Creating impulses to overcome global challenges!
At #JenaGCC2022, we had three parallel workshops that focused on resilience, technology, and much more along with a Project Showcase and an interactive panel discussion!
With the dawn of the third day at the Global Citizenship Convention, 2022 arrived a refreshing session of Yoga and Awareness that reset everyone physically and mentally while serving as a fun activity that got everyone up and moving!
This was followed by three parallel hands-on workshops :
- Climate Resilience: Planetary Health – This introduced different perspectives on climate resilience which were environmental and psychological in nature. Inputs from industry expert Dr. Gunar were a lesson in optimizing solutions through a 4-step approach of backcasting to ideate a world we’d all like to live in! Isabel (FSU), workshop facilitator says:
“Inequality is a major barrier to sustainable development”
- World Politics and Conflict in context: “The Climate Oasis” – This workshop allowed Fellows to simulate global problem-solving and negotiation through a climate oasis challenge. Within assigned country groups, Fellows collaborated to address climate change challenges before a mock setup of the United Nations. Quoting Oscar Garcia (Senior Fellow, DU, 2014):
“ The workshop was very interactive, and it was beautiful to see how straightforward the workshop was for participants.”
- Tech4Development: Narratives of Using Digitization and Technology in the Development Work – The session took huge strides to help every participant understand the context and relevance of the digital access disparity that exists in various parts of the world. It also pushed the participants to realize the disparity that exists in terms of how included societies are in financial solutions and institutions. Jaznine Clark shares:
“In this lecture, I have had the opportunity to learn about the two sides of the digital divide. I’ve always had this understanding of how others do not have access to resources such as the internet and technology and that it is a privilege to have that kind of access but hearing the number of students, 400 million in sub-Saharan Africa, is truly eye-opening into just how many people do not have the opportunity to succeed in the same way that so many others have. ”
Project Fair – SDGs in Action!
The project fair featured the initiatives that Fellows have designed, showcasing their impact as Global Citizens in their communities! The projects ranged from female mentorship programs to hospital gown creation, to carbon emission management. The Fair was a top highlight of the day, with a colorful showcase decked up with posters and presentations on display! Simba (Junior Fellow, Ashesi University, 2021) explains:
“It is nice to see the way that projects are connected to different SDGs. Each project is impactful in its local community.”
Making Sense of the World
The panel discussion at “Making Sense of the World” involved topics like global sustainability, climate resilience and policies, diversity, inclusion, and cultural appropriation. Each round table had an enriching discussion discussed by the panel, focusing on solution-oriented thinking. The importance of context was emphasized and contemporary issues like Industry 4.0 were broached! Faith from Ashesi observed:
“Giving people opportunities and resources based on their needs is equity”
The day ended with a pub quiz that brought out the curious thinkers within everyone!
