Peer-reviewed article
How gen Z can improve community literacy about the 17 SDGs? A realistic approach to construct a futuristic change-maker paradigm
Hamadeh S ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This paper discusses how Generation Z can contribute to community understanding of the UN Sustainable Development Goals through various participation channels. It argues that young people can use modern communication tools and science journalism to improve SDG literacy. The authors propose a 'Futuristic Change-Maker Paradigm' that could be applied across different countries to advance sustainability.
Key points
- Generation Z could play an active role in addressing the UN-SDGs agenda using state-of-the-art opportunities
- Communication and science journalism can function as development interventions for SDG awareness
- Multiple channels of youth participation connect to different levels of community commitment
- The paper recommends innovative integration of Generation Z insights for improving community literacy about SDGs
- A Futuristic Change-Maker Paradigm could be extrapolated to other countries for sustainability advancement
Limitations
This is a conceptual literature review without empirical data, baseline measures, or evaluation of any specific interventions. It does not demonstrate impact on children's well-being outcomes or provide evidence that the proposed approaches actually work to improve youth engagement or community understanding of the SDGs.
Abstract
Many fields and different approaches have undergone a crucial merging of implications and have been co-involved in the developing and/or implementation of the 17-SDGs concepts. However, little has been done on the role of the generation Z who is transforming the workplaces and societies by creating and interpreting trends. The objectives of this research are to provide perspectives from the world about the generation Z participatory role and supporting contribution among their communities to reaching SDGs, and to illustrate their active role in a Futuristic Change-Maker Paradigm. A general review was conducted to explore the existing data on governance mechanisms for SDGs implementation regarding the multi-dimensional layers (social, economic, environmental, health, policies, communication, and technology) of the sustainable development structure that need to be considered in a systemic-sensitive approach. Various channels of youth participation can be associated with different levels of social and communities’ commitment. In this sense, this article; 1) confirms that generation Z could play an active role in utilizing state-of-the-art opportunities to address the established current UN-SDGs agenda, and 2) suggests how communication and science journalism can be conceptualized as a development intervention to go beyond the 2030 SDGs agenda. This study recommends several innovative areas for the integration of generation Z insights and activities as a basis for exploring the potential of this generation to improve communities’ literacy and behaviors about the 17-SDGs. This study ends with a practical and theoretical consideration to build a Futuristic Change-Maker Paradigm that can be extrapolated to other countries in their advance towards sustainability and SMART environmental management.