SEATTLE–When one thinks about millennials and technology, people glued to the screens of their smartphones playing Pokémon GO or sending Snapchats to one another come to mind. However, a new survey of young people between the ages of 18 and 35 shows that many millennials care deeply about current global issues and recognize the importance of technology in creating jobs and alleviating poverty.

This year, the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Annual Survey featured responses from 26,000 millennials from 181 countries. When asked about the most pressing issues that the world faces right now, 45 percent pointed to climate change. The next three listed were wars, religious conflicts and poverty, at 38 percent, 34 percent and 31 percent respectively.

While poverty is not first on the list of young people’s concerns, it is not difficult to see climate change and conflicts as related issues. Furthermore, 86 percent of respondents saw technology as a creator rather than a destroyer of jobs.

The survey also indicates that nearly three-quarters of millennials view the world as offering opportunities rather than filled with struggles. This positive outlook on the world and the use of technology seems to lead to the conclusion that young people are more likely to support or devise innovative solutions to climate change and poverty.

What is even more encouraging is that 36 percent of millennials say that being a citizen of the world is what defines their identity the most, whereas only 22 percent responded with their nationality. While national divides have hardly ceased to exist, it is apparent that quite a few young people believe that they share a connection with the rest of the world.

Some may say that the survey merely points to prevailing attitudes among young people, which may not always translate into action. It is evident, however, that millennials and technology are a potent combination in the continuing struggle against poverty and climate change.

In particular, four students at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania showcase the potential that millennials have in using innovative solutions to help the world’s poor.

Students Peter Wang Hjemdahl, Robert Dowling, Holly Li and Jake Fischer co-founded the start-up RePurpose. The social enterprise targets garbage collectors, which according to the quartet are among the most marginalized and poorest groups in the world, often living off of less than a dollar a day.

RePurpose proposes to raise the incomes of trash pickers by removing the middlemen between them and the recycling factories. Groups of garbage collectors would form cooperatives, buy the equipment used in waste packing and earn all of the market value of the trash as opposed to a small fraction.

Hjemdahl, Dowling, Li and Fischer were finalists for the Hult Prize, an annual student competition centered around social entrepreneurs. Earlier this year, Forbes also included RePurpose in their list of the nation’s top college startups.

Uproxx, a news and entertainment site geared towards millennials, interviewed Hjemdahl and Dowling in August about their work. When asked about the negative perception of millennials and technology, Hjemdahl said that their fellow competitors for the Hult Prize are a counterexample to the stereotype.

“There are so many millennials out there that are risk-taking,” he said, and young people will play a major role in bringing the world its next innovations.

– Philip Katz

Photo: Flickr