🌍 SDGs Intelligence: Youth-Led Dialogues for a Sustainable Future

What happens when you equip young people with the right questions — not the answers — about our planet’s future?

You get critical conversations, renewed climate engagement, and a ripple effect of sustainability awareness that starts small… and spreads big.

Since launching in March 2024, the SDGs Intelligence project has been rolling out its mission across Austria, Latvia, and Slovenia. And now, we're thrilled to share some of the highlights from the project implementation and our pilot workshops.

🎯 What is SDGs Intelligence About?

Funded by the Erasmus+ programme and proudly coordinated by Ecological Future Education (EFE), the SDGs Intelligence project was born from a simple but powerful belief: young people deserve better tools to understand, question, and act on sustainability.

Too often, education around the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is limited to PowerPoint presentations, abstract theory, or feel-good slogans. But for many young people — especially those who’ve become disillusioned by polarising climate activism or overwhelmed by global challenges — this approach doesn’t inspire action. It creates distance.

That’s why SDGs Intelligence takes a different route.

At its heart is a new, participatory educational tool: the SDGs Cards Box. This isn’t just another learning resource — it’s a conversation engine. With over 70 carefully crafted cards, the box prompts real dialogue around each of the 17 SDGs, inviting young people to reflect, debate, and imagine solutions through three lenses: ecological, social, and economic. Each card includes critical questions, data-backed prompts, and contextual insights that spark curiosity and challenge assumptions. They're not designed to deliver ready-made answers — they're designed to help young people find their own.

But we didn’t stop there.

The project is accompanied by a practical guide for youth workers, ensuring that educators, mentors, and facilitators feel confident using the cards in real-world settings — whether that’s a youth centre, a classroom, or even a park bench. Paired with interactive, inclusive local workshops, this tool becomes the starting point for meaningful engagement — where sustainability is not just taught, but lived, explored, and reimagined by youth themselves.

🛠️ Behind the Scenes: Building the Tools

From April to July 2024, we, the project partners from EMOTiC (Austria), EFE (Latvia), and EPEKA (Slovenia) collaborated in an intensive co-design phase. Using participatory methods like the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach (RMA) and PERSONA Profiling, we ensured that the cards weren’t just informative — but truly reflective of young people’s realities, language, and aspirations.

📦 The final SDGs Cards Box includes:

51 question cards (3 for each SDG)
9 solution-oriented cards
10 support cards with instructions and extra context
Available in 4 languages: English, Latvian, German, and Slovenian

Meanwhile, youth workers across the three countries joined a transnational training to learn how to use the cards effectively in workshops and adapt them for different audiences.

👥 From Design to Action: Local Pilots

Between September and December 2024, we ran local pilot workshops in each country — the first real-world test of the cards with young people.

🔸 Austria

Using the cards in EMOTiC’s Climate Lab, young participants connected social equity with climate action. The conversation around SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) led to a youth-led campaign for second-hand school supplies — reducing both waste and economic pressure on families.

🔸 Latvia

In small groups, youth participants explored the SDGs that mattered most to them — from sustainable cities to quality education. A highlight? One group proposed a “green corridors” initiative to increase biodiversity in their schoolyards, inspired by SDG 15 (Life on Land).

🔸 Slovenia

At EPEKA’s community hub, youth from underrepresented backgrounds — including Roma youth — engaged in dynamic debates about economic sustainability and access to green jobs. The SDGs Cards sparked new ideas around local entrepreneurship linked to SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth).

In total, over 50 young people participated in our first pilot phase — and more are joining as the materials are shared openly with other youth groups and educators.

📣 Amplifying the Voices

To keep the momentum going, each partner has been rolling out a social media campaign to spotlight youth perspectives, share insights from the pilot workshops, and invite others to explore the SDGs Cards Box. ✨ Want a sneak peek? Check out the hashtag #SDGsIntelligence to see how young people are reclaiming the sustainability conversation — one question at a time.

✅ Final Phase – Completed and Shared

The final stage of SDGs Intelligence is complete. The SDGs Guidebook has been published and made freely available online, and youth workers across Europe have started integrating the Cards Box into their educational activities. Insights gathered from the local pilots were used to improve the tools, and dissemination efforts were expanded through the Erasmus+ and SALTO platforms. As of March 2025, the project has laid the foundation for 100+ educators and youth workers to lead meaningful, inclusive, and action-driven conversations around sustainability in future activities.

📥 Resources for Download

Ready to spark your own SDGs conversations?

All project resources are free to use and adapt under a Creative Commons license. Click below to download:

📦 SDGs Cards Box – English Version (PDF)

📘 SDGs Guidebook for Youth Workers (PDF)

📥 Get Involved

Whether you’re a youth worker, teacher, or just someone passionate about sustainability — we invite you to download the SDGs Cards Box, join the conversation, and help youth turn global goals into local action.

💡 For updates, resources, and stories from the ground, follow our social media or contact us.

Together, let’s make sustainability intelligent — and youth participation unstoppable.

Overall, the SDGs Intelligence project proved to be a resounding success on multiple levels. From the co-design of a meaningful educational tool to the facilitation of local workshops, the project didn’t just meet its goals — it ignited new ways of thinking, learning, and connecting. The SDGs Cards Box was co-created and piloted through a participatory approach that engaged youth workers, facilitators, and over 50 young people directly in local pilots. Through follow-up events, social media outreach, and wider community engagement, the project reached more than 400 individuals, bringing the spirit of the SDGs to life through conversation and collaboration.

"What I loved most was how we started by exploring the SDGs through guided questions. It wasn’t just about giving answers, it was about asking the right things and thinking together. The tools were super helpful, and the atmosphere made it easy to share ideas!”. - A participant review.

"I always thought sustainability was something far away — for governments or scientists. But through this project, I realized how connected it is to my everyday life. The cards helped me think about things I never questioned before.” - A participant review.

"As a youth worker, I’ve used many tools over the years, but this one felt fresh. It encouraged deeper conversations, not just surface-level engagement. And the guidebook made it easy to adapt to our group’s needs. - A participant review.

This international project was successfully realised thanks to the generous support of the Latvian ERASMUS+ National Agency of the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, and coordinated by the Latvian organisation "Biedrība Ecological Future Education" and hosted by EMOTIC.

More project details are on the ERASMUS+ results platform in its Project Card.