The Integrated Strategic Development Framework (ISDF) Youth Competition challenged youth in Knysna, South Africa to come up with sustainable development proposals to grow the local economy, improve social structures and create jobs in their town.
Groups consisting of three to five young people, all between the ages of 16 and 35 and living within the greater Knysna municipal area, were invited to prepare and present a concept proposal for an intervention that addresses one of the following questions:
- What would you do if you had unlimited funds to improve the greater Knysna municipal area to the benefit of all?
- What intervention being implemented in any place in the world would benefit and have the best impact on all the people of the greater Knysna municipal area?
- How can we use the estuary, fynbos and forest to improve the lives of all the people of the greater Knysna municipal area?
According to Knysna’s Executive Mayor:
“This competition serves to integrate our young people into the mainstream economy of Knysna,” Wolmarans concluded. “And, in a time where unemployment and poverty are rife, especially amongst school leavers and the youth, encouraging entrepreneurship amongst the youth not only facilitates responsible and sustainable economic development, but assists us in creating a town where people and nature prosper.”