- World Economic Forum Annual Curators Meeting for Global Shapers brings together up-and-coming leaders from 350 cities worldwide
- Many have initiated social impact projects, among which a tool to improve the integration of immigrants in five Italian cities and a science education project in India
- The 350 Shapers will visit UN, Campus Bio-tech and the Graduate Institute Geneva
- For more information about the Global Shapers Community, see www.globalshapers.org
Geneva, Switzerland, 8 September 2017 – The World Economic Forum is hosting the Annual Curators Meeting 2017 for Global Shapers at Forum headquarters in Geneva.
Under the theme The Time is Now, 350 leaders between the ages of 20 and 30 from cities around the world will share experience on projects they spearhead, aiming to improve their local communities.
Established in 2011, the Global Shapers Community is a network of city Hubs led by young people with purpose to drive dialogue, action and change in their cities and globally. Today, more than 6,000 young people actively participate in Hubs in 160 countries and territories worldwide.
They are joining a four-day learning journey in Geneva from 8-11 September with workshops and interactive sessions on topics ranging from health and youth employment to education and the environment.
Projects they are showcasing include:
The Ho Hub Water Purification Project (Ghana) has improved access to safe water using locally-designed technology and civic education. Ho inhabitants received instruction in drinking water solutions, basic sanitation measures and on providing a sustainable water source using a borehole.
Shaper Hubs in Milan, Venice, Turin, Rome and Genoa (Italy) together created Refug IT, an open database of best practices on immigration and migrant integration from 15 centres across Europe. Serves as a toolkit for professionals, NGOs and institutions, RefugIT creates a common framework to improve the welcoming process and integration of immigrants.
The Ahmedabad Hub (India) is building educational resources for Indian schoolchildren on subjects not included in conventional curricula, having already reached some 5,000 through six projects. One of these, the Science Period, has provided instruction to 400 girls about the reproductive system.
The Pune Hub (India) has created an open-source “Community Development Index”, a simplified decision-making and impact analysis tool to help companies on corporate responsibility projects. They surveyed 2,000 citizens on the current state of development in the city and worked on a pedestrian safety project based on data collected using the CDI.
The Athens Hub (Greece) created the ReGeneration initiative which provides young graduates with market-skills training that is often omitted by formal academic institutions. Equipped with new skills, selected participants volunteer their time at non-profit organizations before being matched with companies in Greece for six months of paid employment.
The Annual Curators Meeting takes place two weeks after over 31,000 millennials from over 180 countries participated in the Global Shapers Annual Survey 2017 on issues of technology, economy, values, career and governance. The survey showed that:
- Climate change is keeping millennials up at night: it remains their biggest global concern for the third year in a row
- Corruption, inequality and a lack of career and economic opportunities are seen as the most pressing national issues by millennials around the globe
- Optimism beats pessimism: technology is creating more jobs than it is destroying, say 79%. However, only 26% would trust a robot to make decisions on their behalf.
- The United States (18%), Canada (12%) and the UK (10%) are the top destinations of young people looking to advance their career.
- More than 78% of young respondents would welcome refugees in their own neighbourhood.
“With the largest youth population in history, there is an unprecedented opportunity for young people to take an active role in shaping the future. The time is now for the world’s decision-makers to hear from millennials,” said Yemi Babington-Ashaye, Head of the Global Shapers Community, World Economic Forum.
An initiative of the World Economic Forum, the Global Shapers Community is a network of inspiring young people under the age of 30 working together to address local, regional and global challenges. With more than 6,000 members, the Global Shapers Community spans 378 city-based hubs in 160 countries.
The World Economic Forum, committed to improving the state of the world, is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation.
The Forum engages the foremost political, business and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas. (www.weforum.org).