Posted in News, UWTSD Hub News on Oct 09, 2026.
During the recent UNESCO MOST Transformations Week in Paris, the UNESCO-MOST BRIDGES UK Hub—based at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) contributed to the BRIDGES Workshops Day on 30 September, which brought together diverse participants to translate theoretical frameworks into tangible, real-world action.
The workshops created vital spaces for knowledge exchange. Their core aim was to generate practical insights to directly feed into the newly approved BRIDGES Policy Toolkit, which will be stress-tested worldwide through UNESCO field schools.
“Creating the Conditions for Youth-Leaders – We Are Not Waiting"
Rooted in “We Are Not Waiting”—a joint initiative by the UNESCO–MOST BRIDGES UK Hub and The 50 Percent at the Club of Rome—this session was co-facilitated by Luci Attala (Director of the UK Hub and Deputy Executive Director of BRIDGES) and Nolita Mvunelo (The Club of Rome) to challenge traditional frameworks of youth engagement.
• A Shift in Perspective: Rather than asking how young people can be engaged in decision-making, the workshop started from the premise that youth leadership is already happening. The core challenge addressed was understanding the conditions that enable it to flourish and strengthening them through policy and practice.
• Collaborative Methodology: The session utilised a structured, participatory approach centred on real-world experience, shifting individual stories toward transferable principles.
• Diverse Participants: Brought together a mixed group of young leaders, youth organisations, policymakers, researchers, practitioners, civil society representatives, and UNESCO Field Office staff.
• Tangible Outputs: Participants analysed enabling and constraining factors across different global contexts to collaboratively develop an "implementation recipe" for youth leadership environments, which is being incorporated directly into the BRIDGES Policy Toolkit.
Fostering Community Resilience with the Tamkeen Foundation
As part of the workshop series, Luci Attala also co-facilitated a dedicated session on Community Resilience alongside the Tamkeen Foundation (Morocco).
• Focus on Local Knowledge: This session created a collaborative space for participants to explore how resilience is built through relationships, shared practices, and locally grounded knowledge.
• Navigating Uncertainty: The workshop generated vital insights into the everyday conditions that enable communities to effectively respond to change, disruption, and systemic uncertainty.
Bridging Knowledge and Practice
Together, with the other sessions taking place over the course of the day, these workshops embodied the core philosophy of BRIDGES: establishing collaborative spaces where different forms of knowledge and lived experience intersect.
By creating the space for participants to learn directly from one another, the sessions generated actionable insights designed to align academic research, frontline practice, and inclusive policy development.
