Why Global Forum instead of Rhodes Youth Forum? What projects is YT looking for? How much will the grant be and what do the other prizes consist of? All these questions and more will be answered by Youth Time president Julia Kinash in this interview.
The first question is the most pertinent and important for everyone who has already been involved in YT activities. What happened with the Rhodes Youth Forum? Is Global Forum the assignee of RYF?
We have already grown enough to reach the next stage of our development. We have, objectively speaking, outgrown RYF. The name – Rhodes Youth Forum – is small for us. Our team has amassed enough experience to profoundly help with concrete local problems and to influence, on the whole, the world’s positive development, by means of help from the youth at local level. The main difference between the Youth Time Global Forum and the Rhodes Youth Forum and generally any other youth forum is that before, we tried to divide up multiple problems faced by the youth and gather young people for them to decide a course of action for solving these problems. Now we are going to focus on concrete problems in concrete localities. This year it is Spain. I think it’s no secret that in Spain there are very many highly educated specialists but also huge unemployment, especially among young people. We have decided to try to help our comrades and gather under the title of the Youth Time Global Forum – an international group of young talented leaders – and try to think together how to help young people in Spain. Next year it will be a different country, a different problem and a different solution.
What form will the problem solving take?
The forum will be divided into two parts. There will be an educational-cultural part: a few workshops, talks with experts and roundtables. The themes will be linked with education and employment. There will also be the opportunity to explore Barcelona. The second part will be project presentations. Some selected participants will get the opportunity to present their project and battle for a grant for its realisation.
So this year, are only projects connected with education and employment problems in Spain allowed or is the selection going to be wider?
No. All projects should respond to the theme of the forum – The New Era of Employment and Education: Solutions for Change. That topic is very actual for most young people across the world. And it is very painful problem in Spain. The participants should think about how to help the young people solve the problem of unemployment. Those examples and suggestions could be very useful for youth in Spain. Projects could focus on a problem in Spain directly or they can be more globally-oriented with possible (or “potential”) positive influence on Spain. We would like to involve young people into the dialog with governments and professional institutes as much as possible to find a way to.
Are there any geographical or age limits on participation in the forum?
The authors of the projects, just as participants without projects, can be from all corners of the globe. We try to make mixed, international team of young people to have a full palette of views on the present problem in Spain. Regarding age, it is from 18 to 35. If there is an interesting project presented by someone younger than 18 – please send it and we will certainly look at it.
Tell us a bit about the grants. How many participants will be able to receive grants for the realisation of their projects? Will there be any other incentives than grants?
There will be one winner. One person will receive the realisation grant. But there’s no need to despair. Participants whose projects win second and third place will also receive quite good prizes. Second place gets a paid internship for a period of 3-6 months in Europe at one of the largest European companies. And for third place there’s a fully funded scholarship at one of the leading European universities for a minimum of 6 months. I won’t name either the company or the institution for now.
With regard to the grant, how much are we dealing with?
The grant will be sizeable and sufficient for the realisation of the youth project. Every year we appeal to serious sponsors for these prizes. Furthermore, this year all funds collected from the conference fee will also go towards the grant for the winner. So don’t worry. I would like to draw your special attention to the other most important point. Money is not the main thing; your motivation and your ability to realise the project is. Be socially responsible. If you’re not serious enough and you regard it childishly, as a game just about winning a competition, it’s better to not even start. There are hundreds of young people who you can positively or negatively influence, so if you’re not sure about your motivation, abilities, or that you’re strong enough to realise your project, do not take the chance from others to change the world for a better future.
What plans does YT have for the rest of the year?
We have planned some open lectures in Czech universities with top professionals from different fields. If you have any viable suggestions for the organisation of lectures in your higher education institute or universities, we are prepared to link them in with our project, ‘New Paradigm of Education’.
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