Global Shapers: A year of youth empowerment

Welcome to Global Shapers Week on the Forum Blog. Only one year after the launch of the Global Shapers Community, 168 city-based Hubs around the world are making an impact in their local communities. Additionally, Shapers have been providing a millennial perspective in global policy discussions, contributing their knowledge in virtual discussions and World Economic Forum meetings. What do Shapers care about? Their passions range from cyber security to social entrepreneurship; yet, it is clear that three issues define this generation’s priorities: education, environment and employment.

Education

• Dubai Shaper Nafez Dakkak discusses the need for teachers and students to think critically about the role of, and need for, education in his post Start with “why”… in education.
• Washington DC Shaper Chrissy Horansky writes about the magic of education in When Hogwarts came to Harvard.
• The Tunis Hub assesses the need for education reform in Reforming Tunisia’s education sector.

Employment

• May Habib, winner of our IFC Youth Jobs Innovation Contest and a member of the Dubai Hub, discusses the need for innovative methods of job creation in Tackling youth unemployment online.
• Vidyadhar Prabudesai of the Mumbai Hub received second place in the Youth Jobs Innovation Contest for Youth unemployment in rural India.
•  Mumbai Shaper Ravi Subramanian was awarded third place for Generating job creation in India.

Environment

• Hanri Ehlers from the Cape Town Hub urges us to Conserve what we love.
• Agricultural output must rise by 70% to feed 9 billion people by 2050. Port Louis Shaper Barkha Mossae suggests we turn agriculture into an attractive industry in her post Rebranding agriculture… Isn’t agriculture cool?
• Howard Buffett of the Omaha Hub discusses the relationship between food security and soil quality in Solve hunger, save soil.

This week, we will showcase the projects that various Hubs are undertaking to address these three areas and other key needs in their local communities.

David Aikman is a Senior Director at the World Economic Forum and Head of the Global Shapers Community.