Youth Co:Lab

About Youth Co: Lab:

• Youth Co:Lab is an initiative launched in 2019 by UNDP India in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog.
  • Youth Co:Lab was co-created in 2017 by UNDP and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab.
  • It is a multi-dimensional and multi-level response to tackle the challenges young people face by positioning youth at the forefront in finding solutions to global challenges tackling Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• It aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship.
• The Youth Co:Lab initiative, till date, has been implemented in 28 countries and territories, reaching over 200,000 participants, benefitting more than 11,000 young social entrepreneurs and supporting over 1,240 social enterprises.
• Through Youth Co: Lab, 30 early-stage start-ups would be supported by the springboard programme, and the best would be provided a seed grant for scaling up their start-up.
• The 5 focus thematic areas for Youth Co: lab 2022-23 are:
  • Digital and Financial Literacy for Youth
  • Gender Equality and Women Economic Empowerment
  • Developing FinTech Solutions focused on Biodiversity Conservation
  • Promoting Biodiversity-friendly Lifestyles through Technological Solutions in Finance
  • Accelerating Circular Economy through Upcycling Innovations
  • Behavioural Nudges for LiFE ( Lifestyle For Environment)

 

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Q1) What is a  circular economy?

The circular economy is a model of production and consumption which involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling existing materials and products as long as possible thereby extending the life cycle of products. It implies reducing waste to a minimum. 

Source: PIB