By Eleonora Bonaccorsi, IISD

The Beyond Lab at UN Geneva, in collaboration with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), hosted a dialogue titled, ‘Beyond Words: Concrete Actions for Intergenerational Equity in Policymaking,’ as part of the 11th International Youth Conference 11 (IYC11). The eleventh edition of the annual IYC gathering was convened under the theme, ‘Better Future with Progressive and Forward-thinking Youth for Positive Change,’ and brought together over 400,000 participants from more than 170 countries, including 450 delegates attending in person.

The dialogue featured the launch of The Beyond Challenge, designed by the Beyond Lab at UN Geneva, supported by the German Government, with IISD as a knowledge partner. This initiative encourages the public to provide personal interpretations and definitions of four key elements (the “Beyonds”), defining what a sustainable, socially owned, and aware future should look like through the means of traditional essays, short movies, artistic performances, policy proposals, clothing lines, and more.

During the dialogue, Davide Fanciulli, Beyond Lab, highlighted the four elements of the Beyonds – key concepts to look out when reflecting on the future of sustainable development beyond 2030. These themes, which emerged from years of multistakeholder consultations conducted by the Lab, are: regeneration (the shift from sustaining to restoring, renewing, reimagining, and healing); constructive hope (the shift from fear, anger, and polarization to positive action); debt to the future (the shift from short-term thinking and planning to long-term doing); and the great unknowns (the shift from controlling to accepting uncertainty and complexity).

Through this initiative, the Lab and its partners aim to harness youth creativity and voices in shaping a more sustainable future, by connecting these interpretations and concepts with current multilateral processes. At the same time, the initiative aims to showcase how, embraced by different disciplines, sustainability is part of our everyday life, demonstrating diverse yet complementary approaches towards the same objective.

A second initiative, ‘Youth Moving Beyond GDP,’ was also discussed. Presented by Nathalie Delorme, Beyond Lab, the initiative responds directly to the commitment made by all UN Member States at the Summit of the Future (SoF) to urgently develop new measures of progress on sustainable development that go beyond gross domestic product (GDP).

Launched in 2024 by the Beyond Lab, the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD), and the student movement Rethinking Economics International, the initiative’s kick-off essay competition gathered voices of more than 600 young people from more than 50 countries who weighed in on key elements needed in a framework that complements or moves beyond GDP. Presented in several key multilateral dialogues and events, including side events focusing on moving beyond GDP during the Summit of the Future and a conversation on ‘What’s Next on Beyond GDP’ at UN Geneva, these youth insights have sought to influence the language and ambitions of the international community in reshaping economic systems for long-term sustainability. During the session, Delorme underscored intergenerational equity as a core principle of sustainable development and extended an invitation for youth to join the soon-to-be-established Youth Network on Beyond GDP, a platform for engagement and collaboration, to help shape the future of sustainable development and economic policymaking. The Youth Network will officially be launched at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), in a joint IISD-Beyond Lab official side event, co-organized with partners.

The dialogue also featured the Beyond GDP essay competition writer María Alejandra Pérez, who shared her reflections on the care economy – the essential but often invisible, undervalued, or unpaid labor that sustains human life. During her intervention, Pérez stressed the need for a mindset shift coupled with structural investments and policies that support and acknowledge the care economy to reflect the society we aim to build. Recognizing care as a shared responsibility, central to our life and the economy, we can begin shaping new narratives rooted in equity and sustainability for a more inclusive and resilient future, she argued.

This session, developed in partnership with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), also provided an overview of the work with countries to estimate a beyond GDP index on “comprehensive wealth” by IISD, and initiatives to improve capacities of educational institutions to advance efforts to move beyond GDP, developed in partnership with Rethinking Economics International.

Livia Bizikova, IISD, shared applications of comprehensive wealth measures to complement GDP in Indonesia, Ethiopia, and Trinidad and Tobago, using national data from these countries’ statistical offices. The initiative aims to encourage governments and citizens to move beyond GDP as the main measure of societal progress. Building on these applications, Bizikova announced the upcoming launch of a beyond GDP educational tool, soon to be available in English, Spanish, and French, featuring four modules on: GDP’s history and limits; approaches to move beyond GDP; country-level testing; and policy implications to support skills development for youth and future professionals.

* * *

Beyond Words: Concrete Actions for Intergenerational Equity in Policymaking: watch the recording here.

Go here to take part in the Beyond Challenge.

Go here to take part in the Youth Moving Beyond GDP.

The initiatives described in this story contribute to awareness-raising efforts to advance metrics that go beyond GDP.