SustainUS is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

nonpartisan Nonpartisanism is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party. While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers sp ...

youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. You ...

-led

advocacy group Advocacy groups, also known as interest groups, special interest groups, lobbying groups or pressure groups use various forms of advocacy in order to influence public opinion and ultimately policy. They play an important role in the developm ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Its goal is to improve youth participation and

youth empowerment Youth empowerment is a process where children and young people are encouraged to take charge of their lives. They do this by addressing their situation and then take action in order to improve their access to resources and transform their consciou ...

as it relates to advancing

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

. SustainUS works particularly with youth and young people aged 13–29 and on

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

conferences related to youth and/or

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

History

SustainUS was founded in May 2001 at the International Youth Summit in Borgholm, Sweden, to prepare U.S. youth for the World Summit on Sustainable Development.{{cite web, title=About Us, url=http://www.sustainus.org/about-us, publisher=SustainUS, accessdate=6 May 2011

Programs

SustainUS operates several programs: *Agents of Change (AoC), begun in 2003, brings delegations of U.S.-based youth to conferences and

summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

s related to international sustainability policy, primarily at the United Nations. Youth delegates work with government delegates, fellow

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

since at least 2005, also the International Forum on the Eradication of Poverty, the

Commission for Social Development The Commission for Social Development (CSocD) is one of the eight functional commissions established by the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) since 1946 to advise and assist it in carrying its work. The Commission for Social De ...

Commission on the Status of Women The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main UN organs within the United Nations. CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gend ...

, and the

Commission on Sustainable Development The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was a body under the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) tasked with overseeing the outcomes of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development/Earth Summit. It ...

. *Citizen Science is a nationwide youth-led

citizen science Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...

initiative providing a platform for young

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

s and

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

s to engage in policy discourse and share scientific knowledge as it relates to sustainable development. The primary goal is to raise the awareness of United States' citizens regarding existing and emerging technologies designed to improve economic, social, and environmental conditions for not only current, but future generations as well. Citizen Science holds an annual paper competition based upon the discussion topics of the upcoming Commission on Sustainable Development. The purpose of the competition is to make technical aspects of those topics relevant and understandable to the general public and influence sound public policy. Competition winners have their work published in the journal ''Citizen Science'', and present to activists and policy-makers at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development at the

UN Headquarters The United Nations is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States, and the complex has served as the official headquarters of the United Nations since its completion in 1951. It is in the Turtle Bay, Manhattan, Turtle Bay neig ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

as a member of the UN youth delegation. *Lead Now Fellowship, begun in 2012, offers a small group of fellows individualized mentorship, trainings, and resources to develop their leadership skills and apply them to a sustainable development initiative that they are leading. *Climate Change Campaigns

References

501(c)(3) organizations Climate change organizations based in the United States Environmental organizations based in Washington, D.C. Youth organizations based in Washington, D.C.