Road to Davos is the second project with the World Economic Forum, following "Greenwich to Davos" in January 2007. The project will take six young people from different countries and cultures to participate in the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. The participants will be able to ask the world leaders critical questions about economic, political and social issues.
Road to Davos is under the patronage of the UK’s Prime Minister, The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP.
In January 2007, more than 2000 world leaders gathered at the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. It was also attended by heads of NGOs, socially aware celebrities and for the first time six young people selected by their peers to distil ‘the wisdom of youth’. The focus of the event was education and its role in building understanding between cultures.
We brought together 60 19-25 year olds from 49 countries to debate and propose solutions at an initial meeting in Greenwich.
The participants worked in teams of six to develop proposals that would challenge the thinking of the world leaders. Their thinking was stimulated by visits to Charlton Athletic Football club and a community based radio in Peckham as well as others.
The teams presented their ideas as part of a great balloon debate, and they voted on the team that would represent them at Davos.
The winning team, ‘Greenwich 7’ had members from Australia, Egypt, Israel, Korea, Mauritius and Switzerland, and received an enthusiastic response from Queen Rania, Gordon Brown and many of the participants. They were asked to attend a follow on meeting, ‘Keeping our Promises on Education’ organised by the European Commission, World Bank, bilateral donors and the Global Campaign for Education.
In 2007 we delivered the youngest panel ever. In 2008, our participants are even younger: Road to Davos gives 16 to 19 age group the opportunity to voice their concerns and their challenges in a public forum.
In January 2008 we will bring together 60 young people from 43 countries to a venue near London. The participants, aged 16 to 19, will address issues including climate change, social inequality, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, lack of education. They will take part in a number of activities, visits and workshops.
At the end of the forum, the group will choose six participants to represent them at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, which will take place on 22-27 January 2008, where they will take part in the ‘Future Shifts: The Voice of the Next Generation’ session.
The participants from Switzerland and the 42 other countries have already been elected; however, you can read more about the project on the ‘Road to Davos’ website and participate by visiting the official blog or subscribing to a mailing list and rss feeds.
http://www.roadtodavos.net
For more information about our involvement please contact Matt Kimmich on britishcouncil@britishcouncil.ch
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