Eighteenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Global goals such as overcoming poverty and supporting life on land have been challenging for decades in different regions which drew attention from economists, ecologists, sociologists, and the general public. However, the pace of improvement is slow. Moreover, the global pandemic is likely to reverse the progress despite many decades of poverty eradication efforts. How can teenagers participate in such a grand global issue? What are their understanding of poverty alleviation and how to understand poverty and the reasons behind it? These are questions to be answered by education for poverty elimination and sustainable development. Drawing on a summer vacation project run by Global Youth Tie, a Chinese social enterprise for sustainable development education, this study reports the findings of an investigation of the heritage research and poverty reduction in the First Bay of Yangtze River, Yunnan, China, via case study, participatory observation, and semi-structured interview. Data are collected and analyzed following the framework of Multidimensional Citizenship to tap the causes of poverty and localized solutions for poverty alleviation. It is hoped that the study will provide valuable first-line data and fresh material for teenagers’ next step of learning and understanding of biodiversity and sustainable development. The findings suggest that Chinese teenagers can benefit from both new perspectives of citizenship education and real world practice on poverty alleviation and UN Sustainable Development Goals achievement.