participate in the achievement of SDGs, both on and off campus, to actively contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. We want to ensure that every student feels welcome, regardless of their background or area of study. Our club serves as a platform for collaboration, education and innovation, allowing students to explore creativity and accessible approaches to sustainable development.

1. Youth Leaders Foundation Leaders League Competition

This competition is the biggest of its kind in Egypt. In the final stage, there were around 70 clubs across Egypt, and we reached the semi-finals of this competition. YSD was the only club from a private university in this competition. It brings together all student activities and opens an active dialogue between them and community stakeholders. It was designed to help student activities develop and sustain their community-serving projects and achieve Egypt’s vision for 2030 and the SDGs. So, our club applied its project whose goal is to expand reach internally to BUE students and to multiple Egyptian public and private universities (from different Egyptian governorates), which leads to sharing different ideas and perspectives from different backgrounds and contexts in dealing with different issues like climate change and provide different ideas for huge projects that serves different SDGs across Egypt. So, our objective is to have every single Egyptian university have an active student body that works towards Sustainable development, whether in student clubs or student-started initiatives. this project is divided into phases: the first phase will target 6 public universities and 10 private universities from (Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said). these universities will be offered Sustainable development campaigns which include sessions, videos, podcasts and events about different topics in SDGs. they will be offered collaborations efforts in order to apply the SDGs strategies on the ground. finally, after they develop their clubs, there will be an annual competition between YSD clubs.

2. Public and Private School visits

The YSD club went to both public and private schools in different communities (delivering sessions in Arabic and English). the main goal of this activity was to enhance awareness and education on sustainable development, literacy, human rights and climate change among young students. In addition to holding activities on recycling and waste management (using sustainable and recycled materials), the club organized interactive sessions that involved schoolchildren in relevant conversations and activities connected to the SDGs.

3. Shagarha in the mental hospital

The main objective of the community initiatives was to assist and support areas throughout Egypt (including Gaza in terms of food aid). To make our community more sustainable and improve the quality of life for people in need, YSD collaborated with Shagarha to plant about 100 lemon and orange trees in a mental health facility in a low-income area. Following through with our club’s main goal of tackling as many SDGs as we can, this event incorporated SDGs: 2 (as the fruit from the trees will be available to all people in the area), 3 (as the trees are an effort to make the patients in the facility get better with reconnecting to earth and having a purpose/activity for every day), SDG 4 (as the members who participated gained in-field knowledge on how to plant and take care of plants), 13&15 (to make more green & sustainable areas in our community.

1. Quantitatively, our project aims to expand to 6 public universities and 10 private universities, which are our target audience for the first phase in (Cairo, Alexandria and Port Said). our project will offer them sustainable awareness campaigns like social media videos, animations, podcasts and events. Also, collaborative efforts through annual competitions between different YSD clubs at other universities will give the opportunities to highlight many different projects that target different SDGs. the qualitative impact fostered inspiration, motivation, a huge networking system and a sense of agency among the participants. furthermore, this project will offer volunteering opportunities to the youth who are interested in actively contribution to the project. Through the annual competition between clubs will provide a chance for the youth to engage in real actions addressing the Egypt Vision 2030 agenda and achieving the SDGs. this qualitative impact allowed individuals to translate the new knowledge that they will get through the sustainable development campaign into tangible efforts, making a positive impact within the university ecosystem and their local communities.

2. Since then, we have conducted workshops for more than 700 schoolchildren, who have taken what they have learned and developed new sustainability abilities. Additionally, the influence of the school visits extended beyond the students. the program expanded its reach to include families, school personnel, and the larger community by involving and educating young students. this ripple effect increased knowledge and comprehension of sustainable development, climate change and human rights, thus leading to beneficial changes in behavior and attitudes.

3. Quantitatively, through our club, the university has gained a linked collaboration with Shagarha for future events and efforts in planting trees in more locations. Our local community now has an additional 100 trees in an area of low-income. These actions benefit local communities by creating green spaces that improve the mental well-being of patients while raising environmental awareness among residents and schools. Additionally, tracking the number of trees planted and gathering feedback through surveys can quantitatively and qualitatively demonstrate the initiative's success and its alignment with sustainability goals, strengthening partnerships with local organizations like Shagarha. Ultimately, these collaborative efforts contribute to a healthier environment and a more engaged student body.

1. Academically, the members of the project will have the opportunity to go deeper into different topics and issues in the SDGs field like inequality, climate change, and human rights through the sustainable development campaign. by organizing sessions and collaborations with experts in the field, they will gain firsthand knowledge and insights that will improve their academic studies. this practical experience will enhance their understanding of the complex interplay between the SDGs, providing them with unique perspectives beyond academic learning. Professionally, the implementation of the initiatives of the project will offer members valuable skill development opportunities. they actively engaged in project management, event planning and collaboration with external organizations. These experiences will provide their organizational, teamwork and leadership skills, fostering their ability to effectively coordinate and execute initiatives that drive change.

2.The club worked with students, including teachers, administrators and government representatives, to carry out this initiative. This approach promoted a peer-to-peer learning environment in addition to giving the club members the confidence to assume leadership positions in interacting with these stakeholders. The undergraduate club members were in charge of leading the sessions and creating the SDGs-related content, making sure it was understandable and interesting for the younger audience. In addition to giving them the capacity to create instructional materials that are appropriate for their target audience, this improved their public speaking, presenting, and leadership abilities.

3. Academically, students gained hands-on experience in project management, enhancing their understanding of environmental sustainability and community service—subjects that are often part of their curricula but may lack practical applications. They learned to collaborate with diverse stakeholders, improving their communication and teamwork skills, which are critical in any professional setting. On a personal level, the experience created in the members a feeling of purpose and social responsibility as they saw the good impact their efforts had on the mental hospital's surroundings and patients. In addition to increasing their confidence, this sense of success and community connection motivated them to become more involved and knowledgeable citizens.

1. Faculty Winter Camp

Awareness interactive sessions/ mini-games and workshops on SDGs and education on sustainable development and climate change. it includes discovering and thinking of new rules and ideas to reach a sustainable city and minigames to raise the awareness of high-school students and new faculty students in the British university in Egypt

2. Run for Health and Wellbeing marathon/ Booth

This booth was for awareness and activities/games with children and their families during the marathon- Club members developed skills on showing the importance things that children and families should focus on it to reach a healthier life either physical or mental.

3. School visit - American Cairo International College (ACIC)

Awareness interactive sessions in different classes on SDGs in general and on reducing inequalities and climate change for kids- spreading awareness about education on sustainable development, climate change and no discrimination for school children, which helps in improving community's knowledge and improve the students to take actions and serve their own communities.

4. Egyptian Food Bank visit

Club members visited the Egyptian Food Bank volunteering to help with food aid packages going to Gaza to help them in the ongoing war crises.

5. Youth Leaders Foundation Leaders League Competition

In 2023, the club applied its project in this competition, our project was on promoting awareness and word towards sustainable development in different schools and universities across Egypt. In 2024, our project reached the semi-finals of the competitions and had a lot of high reputations.

6. Local Conference of Youth in Egypt (LCOY)

Our club was one of the sponsors of this huge event which provides sessions and workshops on three main issues: climate change, pollution and biodiversity.

7. Planting trees in Mental Hospital institution

The club went to a Mental Hospital institution to plant trees with the help of the Shagaraha organization in planting many trees in their backyards.

8. PRME regional winners

Our Club won the prime competition on the regional level and competed in the Conscious Capitalism Competition (CCC) which was organized by marketplace simulation.

Student Representative

Karim Ayman

karim226997@bue.edu.eg

+201274550795

Academic Supervisor

Dr. Hadia Fakhreldin

hadia.fakhreldin@bue.edu.eg