Giulia Camilla Braga
Program Manager, C4C – a program hosted by the World Bank Group and supported by Italy’s Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Youth4Innovation offers a promising case study on the power of intergenerational, multisectoral collaboration to build resilience and reimagine the future of jobs.
With more than a billion young people projected to reach working age in the next 10-15 years, the need to promote knowledge exchange between generations and connect passionate young innovators with prospective employers eager to future-proof their businesses is clear — in emerging economies especially. Connect4Climate (C4C) developed Youth4Innovation to bridge this gap between youth and the private sector. Through design thinking workshops, Youth4Innovation produces intergenerational solutions and strategies to drive investment and create jobs that support resilient communities.
Connecting the Private Sector with Youth
Earlier this year, C4C convened a group of students, young professionals, academics, and private sector leaders representing 17 countries for a Youth4Innovation workshop in Sevilla, Spain. The session’s guiding themes of Jobs, Investment, and Resilience were inspired by outcome areas of the World Bank Group scorecard, designed to track and measure impact on some of the most critical global issues. In small working groups, participants defined specific challenges to tackle within these thematic areas and then ideated potential solutions, utilizing the “four W’s” of design thinking — what is, what if, what wows, and what works — and ultimately presenting their ideas in the form of “intergenerational blueprints.” These blueprints outlined implementation pathways for each solution, which ranged from building green skills for young farmers to designing resilient urban infrastructure to creating digital platforms that connect investors with young innovators.
Creating Space for Intergenerational Collaboration
Nepali youth participant Sanjana Chhantyal described the workshop as “the perfect place for inter-stakeholder collaboration. It provided us with a safe space to think our ideas out loud, and I think that is really missing in the real world.” Private sector participants, meanwhile, came away excited to continue to work with the next generation toward resilient solutions and career pathways. “This exchange allowed us to see other realities and how everyone has a different view,” reflected Cristina Moral of the multinational utility company Iberdola. “It was very enriching.” Such collaboration across generational lines is essential to overcoming old paradigms, enhancing environmental commitments, and embracing innovation that drives long-term economic success.
Change Starts Here
Youth4Innovation shows what happens when generations and sectors pull in the same direction: investment flows, resilient solutions scale, and jobs follow. Its outcomes point to a simple truth: when we intentionally foster intergenerational collaboration, we create opportunities to exchange knowledge and build trust between youth and the private sector, which opens the door to quality, sustainable jobs on a livable planet.
