Youth Coalition art campaigns highlighted in ART X SDG Festival

YOURS – Youth for Road Safety Capacity Development Director Manpreet Darroch and Senior Project Manager Iván Viquez Solórzano joined the ARTS x SDGs Online Festival held last Friday, 14 January, to talk about the role of arts and young people in achieving the targets identified in the Global Goals. The Festival brings together members of the growing creative economy with different agencies in support of the Sustainable Development Goals and was led by Create2030.

Kicking off the session, Manpreet talked about YOURS and the preventive road crash efforts it promotes, discusses, and implements to young people around the world. He also pointed out how art is an important tool to start and lead positive change in society. During the intervention, he discussed why road safety should be among the issues highlighted in the Global Agenda.

He began by talking about road safety through the youth movement kicked off during the 2nd World Youth Assembly for Road Safety, touching on how art played a huge role in how road safety was communicated not just among young people but also among partners and other stakeholders. This resulted in the creation of the Global Youth Coalition for Road Safety; a youth-led organization that utilizes the skills and creativity of young people to raise awareness and implement projects focused on road safety and sustainable mobility. 

As an example of how the Youth Coalition brought together art and young people, Manpreet talked about the Art for Road Safety Campaign; a project that sought to change road safety behavior for the better and to empower young people to elevate discussions on road safety through artistic intervention.

YOURS Senior Project Manager, Iván, joined Manpreet during the session to talk about the next art campaign the Youth Coalition is leading; the #ClaimingOurSpace Campaign. The new campaign is a continuation of the previous art campaign that challenges young people to produce and reproduce artwork focused on road safety and sustainable mobility. 

The goal of the campaign is to empower young people to demand and deliver road safety while also showcasing youth leadership and encouraging decision-makers to meaningfully engage with young people. 

The artists of the campaign will come from six countries; Argentina, Brazil, Jordan, India, South Africa, and Nigeria but will be open to the global youth to participate in. The campaign will gather the artists to produce road safety artwork for the challenge and will also be exhibited in New York during the High-Level Meeting on Road Safety happening in July. 

The exhibit will highlight the efforts of young people and the role of art in furthering road safety efforts worldwide.