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Salzburg in the World

Building a Movement and Providing Opportunities for Growth
Photos of Luis Camargo, Raphaëlle Thiollier, and Nella Lomotan at Salzburg Global Seminar in November 2022From left to right - Luis Camargo, Raphaëlle Thiollier, and Nella Lomotan
Building a Movement and Providing Opportunities for Growth
By: Iva Genova 

Salzburg Global Fellows Luis Camargo, Raphaëlle Thiollier, and Nella Lomotan demonstrate ways to bring people closer to nature

Luis, Raphaëlle, and Nella spoke to Salzburg Global during "Global Lessons on Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning." This program took place between November 14 and 18, 2022.

In November, Salzburg Global Seminar hosted "Global Lessons on Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning," where experts worldwide were immersed in resplendent deep conversations and explorations into the art of education.

Fellows are building a global movement to create a world where every child – especially the most vulnerable – connects meaningfully with nature every day.

We are now at a pivotal moment in history, with a growing momentum worldwide to transform education systems and increase climate change resilience. This opens up the possibility of shaping a different human condition – one of radical collaborative creativity, curiosity, and - most importantly - movement and growth in nature.

"For me, a movement is associated with flow. Flow, movement, water, wind, activating our qualities and creative capacities. In this case, it is a social movement. So, it is activating those potentials and capacities of flow within groups of people," says Luis Camargo, founder and director of the Organization for Environmental Education and Protection (OpEPA) in Colombia.

"We need more movements and flows that guide us towards harmonizing or coming into the right relation with life. It brings hope and [the] capacity of transformation. It reminds us we are nature," he adds.

Luis is one of several experts who came together in Salzburg to discuss how education systems worldwide can be reinvigorated to bring children closer to the environment.

At the heart of this initiative lies the Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning movement, which Luis sees as a powerful instrument to improve global education and address climate change and sustainability issues.

"As mammals, we evolved in natural landscapes. Our way of learning and interpreting the world has always been associated [with] our experience in nature and in the world. If we give people a space of silence, a landscape, a sunrise, a sunset, a mountain, an ocean, [or] a horizon, they will feel replenished. So, that is where replenishing really happens all the time. But we do not have the attention to recognize it."

In Paris, France, an initiative has been underway for several years to build "oasis schoolyards." These spaces aim to curb extreme temperatures of heat waves by replacing asphalt with green areas and newly planted trees.

"We need to restore that link between humans and nature. It is everywhere in the world, and it is not related to some short-term political will," says project manager Raphaëlle Thiollier who has worked for the City of Paris since 2009. 

"We need passionate activists, people that are deeply convinced and that are eager to convince the older people, as well. We also need funding because [the] information has some cost. We can try to do low-tech amenities. We need to continue to showcase and highlight useful examples of what is working so that we continue and further develop this movement of transformation in schoolyards." 

In the Philippines, Nella Lomotan's environmental enterprise - Eco Explorations - shows the socioeconomic impact of grassroots communities. Her organization brings people back to nature through sustainable tourism, science-based education, and citizen engagement.

"How I see people falling in love with nature is you really bring them to nature, through experiential learning experiences, you create the opportunities for them to be there," says Nella.

By creating different kinds of events in and outside the city - urban parks, native tree walks, biodiversity camps, marine reserves, or forest-protected areas - Eco Explorations aims to create direct linkages between people and nature and expose them to the biodiversity around them.

For Nella, movement building starts by meeting people where they are; from there, powerful connections with nature can grow.

"Sometimes people just do not know where to start. So why not create maps that showcase it? For instance, family-friendly trails that families can take within the communities, but also adult people. You need to give them all these prompts and opportunities so that they will be more aware."  

Learn more about Greening School Grounds and Outdoor Learning

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Sharing New Ideas About Emerging Education Issues
A photo of a child running through a field during sunset pretending to be a rocket.
Sharing New Ideas About Emerging Education Issues
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Read articles by Salzburg Global Fellows published via the Transforming Education channel on Diplomatic Courier

In 2022, Salzburg Global Seminar launched a dedicated Transforming Education channel with Diplomatic Courier, which sees new content published on a regular basis.

The Transforming Education channel offers a platform for sharing new ideas about critical and emerging issues in education, including social, emotional, and creative skills, psychosocial support and well-being, ecological education, and education leadership.

Since October, 16 articles have been published. This has included a mini-series on different aspects of education transformation in Africa and an article on the difference between education reform and transformation, which was followed by a three-part piece on a new global vision for education.

Salzburg Global Fellows from Education Transformation and Gender: Better Outcomes for Everyone co-authored a piece on women and girls in STEM, and in the run-up to Education Cannot Wait's High-Level Financing Conference, the channel published pieces on system strengthening for education crises and on the moral imperative for refugee education.

Salzburg Global is grateful to everyone who has submitted articles and to Diplomatic Courier for the partnership. If you are interested in writing for the channel, please email Dominic Regester, director of the Salzburg Global Center for Education Transformation.

Explore several of our articles below.

The Moral Imperative of Refugee Education

February 16, 2023

Refugees have not only their physical and mental well-being jeopardized but also their education - which endangers every aspect of their future. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi argues this means to bolster education, we must invest in development, human rights, and peace.

Tomorrow's Education Crises Require Preparedness, System-Strengthening

February 15, 2023

Protracted crises like armed conflicts and climate change impacts are disrupting education systems-and those disruptions are likely to escalate. We need more resilient and smartly funded systems, particularly in low- and lower-middle-income countries, write Hollie Warren and Marc Neesam.

Women are Shunning STEM, That has to Change

February 10, 2023

Women are still grossly underrepresented in STEM and ICT programs despite clear evidence that bias claiming they are less suited to these roles is wrong. This is a problem, but SGS Fellows Lara Zwittlinger, Amy Kardel, and Horacio Alejandro Reyes Leon suggest actionable steps to change things.

Key Components of a Global Education Vision

February 1, 2023

We are at a unique point in time where not only do we have need for a global education vision but there are also conditions in place that give us powerful opportunities to adopt such a vision. Pilvi Torsti, Vishal Talreja, and Joanne McEachen illustrate what some components of that vision would be

Bringing a New Global Education Vision to Fruition

January 31, 2023

Despite the many challenges posed by our fast-changing world, this moment in history also offers us exciting new opportunities that can make it possible to proceed and make a global difference in education within one generation, write Pilvi Torsti, Vishal Talreja, and Joanne McEachen.

Adopt a Global Vision, Curriculum to Meet UN Transforming Education Goals

January 27, 2023

National education systems are no longer enough. A new, global vision and curriculum for education systems is key to attaining the UN’s goals for education transformation, write Pilvi Torsti, Vishal Talreja, and Joanne McEachen.

A New Definition of the Next Normal

January 19, 2023

It took a pandemic for us to acknowledge the fault lines in our “normal” way of being. We need to reframe our definitions of normal, for it is not normal for a young person to be caught in the throes of an irrelevant definition of success, write Dream a Dream's Vishal Talreja & Dr. Varsha Pillai.

The Difference Between Education Transformation and Reform

December 11, 2022

We are in a global learning crisis. To solve this challenge and create education systems that allow all children to thrive, we must collectively co-define and build upon new purposes for education while improving the existing system, writes Eva Keiffenheim.

Africa's Education Opportunity

November 27, 2022

Africa is on the cusp of an education transformation. The greatest challenge currently facing schools in Africa is enabling students to develop a capacity for learning, and several countries, including Sierra Leone, are determined to do better, writes President of Sierra Leone Julius Maada Bio.

Transforming Higher Education in Africa

November 1, 2022

COVID-19 has caused a global education crisis that affects nearly 1.6 billion learners in more than 190 countries. But the pandemic has had a particularly devastating effect on already-impaired universities in Africa, highlighting the urgent need for reform, writes Moha Ennaji.

Tanzania Promotes Pre-Primary Education Interactive Learning

October 14, 2022

Tanzania currently suffers a shortage of well-trained teachers, teaching/learning material, and appropriate spaces for teaching, especially in early-childhood education. To improve this condition, several initiatives have been adopted, writes Hawa Selemani and Salvatory Alute.

Mainstreaming Values and Life Skills Education in Kenya's Curriculum

October 12, 2022

Like adults, children face challenges from the dynamics of their society. Education should provide tools for learners to face these challenges, equipping them not only with cognitive tools but also values and life skills that will help them thrive in the modern era, writes Grace Ngugi Maina.

Transformation in Education in South Africa's Western Cape

October 9, 2022

Like other education departments worldwide, those in South Africa’s Western Cape are exploring ways of transforming education to make schooling more relevant and meaningful, with numerous changes and innovations having been implemented in recent years, writes Glynis Schreuder.

A Gift to my Younger Self: Building the Classroom I Never Had

October 7, 2022

There are design features in the schooling system that have acquired a quality of being sacred and untouchable. This is a blind spot when we talk about transforming education, but we must challenge ourselves to imagine an education experience many of us never had, writes Enseña Perú’s Franco Mosso.

Inspirational Leadership Can Usher in a Better Future of Education

October 4, 2022

Our world is evolving at a breakneck pace, but our global approach to education has evolved only slowly, inviting calls for a transformation of education systems. However, for this change to occur, we need leadership in schools and across society, writes Alex Battison.

The Case for Global Competence in Education

October 3, 2022

If we consider transforming all essential aspects of the education system post-COVID-19—including content knowledge, civic preparedness, developing social and emotional skills, and empathy—we must also deeply embed global competence into the education systems of the future, writes Jennifer Manise.

 

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Asian Fellows Discuss Global Visions: A Workshop by Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum
Salzburg Global Fellows pose for a group photo at the ILGA Asia ConferenceSalzburg Global Fellows pose for a group photo at the ILGA Asia Conference
Asian Fellows Discuss Global Visions: A Workshop by Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Salzburg Global Fellows convene at ILGA Asia Conference to help plan future initiatives

Salzburg Global Fellows from the Philippines, Thailand, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, and the United Kingdom convened for an in-person workshop at the latest ILGA Asia Conference, held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Fellows received a joint invitation from the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia to attend the conference between November 28 and December 2, 2022.

In recent years, the LGBT* Forum has developed a close working relationship with ILGA Asia. Both are discussing how this relationship can be strengthened further and what future initiatives can be created to support the next generation of LGBT leaders.

ILGA Asia and the LGBT* Forum share a vision that a stronger connection of global networks of LGBT human rights defenders will help to confront urgent international and regional challenges that a new generation of leaders is facing. This vision is also currently being discussed as a joint project with the ILGA World leadership.

Henry Koh, executive director at ILGA Asia, said, “Our joint goal is to create aspirational spaces for emerging LGBTIQ leaders across Asia and across the globe to enact solidarity and model effective advocacy."

At the ninth ILGA Asia Conference, Fellows were asked to discuss this vision further as part of a workshop titled “Asian Fellows Discuss Global Visions: A Workshop by Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.”

During the workshop, Fellows were asked to consider how the LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia could strengthen the engagement of young leaders who could participate in future initiatives. Fellows were also asked to consider some of the most urgent themes future initiatives could highlight and why a combined global network could be important.

The workshop was moderated by Brenda R. Alegre, an executive board member at ILGA Asia, and Gurchaten Sandhu, director of programmes at ILGA World. Speakers were:

  • Cha Roque, filmmaker, filmmaker; communications director, Dakila - Philippine Collective for Modern Heroism, Philippines
  • Sukhdeep Singh, founder and editor-in-chief, Gaylaxy Magazine, India
  • Bao-Chau Nguyen, co-founder and co-director of LumiQueer, Vietnam
  • Tashi Choedup, national coordinator (India) at the Foundation for Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition, India

Download a report of “Asian Fellows Discuss Global Visions: Workshop by Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum”


*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world. We wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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New Fellows Join Japan-India Transformative Technology Network
Japan-India Transformative Technology Network logo
New Fellows Join Japan-India Transformative Technology Network
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Fellows will regularly meet online before convening in person at Schloss Leopoldskron in June 2023

Salzburg Global Seminar and the Nippon Foundation are delighted to welcome new Fellows to the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network. 

The new Fellows, who completed a competitive application process, will meet regularly online between January and June 2023, and convene in person at Salzburg Global's home, Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, in June 2023.

The Network, which began in 2020, connects and empowers outstanding changemakers from India and Japan to create positive change through people-centered technology in the three challenge areas of health and healthcare, mobility and inclusion, and liveable communities. 

From 2020-2022 thirty Fellows successfully participated in the first convening of the Network. Fellows from the first and second iterations of the program will have the opportunity to meet and work together, allowing for cumulative impact from the work of the two groups.

Together the Fellows will build their collective leadership capacity by learning from each other and expanding ideas and ways of working to support the use of technology for positive social change. As the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network progresses, Fellows will collaborate through project work and other activities to create new narratives and influence policy and institutional change on the three challenge areas identified above.

The Japan-India Transformative Technology Network participants represent a variety of sectors and backgrounds, with interdisciplinary approaches fundamental to the program's design. The group is evenly split between representatives from India and Japan, and just over half of the participants are female.

The new Fellows joining the Network are: 

  • Parul, Architect & Urban Practitioner, India
  • Aishwarya Agarwal, Senior Associate, OMI Foundation, India  
  • Ashish Airon, Founder, CogniTensor, India  
  • Atiya Anis, Independent Consultant, Strategy and Communications
  • Tejaswini Atluri, Deputy Manager, Bosch Limited, India  
  • Sanjay Bhattacharji, Founder & Director, Teplu Learning Pvt Ltd, India  
  • Ankita Bose, Executive, Corporate Social Responsibility, Larsen & Toubro Ltd., India  
  • Sruta Keerthi Chepuri, Additional Superintendent of Police, Police Department, India  
  • Rami Niranjan Desai, Distinguished Fellow, India Foundation, India
  • Manik Dhingra, Co-Founder & CEO, Shoonya Environmental Solutions, India  
  • Max Frenzel, Business & Service Assistant Manager for Healthcare, Woven City, Woven Planet, Japan  
  • Arundhuti Gupta, Founder & CEO, Mentor Together, India  
  • Rajat Gupta, Investment Consultant, Invest India, India  
  • Meri HiroseCo-Founder/President of NPO - Yes, Deaf Can, Japan  
  • Tomoko Imai, Director of Educational Strategy Office, Jiyugaoka Gakuen High School, Japan  
  • Naoki Inoue, Chief Producer, NHK, Japan  
  • Anil Jaggi, CEO, Conscious Ventures, India  
  • Nanda Kumar Janardhanan, Research Manager - Climate and Energy & South Asia, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), India
  • Tomo Kawane, Senior Researcher, India Japan Laboratory, Keio University, Japan
  • Anushka Kelkar, Co-Founder, Therapize, India
  • Naim Keruwala, Program Director, CITIIS National Institute of Urban Affairs, India
  • Nidhi Khurana, Global Health Professional, India
  • Rina Komiya, PhD Candidate, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan  
  • Haruka Kudo, CEO, SHIN4NY Inc, Japan / Program Coordinator, Center for International Youth Exchange, Japan
  • Lei Lei, Research Fellow, IDE-JETRO, Japan  
  • Satyam Mohla, Project Lead - UX & Data Solution Div, Software Mobility Unit, Business Dev HQ, Honda Innovation Lab Tokyo, Japan
  • Yumiko Mori, Board Chair, NPO Comachiplus, Japan
  • Huma Mursaleen, PhD Student, The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Kaede Nagashima, Solution Consultant and Innovation Evangelist, Tata Consultancy Services, Japan
  • Kanako Nakamura, General Manager, Digireha Inc,, United Kingdom
  • Makoto Noda, Global Relations Manager, NEC Corporation, Japan
  • Mio Nozoe Parsons, Head of Resilience, United Nations World Food Programme, Sudan
  • Karthik Pai Nejigar, Regional Finance, Gojo & Company Inc, India  
  • Pranay Patil, MPP Candidate, Harvard University, United States
  • Arvind Patil, Sr. Manager, Design & Programs, Good Business Lab Foundation, India  
  • Gautam Prakash, Co-Founder, Reap Benefit, India
  • Rajnish Prasad, Programme Specialist - HIV/AIDS, UN Women, India
  • Peggy Prosser, Co-Founder/Vice President of NPO - Yes, Deaf Can, Japan  
  • Abdessalem Rabhi, Senior Program Coordinator, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan
  • Anand Radhakrishnan, Head of Digital Products, Franklin Templeton Investments, India
  • Rajarshi Rakesh Sahai, CEO, Biliti Electric (EMEA), Netherlands
  • Pranay Samson, Director, Innovative Finance, Plan International Canada, India
  • Minoru Sasaki, Business Development, ExaWizards Inc., Japan  
  • Paras Sharma, Co-Founder & Director, Kidaura, India  
  • Aiko Shimizu, Head of North Asia Public Affairs, Booking.com, Japan
  • Monika Shukla, Co-Founder, LetsEndorse, India  
  • Priyansha Singh, Co-Founder, Chalo Network, and Partnerships Lead, India Migration Now, India
  • Mano Soshi, CEO, BonBon Inc, Japan  
  • Natsuki Sugai, Special Project (Founding Member), Gojo & Company, Inc, Japan  
  • Remo Sugimoto, COO & Project Manager, OHANA Co., Japan
  • Madoka Teramura, Systems Engineer, Cisco, Japan  
  • Sudebi Thakurata, Associate Dean and Member of Faculty, Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology and Co-Founder, D.epicentre, India
  • Sayuda Tomomi, Design Researcher, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan  
  • Ena Tsutsumi, Junior Engineering Consultant, Pacific Consultants Co., Ltd., Japan  
  • Yasumasa Yamamoto, Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Kyoto University, Japan
  • Ayaka Yamashita, Co-Founder and Director, EDAYA, United States of America
  • Koki Yanagiya, CEO, TEIOS LLC, Japan
  • Shigeko Yoshimura, Member, Japan International Cooperation Agency, Japan  
  • Sugano Yusuke, Associate Professor, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Learn more about the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network and the projects that have resulted from it.

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New Fellows Join Asia Peace Innovators Forum
Asia Peace Innovators Forum Logo
New Fellows Join Asia Peace Innovators Forum
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Fellows will regularly meet online before convening in person at Schloss Leopoldskron in June 2023

Salzburg Global Seminar and the Nippon Foundation are excited to welcome 60 new Fellows to the Asia Peace Innovators Forum

They join after the successful convening of 90 Fellows of the Asia Peace Innovators Forum between 2020 and 2022. The sixty new Fellows, who completed a competitive application process, will meet regularly online between January and June 2023, and convene in person at Salzburg Global's home, Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg, in June 2023. 

Together the group will build their collective leadership capacity by learning from each other and expanding ideas and ways of working to support peacebuilding in their local contexts. As the Asia Peace Innovators Forum progresses, Fellows will collaborate, formally and informally, to create new narratives around peace and conflict and to work towards institutional and societal change for peace. 

Fellows from both iterations of the program will have the opportunity to meet and work together, allowing for cumulative impact from the work of the two groups. 

The new Asia Peace Innovators Forum Fellows represent 16 countries from five geographic categories: three priority Asian countries (Indonesia, Nepal, and the Philippines), other south- and east-Asian countries, and relevant countries from the rest of the world.

The sixty new Fellows joining the Forum are: 

  • Navras Aafreedi, Assistant Professor (History), Presidency University, Kolkata, India
  • Kaltumi Inya Abdulazeez, Founder, Ladies Empowerment Goals and Support Initiatives (LEGASI), Nigeria
  • Jhabindra Prasad Adhikari, Project Coordinator, Forum for Protection of Public Interest (Pro Public), Nepal
  • Kamilas Alexsanthar, Director, Pakalavan Media, Sri Lanka
  • Akanchhya Aryal, Consultant, Amnesty International South Asia Regional Office, Nepal
  • Ne Lynn Aung Aung, Research Director, Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, Myanmar
  • Garie Briones, National Programme Officer, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Philippines
  • Maruf Chebueraheng, Director, Digital for Peace Foundation, Thailand
  • Mellisa Dajay, Community Mobilizer, UN-Habitat, Philippines
  • Dani Dani, Individual Specialist/International Consultant, Youth, Peace & Education, UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace & Sustainable Development, India
  • Quy Thi Ngoc Dinh, Senior Programs Manager CNCF, Vietnam
  • Jovanie Espesor, Professor, Mindanao State University General Santos, Philippines
  • Gelie Erika Esteban, Attorney V, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Philippines
  • Nukila Evanty, Executive Director & Lecturer, Women Working Group (WWG) & University of Veteran Jakarta, University of Mahendradatta, Bali, Indonesia
  • Nur Faridah, Senior Business Operations Manager, Ruangguru, Indonesia
  • Byar Myar Gay, Project Manager, ACTED Myanmar, Myanmar
  • Heira Hardiyanti, Board of Director, ICDS aka LSP2I, Indonesia
  • Fredyl Hernandez, Senior Artist-Teacher Philippine Educational Theater Association, Instructor University of the Philippines Diliman, Philippines
  • Hang Hybunna, Head of Program, Partnership and Impact, Plan International Cambodia, Cambodia
  • Raymond Hyma, Conflict Transformation Adviser, Women Peace Makers, Cambodia
  • Ma. Laurice Jamero, Resilience Coordinator, Manila Observatory, Philippines
  • Anju Jha, Chairperson, Mandwi, Nepal
  • Kamal Kandel, Trustbuilding Program Manager, Initiatives of Change, Nepal
  • Rohit Karki, Senior Project Officer, Asia-Pacific Unit, DCAF-Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance, Switzerland
  • Surya Karki, Co-founder and Executive Director, United World Schools Nepal, Nepal
  • Dana Yudha Kristiawan, Lecturer, Universitas 17 Agustus 1945, Banyuwangi Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Watcharapon (Sia) Kukaewkasem, Founder and Senior clinical social worker, Freedom Restoration Project, Thailand
  • Pratik Kunwar, Founder and Managing Director, Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Nepal
  • Alex Wen Jie Lew, Digital Marketer, Asia Internet Coalition, Singapore
  • Afthon Lubbi, Program Manager, Center for The Study of Religions and Cultures (CSRC) State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta Indonesia
  • Khuzaimah Maranda, Executive Director, Thuma Ko Kapagingud Service Organization Inc., Philippines
  • Melinda Martinus, Lead Researcher, ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore
  • Kara Medina, Gender and Disaster Resilience Specialist, Philippines
  • Ahamed Sanoon Meera Mohideen, Executive Director, FrameOut, Sri Lanka
  • Wyclife Ong'eta Mose, Lecturer/Executive Director, Kenyatta University/Oasis Peace Web Organization, Kenya
  • Rajendra Mulmi, Regional Director, Asia Search for Common Ground, Nepal
  • Mochamad Mustafa, Program Director, The Asia Foundation Indonesia, Indonesia
  • Yosuke Nagai, Founder and CEO, Accept International, Japan
  • Neha Nair, Director, Global Trust & Safety, Radix TLD, India
  • Mduduzi Ntuli, Educator & Development head, Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre, South Africa
  • Himanshu Panday, Co-founder, Dignity in Difference, India
  • Misni Parjiati, Community Organiser, Lembaga Kajian Islam dan Sosial/Islamic and Social Studies Institute (LKIS), Indonesia
  • Rachel Pastores, Managing Counsel, Public Interest Law Center, Philippines
  • Kasun Pathiraja, Sri Lanka Country Coordinator, FHI 360, Sri Lanka
  • Nirasha Piyawadani, Pinnawala Appuhamilage, Journalist/Programme Officer, Center for Media & Information Literacy, Sri Lanka
  • Lihini Ratwatte, National Project Officer, International Labour Organisation (ILO), Sri Lanka
  • Razcel Jan Salvarita, Founder – Director, Baryo Balangaw Creative Initiatives, Philippines
  • Uthpala Dishani Senaratne, Founder/Project Director, Writing Doves, Sri Lanka
  • Rina Shahrullah, Universitas Internasional Batam, Indonesia
  • Bijay Shrestha, Head of Program, Japan International Support Program, Nepal
  • Biplabi Shrestha, Programme Director, The Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), Malaysia
  • Annu Singh, Consultant, TRI, India
  • Sinath Sous, Grants Manager, Cambodian Living Arts, Cambodia
  • Anna Christi Suwardi, Lecturer, General Education, School of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University, Thailand
  • Gaurav Thapa, Co-Founder & Managing Director, FINLIT Nepal, Nepal
  • Trishna Thapa, Senior Program Officer, Nagarik Aawaz, Nepal
  • Ayessa Tin, Programme Analyst, United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Philippines
  • Isti Toq'ah, Founder and Chairperson, PANDAI (Indonesia's Peace Education), Indonesia
  • Nirmal Kumar Upreti, President, Forum for Nation Building Nepal, Nepal
  • Kaush Weerakoon, Program Lead, Center for Development Research and Interventions, Sri Lanka

Learn more about the Asia Peace Innovators Forum and the peacebuilding projects that have resulted from it.

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For a Church Without Fear
Left to right - Headshots of Klaus Mueller, Eva Dreier and Michael BrinkschröderLeft to right - Klaus Mueller, Eva Dreier, and Michael Brinkschröder
For a Church Without Fear
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum in conversation with Eva Dreier and Michael Brinkschröder from #OutInChurch

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and the German initiative “#OutInChurch – For a Church without Fear” met online several times in 2022 for conversations about their mutual work on bridging LGBT* and Faith communities.

The Forum’s Global LGBT* and Faith initiative conducted various programs to address religion, cultural history, and LGBT inclusion (and exclusion), convening global LGBT human rights defenders and cultural and religious leaders across faiths, geographies, and generations between 2020 and 2022. The Forum also curated a series of blog posts by faith leaders, scholars, and activists and produced an accompanying podcast with ILGA Asia.

In early 2021, #OutInChurch dared to start its open work within the Catholic Church and received massive public attention and support for its courageous work. Nearly a year after they stepped forward, Forum Founder & Chair Klaus Mueller talked with #OutInChurch members Eva Dreier and Michael Brinkschröder about their success, hopes, and next steps.

Michael and Eva, how did #OutInChurch start?

We were inspired after reading about the collective coming-out of 185 actors in the German campaign #ActOut. Inspired by this step, an openly gay lay minister from Hamburg, Jens Ehebrecht-Zumsande, asked the question if such a coming-out would be possible in the Catholic Church – where many could still lose their job due to being LGBTQIA+. Others agreed with him. The idea of a shared organized campaign started to grow.

Out of this conversation of a few, how did this initiative develop into headline news across Germany and attract a lot of media attention in many countries?

Our initiative “#OutInChurch – For a Church without Fear” emerged from this initial inspiration and the firm hope that together we can be strong and create change. Through existing networks and shared acquaintances, new people joined, all of them being part of the Catholic Church in Germany and part of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Instead of rushing things, we decided to take our time to prepare our collective coming-out properly. Zoom meetings helped us to form the Network and to collectively develop a manifesto and core demands. But we realized that our efforts would need media support. With caution, we contacted German media. This led to a cooperation with the lead German public broadcasting channel ARD. That changed all. Having such a strong media partner ensured that our collective coming-out could not be overlooked by mainstream media.

#OutInChurch public coming-out dominated the news in Germany and was reported globally. How were you able to do this?

We knew if we want to change things, we not only need to clearly put our demands forward to our employer – the Roman Catholic Church. We also need the pressure from public solidarity. We decided to produce a 60-minute documentary called ‘How God created us’ (“Wie Gott uns schuf”), which portrays the life of queer Catholics working for the Catholic Church. Our film portrays people who had to hide their true lives and deny their true selves out of fear of losing their jobs and being discriminated against. Their stories are very emotional and touching.

The documentary was shown at primetime on the 24th of January 2022 on the German public broadcasting channel ARD. Together with 100 interviews from #OutInChurch-members, the documentary is available online on the website of the ARD, where it has become one of the most successful documentaries of the last years.

Congratulations. That must have been a lot of work! What was the key to reaching this level of visibility and public media attention?

Everything was focussed on the 24th of January 2022: [a] few teaser interviews were published beforehand, a press release was prepared, a media office [was] set up, 36 Catholic organizations from Germany were prepared to declare their solidarity, our manifesto and core demands were translated into 12 languages, and our international colleagues in the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics were informed in advance to be able to respond quickly to this unforeseen moment.

In concordance with the publication date of the documentary, we published our campaign on our website, [and] 125 people outed themselves at the same time. Some people chose to publish their full name, picture, and their sexual and gender identity; others outed themselves anonymously because even being one of many would still be too dangerous to their personal or professional safety. The rush to our website was so big it crushed the site. We also launched a petition that more than 120,000 people have signed. An enormous wave of media interest, lasting for several months, pushed our issues forward and required all our energy.

What have been the reactions from the Catholic Church so far?

Some bishops responded promptly by promising that no church employee would be fired because of being LGBTIQA+ and that they would revise the current version of the Catholic labor law. In November, this new labor law [was] published, and it marks a huge step forward. It says: “All employees can be representatives of God’s unconditional love and thus of a church that serves people, regardless of their specific tasks, their origin, their religion, their age, their disability, their gender, their sexual identity and their way of life.”

It emphasizes human dignity, recognizes diversity, and considers relationships and intimacy as private matters being irrelevant for the church as an employer. The remaining caveat we have is that trans and non-binary employees still have not received the same level of explicit legal protection.

This was a big step. Do you feel that progress can be made in faith communities worldwide, of whatever domination? Are you more hopeful?

Before the #OutInChurch campaign, LGBTQIA+ Catholics in Germany have used trustful dialogues with open-minded bishops, priests, and lay leaders. This silent strategy also had its benefits and definitively prepared the ground for reforms on LGBTQIA+ issues in the Catholic Church in Germany. We also had two smaller campaigns in 2021 in favor of liturgical blessings for same-sex couples that somewhat tested the water and gave evidence that #OutInChurch may find big support in parishes and among ministers. The whole campaign happened during the time of the Synodal Path, a high-level reform process of the Catholic Church in Germany in which sexual ethics was already an important issue to be discussed.

Given all these local circumstances, the opportunities to create the momentum for a campaign for LGBTQIA+ recognition may not be given in all faith communities in every country. But launching a campaign should definitively be considered as an option because it can mobilize unforeseen people and energy, and it can help to strengthen the connection between LGBTQIA+ people of faith as a community.
 
* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, but we would not wish it to be read as exclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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LGBT & Faith Podcast Reaches Worldwide Audience
Cover art for LGBT & Faith alongside a photo by Jukka Aalho on UnsplashCover art for LGBT & Faith alongside a photo by Jukka Aalho on Unsplash
LGBT & Faith Podcast Reaches Worldwide Audience
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia’s audio series concludes after 16 episodes

An audio series designed to help others understand global changes happening in LGBT* and faith communities has concluded after 16 episodes.

Salzburg Global Seminar and ILGA Asia’s audio series LGBT & Faith featured 16 leading voices from the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith, a program held from 2020 to 2022 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum.

This program convened members and leaders of faith communities from within Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, as well as agnostics, atheists, anthropologists, and cultural believers.

Worldwide, LGBT* people increasingly insist on inclusion in faith communities and cultural traditions. In response, many religious congregations have begun to interpret their beliefs more inclusively.

LGBT & Faith is available to listen to on Anchor, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Its listeners represent different generations and range from more than 50 countries across six continents.

The most popular episodes include:

Our podcast authors come from diverse countries such as Ecuador, the Philippines, Switzerland, Lesotho, Romania, India, South Africa, the United States, Egypt or the Netherlands.

Klaus Mueller, founder and chair of the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, said, “When we started our LGBT and Faith initiative, in part, we mentally still held on to an imagined separation of LGBT and faith communities as two communities in opposition to each other. However, listening to our Fellows, it became obvious that this juxtaposition is part of the problem.

“It does not do justice to the lived reality of many LGBT* individuals around the world. LGBT* people have been, are, and will be part of faith communities, and people of faith have been, are, and will be part of LGBT* communities. In fact, this supposed opposition between LGBT and Faith communities is often used by a globally connected movement misusing religion and the so-called ‘protection of the family’ to push an authoritarian agenda.

“We are encouraged that the podcasts reached an audience in countries that imposes the death penalty for consensual same-sex sexual acts like Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, or Pakistan, and countries where national or religious leaders support or even inspire homo- and transphobic violence, such as Egypt, Russia, Turkey, Poland, or Malaysia.”

Henry Koh, executive director at ILGA Asia, said, “The notion that faith and discussions on sexuality and gender should not be conflated is untrue — and it contributes to further misunderstanding and perpetuates stigma on all sides of the conversation.

“LGBTI people often face harmful impacts when this occurs, and it becomes clear that we need to engage issues of faith and religion through progressive methods and discourses in order to advance the conversation on acceptance and rights for LGBT people.

For this reason, ILGA Asia decided to collaborate with the Salzburg Global Seminar’s richly diverse fellows through producing this meaningful podcast series — where we explore life-changing and affirming conversations on how LGBT and faith can and must co-exist.”

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia thank the authors for sharing their deeply personal visions and journeys of faith with great honesty.

* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Salzburg Global and Diplomatic Courier Launch Transforming Education Channel
Child running through a field pretending to be a plane as the sun setsPhoto via Adobe Stock
Salzburg Global and Diplomatic Courier Launch Transforming Education Channel
By: Dominic Regester 

Channel will publish articles that advance new ideas and approaches for education transformation

This article was first published on Diplomatic Courier

Salzburg Global Seminar and Diplomatic Courier are pleased to launch this new channel focused on Education Transformation as part of our evolving partnership and to support the Salzburg Global Center for Education Transformation. The channel will publish articles on a regular basis that advance new ideas, advocacy, and approaches for education transformation in line with the mission of the Salzburg Center.

We are choosing to launch the channel now because we want it to support and help develop ideas that come out of the UN’S Transforming Education Summit taking place just before the UN General Assembly later this month. The UN summit is being convened in response to a global crisis in education – one of equity and inclusion, quality, and relevance. This crisis has been become slowly more visible for many years but has really been highlighted by our collective experiences of multiple and convergent societal, climate, and health crises over the past few years.

These crises have also acted as a catalyst for many long overdue conversations about the power, purpose, and practice of education. As the world starts to move beyond these crises and societies start to address their multiple causes it feels as if there is an exciting window of opportunity for education systems around the world to go through processes of profound transformation. This is long overdue. The lives that young people today will lead are fundamentally different from the lives of young people a hundred years ago, yet the majority of education systems around the world have barely changed. Of course, there have been incremental reforms as subjects and technology have been updated but the fundamentals of pedagogical approaches, the structure of the school day, assessment, and where power resides in the system have not changed.  

Many systems are now beginning to grapple with the kind of transformation that they need to initiate in order to provide outcomes that will support all students to thrive in the century ahead. We very much hope that this channel will be a place where new ideas from around the world can be shared and discussed for a global audience.

The channel is a shared project between Diplomatic Courier and Salzburg Global Seminar and is part of the Salzburg Global Center for Education Transformation, which focuses on influencing systems transformation efforts by developing new approaches to critical and emerging issues in education, including social, emotional and creative skills, psycho-social support and wellbeing, ecological education, and education leadership.

Salzburg Global Seminar is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1947 to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. Our programs seek transformative impact on education, culture, health, and peace & justice through global exchange and collaborative leadership.

If you are interested in writing for the channel, then please contact Dominic Regester dregester@salzburgglobal.org or Shane Szarkowski shane@diplomaticourier.org.

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Reimagining Media After the Pandemic
Reimagining Media After the Pandemic
By: Hamna Baig 

Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change returns to Schloss Leopoldskron for the first time since 2019

More than 70 people from around the world met at Schloss Leopoldskron this summer to address how media organizations can reimagine their roles and responsibilities in societies today.

From July 18 to August 1, Salzburg Global Seminar brought together 46 participants from 15 universities to reimagine media after the pandemic.  

The thematic focus of the 16th program of the Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change was “After the Pandemic: How Can Media Advance Equitable and Just Civic Futures?

After a two-year absence, the Academy returned to Schloss Leopoldskron and convened participants from Argentina, Austria, Japan, South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Turkey, India, Lebanon, Mexico, United Kingdom, and the United States.

During the program, participants took part in a range of activities; expert-led lectures and workshops, film screenings, cultural tours of Salzburg and Gosau and a visit to the Mauthausen Memorial

Through different seminars, the participants got an opportunity to explore the intersection of art and media literacy, to foster human connections through an immersive experience inspired by the human library concept, to feed their civic imagination by creating and performing short sketches and to reflect on personal experiences by curating a mixtape. 

During the program, Susan Moeller, professor at the College of Journalism and the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland and director of the International Center for Media & the Public Agenda, delivered the Bailey Morris-Eck Lecture. 

She said to tell stories, we should trust “those who are not acting in self-interest. Mis- and disinformation, typically from self-interested parties, adversely affect democratic institutions. We've all seen that play out. We've heard a lot about mis- and disinformation coming from the government. It's what's roiling both England and the United States. But it also comes from corporations; think of the tobacco or pharmaceutical industry, for example. Profit and power incentives are also often behind mis- and disinformation.”

Participants also heard from Tracie Powell, a leader in philanthropic efforts to increase racial equity and diversity in news media. Tracie, who is founder of The Pivot Fund, delivered this year's Brandon Memorial Lecture, which was titled, "Shifting Power through Equitable Journalism Funding." Reflecting on the experience, she said, "It's not a small thing to say that I got more out of the experience than I gave."

By the end of the Academy, spanning over two weeks, participants had worked on five different projects, which fall under the umbrella name, “[re]CONNECT: Transformative media learning experiences after pandemic.”

[re]CONNECT is a collection of interactive learning experiences and workshops which incorporate the elements of transformative media - care, imagination and agency to allow students to engage with media in a way that helps them better understand how they can support a strong and more inclusive world after the pandemic.

These projects include:

  • Escaping Stereotypes: An interactive experience based on the escape room format to address the cultural misconceptions and stereotypes about refugees.
  • Global E.C.H.O: To provide unheard voices a platform to connect with other countries and cultures that they originally would not have been exposed to.
  • Truth or Consequences: An immersive gaming experience for young individuals to enhance their understanding of issues associated with misinformation and fake news across social media platforms.
  • The Weight of Words: A workshop for journalists and laypeople to learn effective methods for more accurate, accessible, and inclusive reporting on public health issues.
  • One Planet: An interactive experience that aims to help children exercise their agency by having pivotal conversations and dialogue around climate change as an activist navigating the virtual world.

Speaking to Salzburg Global, several participants reflected on their experience at the Academy: “This experience reaffirms that libraries of knowledge are people at the end of the day. I have had the opportunity to learn and understand several lived experiences during my two weeks at the Academy. The beauty of the Schloss and Salzburg, the thought-provoking seminars, the well-thought-out final projects, and community engagement. I will be taking back home more perspective on how I can rethink and enrich the media pedagogies in my organization with the help of a network of ever-supporting faculty and fellows I can rely on for research,” Harika Srinivasan from Ashoka University in India said. 

Meanwhile, Lukas Pleyer, from St. Pölten University of Applied Sciences in Austria, said, “I'm very grateful for this experience because it was interesting to see how we are not that different, even if we come from all over the world. We had a whole other connection here. From Salzburg, I take with me being open-minded, thinking across borders, fostering relationships, and living with the spirit and mindset of changing things even on a small scale.”

Timothy Henares, working towards a master’s degree in environmental policy from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said, “I can't think of any other place on earth to be the perfect ground for ideas to grow and transform into action. Yet, more than the space and resources, the Academy's big success lies in its people — the students, faculty, hotel staff, and the seminar team — coming together to make a difference.”

The Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change is an annual program that convenes emerging leaders in media fields to build networks for positive change. If you would like to find out more about the Academy, please email Paul Mihailidis, Faculty Chair and Director.

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Feel the Rhythm
Nikhil Agarwal and Tatsuya HondaNikhil Agarwal and Tatsuya Honda
Feel the Rhythm
By: Tatsuya Honda and Nikhil Agarwal 

Salzburg Global Fellows Tatsuya Honda and Nikhil Agarwal are opening a new dimension for people with hearing disabilities

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Disrupting Bureaucracy: Equitable and Just Policymaking
Nafia Hafedh speaking at the Creative Bureaucracy FestivalNadia Hafedh speaking at the Creative Bureaucracy Festival
Disrupting Bureaucracy: Equitable and Just Policymaking
By: Nadia Hafedh 

Salzburg Global Fellow Nadia Hafedh reflects on her experience attending the Creative Bureaucracy Festival

In early June, I flew to Berlin with a number of other Fellows from the current cohort of Public Policy New Voices Europe to attend the Creative Bureaucracy Festival, a conference aimed at bringing bureaucrats together to think creatively about how to deliver effective policy solutions to the problems facing our world.

I went into the conference expecting interesting but perhaps limited discussions compared to my own more radical approach to policymaking. Instead, I was met by hundreds of professionals looking to take imaginative and expansive approaches to policymaking that challenge the status quo and proactively tackle the issues we see around us together. It was the openness to learning from one another and working together that really struck me, as we need collaboration and collectivity to truly achieve lasting change wherever we seek to implement it.

Personally, I was inspired to attend the conference and deliver a session because I’ve found from my own experience that much of the current practice around policymaking is often unjust and invisibilizes the marginalized groups who are most acutely affected by the policies at hand. Couple this with the vast under-representation of marginalized communities in the policymaking sphere, and the inevitable outcome you are left with is the repetition of harmful callous practice that does not uplift communities.

As Fellows, we put together a session on “Disrupting Bureaucracy: Equitable and Just Policymaking.” It was a fishbowl conversation where we shared our views on what needed disrupting and how pulling from our varied backgrounds and experiences to really get people thinking about how they can implement principles of equity and justice into their work. Many attendees from our session got involved in the discussion, and their thoughtful contributions brought the conversation forward.

Our only wish was that we could have spent another hour continuing the conversation with all attendees. However, the point is that this work must continue outside the conference, and we hope that everyone takes it back to the spaces they operate in and implements practical solutions to the injustice and inequality we see.

Beyond the conference, everyone working in or around the policymaking sphere needs to make sure they are co-creating policies with those who will be affected by it. There needs to be an acknowledgment that they are the experts in their own struggles, not just academics or theorists or those who have made a name themselves off the back of the communities they have no contact with. We need to check our sources, think about our own positionality, and about who we may be excluding from our current practice and how we can remedy that.

There are always improvements to be made, and we all have a role to play and a duty to be proactive in it.

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Introducing Salzburg Global Seminar - Korea Foundation Fellows: Hyeseon Do
Photo of Hyeseon DoHyeseon is taking part in the first year of the Salzburg Global Seminar – Korea Foundation Fellowship
Introducing Salzburg Global Seminar - Korea Foundation Fellows: Hyeseon Do
By: Jinny Do 

The Salzburg Global Seminar – Korea Foundation Fellowship connects Korean leaders with a diverse, innovative, and global network of Fellows

Salzburg Global Seminar asked Hyeseon Do, a Fellow taking part in the first year of the program, about her experience.

"My name is Hyeseon Do. I am currently working in one of the conservation organizations to conserve migratory birds and their habitats."

Hyeseon shares how the Fellowship Program helped her design local projects in Korea with a fresh approach. 

"I joined the program called the 'Parks for Planet Forum.' Particularly what I liked is they don't only talk about environment protection because in my field, especially the conservation field, [I am surrounded by] people who all work for conservation and [the] environment. So it is quite difficult to meet people from different [fields]. But there were like psychologists, developers, and teachers... So it was quite interesting to hear their perspectives which I never thought about. For example, one of the lectures that really hit me was about 'loneliness.' So when we design the park, what I particularly think about is how to maximize the impact for biodiversity. But people [at the program] talked about how to tackle [the] loneliness of people when designing the park. I also brought some of those ideas to my project, touching the people's feelings and making them comfortable. I think that was one of the considerable aspects of when I redesigned all the local projects here [in Korea]."

Each Fellow is assigned with a mentor from their respective field of interest as part of the Fellowship Program.

"My mentor is Kim Krebs. She's based in Australia. She has been implementing different campaigns, different policy changes, and initiating different movements in Australia at a local level at a regional level. So we met every month for the last five months. I think I was truly lucky to meet her."

Salzburg Global Seminar: What does being Korean mean to you in this global age?

"I'm Korean, a South Korean working in an international organization. I sometimes feel lonely because there are not really many Koreans, to be honest, compared to other Asians. As we can see in this society, there is a "K-Move." We call it the "K-Move." There is Son [Heung-min], BTS, and a lot of movies, actors getting awards... But I think this moment is most important because the more [we gain influence], it means that we can voice out. I think voicing out [at the right time] and the right place is very important. I think we are the ones who need to really speak up to the global society [about] who we are and what we can contribute to the world."

Who would you recommend this Fellowship Program to?

"What you can definitely learn from the program is a fresh new perspective you never had before. Also, you will find new team members to tackle various issues in this world together. I assume that most of the future applicants of this program aspire to be future leaders. This program will provide the supporters and colleagues you need in your individual journey."

For more information, check out our program!


 

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The Halls are Alive with The Sound of Music
Photo by Qamar Mahmood from Unsplash
The Halls are Alive with The Sound of Music
By: Adam Ratzlaff 

Music is often called a universal language and can create a collaborative space that goes beyond linguistic divisions. Given this role, it has played an important part in the cultural diplomacy of countries across the globe writes DC’s Adam Ratzlaff from Salzburg, Austria.

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Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Launch Second Cohort of Emerging Urban Leaders
Head shots of Fellows who have joined the second cohort of Emerging Urban LeadersThe second cohort of Emerging Urban Leaders
Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Launch Second Cohort of Emerging Urban Leaders
By: Vitoria Martin Delgado 

Salzburg Global's newest Fellows will meet between September 2022 and August 2023

Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks are excited to launch the second cohort of the Emerging Urban Leaders program.

For a second time, this initiative brings together a diverse, cross-sectoral, and international cohort of practitioners and change-makers to help implement innovative, practical interventions to tackle the problems facing our urban environments.

With a focus on increasing well-being, access to green space, and equity in the city, the Emerging Urban Leaders program will tackle inequality and improve the quality of life for all urban space users.

Fellows will discuss with and be mentored by a wide range of established leaders from urban design, conservation, civil society, government, and health sectors.

The first cohort began on March 17, 2021, and this second group of Fellows will run from September 2022 to August 2023. Through this time, the program will be augmented with regular sessions with an assigned mentor and opportunities for exchange with the wider Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks’ communities.

To be able to achieve the objectives of this program, it consists of multiple elements:

Two-Hour Monthly Meetings

  • One hour of discussion with an influential leader.
  • One hour of group discussion, peer-peer advice sharing, reflection, and project progress reports.

Project Development

  • Each Fellow undertakes a practical project over the course of their participation in the program. Project ideas were submitted as part of the application process.
  • Ongoing support to implement the projects is provided in the form of mentorship, peer advice, and regular goal-setting and feedback sessions.

Mentorship

  • Each Fellow is assigned a mentor-based (where possible) on their preferences to support them in implementing their project.
  • Mentor and mentee meet regularly over the course of the year-long program.

Thought Leadership

  • Fellows have the opportunity to submit articles to the ICLEI Cities with Nature Buzz monthly newsletter, Salzburg Global, World Urban Parks, and the Diplomatic Courier, as well as present their work on the Futures Cities Podcast and the World Urban Parks congress.

Fellows in the second Emerging Urban Leaders cohort include:

  • Bianca Abud, Biologist, Park Manager, Urbia Gestao de Parques, Sao Paulo, Brazil
  • Suramya Bansal, Student, Rock Art Research Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Matt Boyce, Ph.D. Candidate, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, United States of America
  • Lucia Caves, Landscape Architect and Parks Project Manager, Thrive Spaces and Places Ltd. Christchurch, New Zealand
  • Elizabeth Chege, Festival Director, Africa in Motion Film Festival Glasgow, United Kingdom
  • Gábor Csapó, Google Nest, Taiwan
  • Temuulen Enkhbat, Researcher, GerHub NGO, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
  • Anas Sanusi Gusau, CEO, Golden Star Development Initiative, Sokoto, Nigeria
  • Mayu Ferrufino, Executive Director, Cuscatlán Park Foundation (FUNDAPARC)
  • Catie Hastings, D.E.I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Coordinator, City of Coral Gables United States of America
  • Matias Honour, Project Director, Fundacion Mi Parque, Santiago, Chile
  • Christina Jang, Program Manager of Technical Assistance, 10-Minute Walk Program, Trust for Public Land, New York, United States of America
  • Zairah Khan, BlueO2, The Hague, The Netherlands
  • Venus Kashyap, Assistant Professor, Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, New Delhi, India
  • Naim Keruwala, Program Director, CITIIS National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, India
  • Anna Mathis, Natural Resources Manager, City of Chattanooga, USA
  • Nalini Mohan, Parks Program Coordinator, City of Calgary, Canada
  • Paula Moreira, Project Management Office, Niterói City Hall, Brazil
  • Irene Nagudi, Team Lead, Kichini Gardeners Initiative, Wakiso, Uganda
  • Chúk Odenigbo, Directeur fondateur, Future Ancestors Services, McLennan, Canada
  • Emilia Oscilowicz, Research and Community Relations Coordinator, Barcelona Lab for Urban Environmental Justice and Sustainability Barcelona, Spain
  • Ayanda Roji, General Manager: Research and Knowledge Management, City of Johannesburg Parks Agency, Johannesburg, South Africa
  • Mateja Rot, CEO and Founder, City Says and Head of international relations SUUW, City Says / Slovene Union of University Women SUUW Ljubljana, Slovenia
  • Renelle Sarjeant, Urban Planner and Designer, Public Space Global, Earth Medic Foundation for Planetary Health, La Romain, Trinidad, and Tobago
  • Rasha Sayed, Professor in Architecture Engineering and Landscape Architecture, Birmingham City University
  • Treasure Sheppard, Analyst, Los Angeles County Development Authority Alhambra, United States
  • Christy Spier, Adaptive Communities Coordinator, Green Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
  • Masamichi Tamura, Co-Chair / Doctoral Student, World Urban Parks (Ageing, Well-being & Parks committee) / Tokyo Institute of Technology (architecture), Tokyo, Japan
  • Matthias Weber, It’s the Glue, Hamburg, Germany
  • Gavin White, Director of Planning and Projects, Riverlife, Pittsburgh, United States of America
  • Savit Willmott, Chief Executive, The Natural History Consortium, Bristol, United Kingdom
  • Alexander Wray, Project Coordinator, ParkSeek Canada, London, Canada

Find out more about theEmerging Urban Leaders program and World Urban Parks.

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A Call to Action – Salzburg Global Seminar Publishes Salzburg Statement for Education Transformation
A Call to Action – Salzburg Global Seminar Publishes Salzburg Statement for Education Transformation
By: Corinna Nawatzky 

Salzburg Global Fellows ask: What kind of societies are we aiming for and how could transformed education systems help us to get there?

In May 2022, Salzburg Global Seminar, in partnership with Big Change, ETS, The LEGO Foundation, Microsoft and Qatar Foundation International, brought together 51 Fellows for the four-day program Education Futures: Shaping A New Education Story.

Now, the first output of this collective effort, the Salzburg Statement for Education Transformation, has been published at the Education World Forum 2022 in London. It is a call to action for policymakers, learners, educators, and parents to intervene in education systems in order to bring about fundamental and lasting transformations.

Jointly drafted by the Fellows of the program, the statement underscores the global moment for education transformation, outlines the drivers for change, and ultimately calls on those stakeholders with power, agency and voice to use it to build the education systems that are needed for human and planetary flourishing this century.

Read the Statement in full below.

 

THE SALZBURG STATEMENT FOR EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION

A GLOBAL MOMENT FOR EDUCATION TRANSFORMATION 
Education leaders, policymakers, and funders in every context are making decisions about how to transform learning and education. This moment offers an unparalleled opportunity to step back, ask big questions, and think differently about what to aim for and how to get there.

A growing global consensus for education transformation is emerging to prepare young people for their futures and our sights need to be set on transformation, not reform. While reform starts with processes and improves the system, transformation begins with values and mindsets and changes the purpose of the system.  Reform results in a better version of existing systems; transformation results in different systems. To equip every young person to thrive throughout life, we must focus on transformation and less on reform and incremental improvement.

Salzburg Global Fellows from the May 2022 program Education Futures:  Shaping A New Education Story leaned into global research by Big Change (https://big-change.org/ new-education-story/) and UNESCO’s Futures of Education initiative (https:// en.unesco.org/futuresofeducation). The reports act as starting points to ask the right questions. Contextualizing and identifying actions is a collective effort. 

DRIVERS TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION SYSTEMS
Three drivers begin to indicate a theory of action, directing decision makers to the places to intervene in education systems at sufficient depth to bring about fundamental and lasting changes. These drivers of transformation emerged from research with global pioneers and changemakers. They are not linear and individual but very much interlinked and need to work together to support transformation towards more equitable, sustainable, and learner-centred futures.

PURPOSES
Redefine the goals and outcomes of the education system to reflect the challenges and opportunities of the future. Engage stakeholders in defining the purposes of education, so it reflects communities’ values and priorities.

POWER
Expand who has voice and agency by investing in educators and learners so they can make confident decisions about learning and education. Enable a wide range of stakeholders to take part in decision making. 

PRACTICE
Unlock innovation by enabling those working in education to create and share learning innovations with the greatest potential to transform the system and reimagine pedagogical approaches.

CASE FOR ACTION
The COVID-19 pandemic and multiple societal and ecological crises in recent years have revealed the crucial importance of education around the world. What is more, they have created opportunities for profound education changes. These crises have clarified paramount lessons about equity and access, and have highlighted the importance of technology in providing learning continuity. They have showed how vital it is to engage students, teachers, parents and caregivers, and communities in school, and provided further evidence that fostering self-knowledge, learning the skills to manage relationships, regulate emotions, appreciate differing perspectives and building resilience are just as important as literacy and numeracy. These crises have showed us how our education systems can evolve, and ultimately transform, to support all students to thrive.

EDUCATION FUTURES: SHAPING A NEW EDUCATION STORY
In May 2022, 51 Salzburg Global Fellows from 20 countries came together to ask bold and challenging questions about education:

  • What kind of societies are we aiming for and how could transformed education systems help us to get there?
  • What would an education system look like that supported all learners to build the capabilities, skills and knowledge they need to transform the world?
  • What do we need to change within ourselves to facilitate this process?
  • What are the conversations and questions that are required to initiate long-term transformation?

The first output of this collective effort is the following call to action for policymakers, learners, educators, and parents to intervene in education systems to bring about fundamental and lasting transformations. This is not a blueprint as every system will transform in different ways, but this is a call for everyone who has power, agency and voice to use it to build the education systems that are needed for human and planetary flourishing this century. 

  • If you have power, agency and voice, use it to advocate for the kind of education that will help all young people thrive and become active citizens. 
  • If you have power, agency and voice, acknowledge that this will be different to other people’s and use your opportunities to include those who might be left out of the process.
  • If you work in government or education networks, recommit to the achievement of SDG 4.7 to ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.

Key questions to help with thinking about education transformation:

  • What if each of us could learn from other education systems that are already transforming in ways we admire, ask questions of them and look for opportunities to work together? 
  • What if each of us could contribute to and conduct national conversations with education stakeholders, particularly young people, about the Purpose, Power and Practice of education systems so that mindsets can begin to shift? 
  • What if each of us could harness insights and evidence from previous and current reform and transformation efforts to inform better policymaking? 
  • What if learners could organize with peers to take an active role in the learning process and life of your institution? 
  • What if every system could harness innovative pedagogies and seek ways to embed them into practice so that learners could develop the full breadth of skills needed to thrive in today’s complex world? 
  • What if every school could improve parental engagement to build stronger learning ecosystems for young people? 
  • What if schools could provide every student with a holistic and interconnected view of the world, its challenges, and solutions by encouraging them to think globally and act locally? 
  • What if educators were positioned alongside learners as central to education policy and systems transformation? 

The experiences of different crises in recent years and the Sustainable Development Goals target of 2030 have created a remarkable window of opportunity for education transformation in the next few years. 

There is a collective responsibility to seize this moment and transform education systems, so they enable all learners to develop the skills and competencies necessary for thriving in the century ahead.
 


 

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Charles E. Ehrlich - What are the Questions Corporate Leaders Need to Ask Themselves about Governance?
Charles Ehrlich in conversation at Salzburg Global SeminarCharles Ehrlich in conversation at Salzburg Global Seminar
Charles E. Ehrlich - What are the Questions Corporate Leaders Need to Ask Themselves about Governance?
By: Charles Ehrlich 

In the latest installment of the Salzburg Questions for Corporate Governance, Charles Ehrlich, a program director at Salzburg Global Seminar, reflects on the history and impact of the Corporate Governance Forum

Salzburg Global Seminar was founded in 1947 in the ruins of the Second World War. We brought together a diverse group who normally would never have had the opportunity to interact, to seek a better future for Europe and the world. We have carried on this desire for diversity of experience, background, and viewpoint – spanning geographies, sectors, and generations – for 75 years.  

We remain a neutral institution in politics and geopolitics, preferring to allow people to discuss their legitimate differences and bridge their divides. Throughout the Cold War, this institution was one place where people from both sides of the iron curtain (and from the third world) could gather and speak openly and candidly with their peers on common issues and concerns. After the Cold War, Salzburg Global Seminar was instrumental in working with partners in Russia and the former Soviet-dominated countries to build up university systems, civil society organizations, and others interested in opening global dialogue and peace.  

But we are not neutral on our morals. Russia's recent unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, with death and destruction, apparently perpetuated as objectives of the war and not merely its consequences, is illegitimate in all respects. The farcical justification that Russia needs to "de-nazify" Ukraine is as offensive as it is untrue, coming from a country that has intentionally obscured its own history of mass atrocity and has a history of covering up the Holocaust as well (see my chapter in this 2021 book published together with several Fellows of Salzburg Global Seminar) – including at Babi Yar, whose memorial was damaged in the opening period of the current war, and a leader who has praised the pact his country signed with Nazi Germany.

Corporations face an array of questions every day. However, we would hope that corporations, too, are not neutral on their morals. Corporations today are scrambling to deal with new sanctions regimes. But some have gotten out ahead of official sanctions and are reevaluating their dealings with Russia. What more could they do?  And, in hindsight, what more should they have done before the most recent Russian invasion of a peaceful neighbor?

Different stakeholders may argue alternative views, and wise corporate leadership must consider these viewpoints.  By bringing diverse perspectives to the off-the-record discussion, the Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum ensures that corporate leadership does take the wider view.

We had launched our Corporate Governance Forum in 2015 in response to turmoil across the globe which called into question long-standing corporate governance practices and had energized critics of the corporate governance status quo. Since then, we have hosted candid, off-the-record discussions, bringing a select number of directors of multinational corporations into an intimate, retreat-like setting where they can meet a variety of additional voices representing constructive but divergent views. These have included senior managers; judges, regulators, and policymakers; lawyers; thought leaders and academics; investors; and representatives of key civil society interest groups. Participants so far have come from 26 countries on six continents.

Our aim is to help these directors return to their boardrooms with new ideas which they can implement and with new partnerships and insights so that they themselves can become thought leaders and change-makers for the coming decades.

Starting in 2018, we have curated a series of blog-style posts by Fellows participating in our Corporate Governance Forum to bring to a wider public some of the rich ideas which have emerged during our off-the-record meetings.  

Appropriately disruptive, Anastassia Lauterbach launched the series, setting out a series of questions Boards should be asking about artificial intelligence as a checklist for directors looking into an uncharted future.  

Some authors have focused on board functionality.  These have included:

While the fundamentals of corporate governance led the corporate governance guru Bob Mundheim (the force behind the creation of this Corporate Governance Forum) to reflect on the significance of the Business Roundtable Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, ESG issues have increasingly come to the fore.  Among the key issues our Fellows have highlighted have been:

Some questions looked at narrower specialist topics with broader implications:

And when the COVID pandemic hit, boards found themselves confronted by another set of challenges. Among these:

The frequency of questions increased during the pandemic, but so did the reach of our programs as we moved online, enabling more participants to join in the discussions in person.

As we go beyond the pandemic, our in-person retreats in Salzburg will resume, but we will also maintain a virtual presence. We have thus decided to move into the next phase of our programming, designed to expand the Corporate Governance Forum's participation and impact further outwards. As we build a dedicated pillar on economic development and finance, we will also transform the communications strategy, which will affect the series of "Salzburg Questions for Corporate Governance" as well as the "Salzburg Questions on the Future of Finance." In the transition phase over the following months, we will instead be highlighting the accomplishments of our Fellows who are making an impact in their work and inviting new Fellows to join these exclusive conversations in Salzburg, online, and in locations around the world.  

We look forward to seeing you!


Have an opinion?

We encourage our readers to share your comments by joining in the discussion on LinkedIn.

Charles E. Ehrlich joined Salzburg Global Seminar as a program director in May 2014. He has particular responsibility for designing, developing, and implementing programs on justice, democracy, economics, and rule of law. He has practical experience in legal development working in over a dozen countries, including in the Balkans, the Caucasus, and the Russian Federation, advising governments and public institutions on strategic planning, drafting legislation, and implementing comprehensive reforms in the justice sector, public administration, property rights, freedom of the media, and constitutional law. Charles has also worked as legal counsel for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Kosovo, in Georgia, and at its Secretariat in Vienna. At the Claims Resolution Tribunal in Switzerland, he adjudicated claims to Nazi-era bank accounts. He remains affiliated with Wolfson College, Oxford, and has published a book, Lliga Regionalista - Lliga Catalana, 1901-1936 (in Catalan), and numerous academic articles on constitutional law, justice, and political history. Charles holds an A.B. in history and classics (Latin) from Harvard University, a J.D. from the College of William and Mary, an M.Sc.Econs. in European studies from the London School of Economics, and a D.Phil. on contemporary Spanish history from the University of Oxford.

The Salzburg Questions for Corporate Governance is an online discussion series introduced and led by Fellows of the Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum. The articles and comments represent opinions of the authors and commenters and do not necessarily represent the views of their corporations or institutions, nor of Salzburg Global Seminar. Readers are welcome to address any questions about this series to Forum Director Charles E. Ehrlich: cehrlich@salzburgglobal.org. To receive a notification of when the next article is published, follow Salzburg Global Seminar on LinkedIn or sign up for email notifications here: www.salzburgglobal.org/go/corpgov/newsletter

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Beyond Words: Empowering Women in India Who Cannot Read or Write Through AI
SunO SunaO logoSunO SunaO is a new product that aims to encourage the social and financial mobility of underserved women in urban areas
Beyond Words: Empowering Women in India Who Cannot Read or Write Through AI
By: Team Suno Sunao 

On International Women’s Day, Salzburg Global Fellows taking part in the Japan-India Transformative Technology Network reveal their prototype for positive change

In 2021, smartphone shipments reached 173 million in India. However, one of the most striking aspects of this transition is the extent to which the digital divide imposes itself on women, particularly illiterate women who constitute a large section of the urban poor.

According to a 2020 report by the GSM Association, women in India are 28 percent less likely than men to own a mobile phone and 56 percent less likely than men to use mobile Internet. Women suffer the most from the lack of access to opportunities and awareness across sectors - be that in the fields of finance, healthcare, or skilling, among others.

Often monitored by the male family members, access to basic information for some women remains curtailed or made available only through informal networks. Not having access to proof of identity, technology or information adversely affects the chances of women availing government schemes or public facilities, such as housing, healthcare, finance, and livelihood opportunities. In these situations, the benefits that mobile technology can provide are not accessible beyond answering calls.

India lacks a dedicated platform that caters specifically to an audience that cannot read or write, but can access a mobile phone.

Our group of Salzburg Global Fellows, featuring Aparna Singh, Aishwarya Panicker, Aishwarya Raman, and Mohit Challa, is working toward bridging this divide. Our product, Suno Sunao, now in the prototyping stage, focuses on the opportunity of bridging this digital information and education gap to encourage the social and financial mobility for underserved women in urban areas.

An AI-enabled tool, Suno Sunao, will focus on increasing information flow through video outputs in local vernaculars. Our project is one of four to have received an award from Salzburg Global Seminar and The Nippon Foundation, worth USD $20,000.

Keep following this space to know more about how Suno Sunao aims to create an enabling environment for women.

If you are interested to know more or engage with the team, please email sunosunao.salzburgglobal@gmail.com.

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A Message From Salzburg Global Seminar
Staff from Salzburg Global Seminar pose for a group photoStaff from Salzburg Global Seminar pose for a group photo
A Message From Salzburg Global Seminar
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

A look back at 2021 and a look forward to 2022

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Bringing LGBT and Faith to New Audiences
Cover art for LGBT & Faith alongside a photo of a microphone by Jukka Aalho on UnsplashCover art for LGBT & Faith alongside a photo by Jukka Aalho on Unsplash
Bringing LGBT and Faith to New Audiences
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia co-produce new audio series featuring voices from Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith

Salzburg Global Seminar and ILGA Asia are delighted to launch a new audio series amplifying the voices of those who participated in the Global Online Forum on LGBT* and Faith.

This program, held in 2020 by the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, brought together members and leaders of faith communities from within Judaism, Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, as well as agnostics, atheists, anthropologists, and cultural believers.

Worldwide, LGBT people are increasingly insisting on their inclusion in faith communities and cultural traditions. In response, many religious congregations have begun to interpret their own beliefs in more inclusive ways.

An output from this program was a blog series featuring 16 reflections that help others understand the changes happening in LGBT and faith communities.

To make these experiences and reflections more accessible, Salzburg Global and ILGA Asia have partnered to transform each blog into an audio feature.

Klaus Mueller, founder and chair of the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum, said, “Our new platform is documenting that a respectful, humane and global conversation on LGBT equality and inclusion in and across faith communities is not only possible but indeed has already begun in many places.

“The audio features are wonderful. Listening to our Fellows makes their deeply personal vision on faith and LGBT even more palpable. Fellows share their journeys of faith with great honesty, the obstacles and opportunities they’ve faced and are facing, their ideas for change, and whether they experience progress or backlash.

“LGBT people grow up within their families and often are raised within faith communities. They are not coming ‘from the outside'. We understand faith communities that are unresponsive to the needs of their LGBT members counteract their core values of love, inclusion, and community.” 

Henry Koh, executive director at ILGA Asia, said, “The notion that faith and discussions on sexuality and gender should not be conflated is untrue — and it contributes to further misunderstanding and perpetuates stigma on all sides of the conversation.

“LGBTI people often face harmful impacts when this occurs, and it becomes clear that we need to engage issues of faith and religion through progressive methods and discourses in order to advance the conversation on acceptance and rights for LGBT people.

“For this reason, ILGA Asia is excited to collaborate with the Salzburg Global Seminar’s richly diverse Fellows through producing this meaningful podcast series — where we explore life-changing and affirming conversations on how LGBT and faith can and must co-exist.”

Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum and ILGA Asia will release one episode every three weeks, starting on November 26, 2021, with Brenda Rodriguez Alegre’s piece, “As a Child, I Would Pray to God ‘to Make Me a Woman One Day.'"

This podcast is now available on Anchor and Spotify.

Please subscribe to the Salzburg Global LGBT* Forum Newsletter to receive updates and be notified when new episodes are available.


* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Salzburg Global Seminar Partners With AIPH
Salzburg Global Seminar and AIPH logosAIPH joined the network of partners for this year’s Parks for the Planet Forum, where AIPH took an active facilitation and participatory role
Salzburg Global Seminar Partners With AIPH
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Both organizations will partner for the upcoming AIPH World Green City Awards and beyond

Salzburg Global Seminar is proud to announce a new partnership with the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) to shape a better world for people and planet.

This partnership aligns the common goals of both AIPH and Salzburg Global Seminar in pursuit of co-promoting the benefits of inviting more plants and nature into our increasingly urban lives. At a time when cities are growing rapidly and nature is diminishing at alarming rates, urgent action is needed.

Plants and nature, which provide multiple benefits and services, are powerful tools with the potential to address many of the ever-mounting challenges faced by growing urban communities.

Through this partnership, Salzburg Global and AIPH seek to accelerate the rate of transformation in cities to bring wider recognition to the value of plants in providing solutions for common city problems and to create an enabling environment to shape and nurture a strategic shift in city governance and planning.

Dominic Regester, a program director at Salzburg Global, said, “We are really excited about this new partnership with the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH). There are many great areas of overlap and alignment in our priorities and the approaches we can take to support and drive change to help inspire better urban futures for everyone.

“It is particularly timely to be able to announce this partnership as COP26 draws to a close. If we are to address the climate crisis, then we will need many more atypical partnerships like this.”

The partnership announcement lays the foundation for sustained collaboration between Salzburg Global and AIPH, who have expressed a mutual interest in working together both in the short and long term. As a means of demonstrating the partnership in action, AIPH has joined the network of partners for this year’s Parks for the Planet Forum, where AIPH has taken up an active facilitation and participatory role.

This renowned forum is a long-term collaboration to reconnect people and nature in an urbanized world. Launched in 2015, it aims to improve human and societal well-being by expanding access to nature-rich urban spaces, increasing investments in urban conservation, and creating dynamic partnerships between people, cities, and protected area systems.

Audrey Timm, a technical advisor at AIPH, said, “AIPH is proud to join the Parks for the Planet Forum as a supporting partner. We are excited to demonstrate our partnership in action through our participation and to connect with a global community of champions for the power of plants and nature. Together with Salzburg Global Seminar, we hope to learn from, share with, and inspire other like-minded individuals and organizations to showcase the power of collaboration.”

Similarly, Salzburg Global has expressed its support for the AIPH World Green City Awards. The AIPH World Green City Awards is an ongoing competition, with entries open every two years. Designed to champion ambitious nature-orientated approaches to city design and operation, they seek to recognize public initiatives relying on a greater use of plants and nature to create better city environments – helping to fulfill local aspirations for improved economic, social, and environmental resilience.

The awards celebrate innovation, achievement, and commitment to the globally recognized imperative to embrace nature-based solutions that harvest the power of plants and associated ecosystems services to help address the major challenges facing cities today – or tomorrow. Launched on April 22, 2021, at the AIPH Green City conference “Champions of Green Cities,” online entries for the AIPH World Green City Awards are now open for the inaugural 2022 edition.

Jennifer Dunn, a program development manager at Salzburg Global, said, “Partnering with AIPH on the Green City Award was an obvious choice for Salzburg Global Seminar. The partnership presents a great opportunity to support our goal of improving the quality of life and biodiversity in cities through enhanced access to nature. We believe our partnership with AIPH will be of great benefit to our Fellows through the valuable knowledge and experience the organization can and has already shared.”

AIPH has, since 1948, united horticultural producers in an international community that thrives to this day. Much has changed in that time. Technologies advanced, cities rose from the ground, and we have become more connected than ever. As a result, our essential bond with nature has been weakened.

Thus, AIPH strives to reignite and uphold an appreciation of plants that it believes are a basic human instinct. Believing that nature is the foundation on which our increasingly urban lives depend, AIPH leads global thinking on the successful integration of plants and nature into the built environment by supporting the bold and ambitious actions of local governments and urban change-makers.

Through its Green City Programme, AIPH promotes awareness of the urgent need for urban greening and the essential role of plants in creating vibrant urban areas. Its mission is to develop an international standard for green cities and be a focal point for green city best practices and a source of expertise.

Salzburg Global is an independent non-profit organization founded in 1947 to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world. Its multi-year program series aim to bridge divides, expand collaboration, and transform systems.

The organization convenes outstanding talent across generations, cultures, and sectors to foster lasting networks and partnerships for creative, just, and sustainable change. Over 38,000 Fellows from more than 170 countries have come together through this work, with many rising to senior leadership positions.

It also works to foster lasting networks and partnerships for creative, just, and sustainable change. Ultimately, Salzburg Global seeks to enable systemic transformation by inspiring new thinking and action on critical issues and connecting local innovators and global resources.

Given its role in convening change-makers, city shapers, and new ideas, Salzburg Global is uniquely positioned to support the work of AIPH, and specifically the AIPH World Green City Awards, by attracting the attention of city leaders and showcasing what is possible if we approach the challenges we face today with the systems-perspective we need to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

AIPH, in return, brings the essential voice of the global horticultural industry to the table to ensure that plants are given the recognition they deserve in global discussions around shaping a better world. Together, we stand united to support the global green city agenda and drive transformative change through the co-development of bold, new ideas.

Tim Briercliffe, secretary general at AIPH, said, “Our partnership with Salzburg Global Seminar formalizes an exciting collaboration to enable transformation for a better urban future. Through our joint work, we seek to inspire the global urban change-making community to drive impactful action to secure the sustainability of our increasingly urban future. We urgently need new ways of working, thinking, and doing to invite more plants and nature into our daily lives. Together we will champion this cause to ignite a movement for greener cities.”

Jointly acknowledging the power of partnerships, a spirit of collaboration underpins the organizational philosophies of both AIPH and Salzburg Global. Together we aim to shape a better world by championing the power of plants and nature and harnessing this power to inspire a movement for greener cities and ultimately secure our collective urban future.

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Inaugural Cohort of Public Policy New Voices Europe Revealed
Head shots of the 29 Fellows chosen for the inaugural cohort of Public Policy New Voices Europe, plus the logos of Salzburg Global Seminar and Public Policy New Voices EuropeThe inaugural cohort will focus on how public policy can build inclusive communities that are welcoming to diverse groups of people
Inaugural Cohort of Public Policy New Voices Europe Revealed
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Fellows are based in 23 cities, spanning 10 countries, and represent 16 nationalities

Salzburg Global Seminar and The Walt Disney Company are excited to reveal the inaugural cohort of Public Policy New Voices Europe.

This dynamic year-long fellowship program will provide Fellows with opportunities to build their capacity through virtual and in-person meetings, peer learning, mentorship, networking, and internship opportunities.

Each annual cohort of the Fellowship will work towards addressing a big-picture public policy challenge.

The inaugural cohort will focus on how public policy can build inclusive communities that are welcoming to diverse groups of people.

These groups include, but are not limited to, seniors, youth, children, LGBT* people, immigrants and newcomers, persons with disabilities, people experiencing mental health challenges, and low-income populations.

The associate program director responsible for Public Policy New Voices Europe, Faye Hobson, said, “We are thrilled with the interest and quality of applications we received. We want to thank everyone who took the time to apply and put their name forward.

“The group of Fellows we selected are representative of many types of diversity and working in different fields including the corporate sector, academia, NGOs, and government. We are excited to work with each of them and help support them in their personal and professional growth.

“Next week, we will host two online sessions for the Fellows where they can co-design the goals of the network and become better acquainted with one another. We can’t wait to get started.”

Fellows in the inaugural cohort are based in 23 cities spread across 10 countries. They also represent 16 nationalities. These Fellows include:

  • Alifya Akberali, Programme Coordinator, READ Foundation UK
  • Alia’ Al-Wir, Head of Business Development, AIESEC, Austria
  • Jessica Antonisse, Policy and Project Assistant, The ONE Campaign, Belgium
  • Sarah Arfeen, Trainee, Council of the European Union, Germany
  • Najib Obaid Babakerkhail, Director and Founder, French Refugee Council France
  • Lennard Bartlett, Masters Student, Kings College London, Switzerland
  • Rebecca Bassey, Senior Programme Specialist, The Ormiston Trust, United Kingdom
  • Claudia Batz, Policy and Projects Coordinator, World Obesity Federation, United Kingdom
  • Christopher Nex Benas, Research Associate, Leibniz Center for Science and Society, Germany
  • Evelina Dimitrova, Board of Directors, Roden Dvor Association, Bulgaria
  • Chougher Maria Doughramajian, President, Voices of Young Refugees in Europe, United Kingdom
  • Etinosa Erevbenagrie-Johnbull, Managing Director, Generation for Change CY, Cyprus
  • Sude-Meryem Fidan, Student of Political Science, Georg-August-University of Göttingen, Germany
  • Roquia Gonçalves Guerra Camara, Ph.D. Student, Aix-Marseille University, France
  • Nadia Hafedh, Executive Assistant to the Executive Director of Policy, Advocacy and Campaigns, Save the Children UK, United Kingdom
  • Mariam Harutyunyan, Strategic Advisor, Innovation - Marketing - D&I, KinArmat and A Seat At The Table, Belgium
  • Lauri Heikkinen, Freelance Disability Policy/Accessibility Consultant, Finland
  • Alexander Holmes, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, The Diana Award, United Kingdom
  • Alexander Kuch, International Parliamentary Scholar (IPS) – German Parliament, Germany
  • Leila Laing, Account Executive, Hanover, United Kingdom
  • Constantin-Alexandru Manda, Vice-President, Group of European Youth for Change, Romania
  • Consolata Ndungu, Transformation Programme Officer, Imperial College London, United Kingdom
  • Nomaqhikiza Nkala, MPhil in Public Policy Candidate at University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
  • Olatunji Offeyi, Freelance Journalist, United Kingdom
  • Kebesobase Onen-Ifere, Barrister and Solicitor, United Kingdom
  • Hannelore Pourier, Master Student, Maastricht University/United Nations University, The Netherlands
  • Diana Raiselis, Research Lead, VibeLab, Germany
  • Safiullah Safi, Student, Cambridge University, Norway
  • Great Udochi, Master Student, Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, Germany
  • Diana Zsoldos, Communications and Logistics Officer for International Cooperation, European Disability Forum, Belgium

Read our Fellows' biographies, and learn more about them.

Find out more about Public Policy New Voices Europe. Keep up to date with further developments at Salzburg Global by registering for our newsletter.


* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, but we would not wish it to be read as exclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Salzburg Global Seminar and Porticus launch the Whole Child Development for Displaced Learners network
Silhouette view of children facing away from the camera playing in the sunset.Photo by MIA Studio from Shutterstock
Salzburg Global Seminar and Porticus launch the Whole Child Development for Displaced Learners network
By: Corinna Nawatzky 

41 experts have come together to move forward the agenda of whole child development in displacement 

We are living in a time of convergent crises: the global pandemic, the climate crisis, the struggle for racial justice, the polarization of societies, and a global learning crisis. These different challenges will affect all learners but will have a disproportionate impact in the context of education in displacement where learners are already facing significant challenges.

Focusing on strengthening collaborative action, networking, learning and advocacy amongst influential actors who work to deliver educational services to children and young people caught up in displacement and crisis, Salzburg Global Seminar, in partnership with Porticus Foundation, have launched the new Whole Child Development for Displaced Learners Network.

On October 14, 2021, the international cohort of 41 members convened online for the first time in a two-hour launch meeting.

The purpose of the network, which is part of Porticus’ All Eyes on Learning (AEoL) initiative, is to expand the inclusion of Psychosocial Support and Social and Emotional Learning (PSS/SEL) in education, in order to achieve holistic learning outcomes, especially for refugee children and displaced learners. To do so, the network was set up focusing predominately on regions most affected by forced migration and displacement: Latin America, East Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

Network members come into the group from various backgrounds, such as UN agencies, international non-governmental organizations, local civil societies, and academic institutions as well as ministries of education, contributing a wide range of expertise and knowledge.

During the launch meeting, participants shared their reasons for joining the network and discussed the most dominant challenges to implement whole child development in displacement more broadly and effectively. A lack of resources and agency, siloed thinking, and the need for stronger community involvement were only some of the barriers discussed during the meeting.

Over the period of one year, the network will meet online every six to eight weeks until September 2022. In addition to those virtual meetings, there will be three public conferences during the course of 2022.

 Sign up to our newsletter to receive the latest updates on the Whole Child Development for Displaced Learners Network and not to miss out on registrations for the public conference.

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How Public Spaces Can Create Safer Cities
Man and woman sitting on grass in Herăstrău Park, Bucharest, RomaniaPhoto by Alex Blăjan from Unsplash
How Public Spaces Can Create Safer Cities
By: Joseph Caron-Dawe 

Parks for the Planet Forum's latest session explores how to design and use spaces that enable people to feel secure

Feelings of safety, risk, and fear in public spaces have been recurring themes throughout the latest Parks for the Planet Forum program.

The role of public parks in cultivating safe environments, in providing health, education, and socio-economic benefits for communities, and in challenging the underlying causes of crime and its effects while developing equitable and secure space for all were all considered in a session of The Way We Live: Parks, People, and Public Spaces.

Key Takeaways:

  • The intentionality behind the design of space and who it is planned for impacts how safe people feel there.
  • The community’s involvement in creating, maintaining, and defining safe public spaces leads to feelings of equity and pride.
  • Working toward common goals across society and proactively identifying opportunities for the inclusion of community members in public spaces helps create environments that feel safer for all.
  • The way groups interact with one another, unconscious biases that play out in all aspects of society and daily life, and the awareness of these biases and how they impact everyone have real implications on how safe spaces feel.

The Use of Public Spaces To Create Opportunities Within Communities

In many large urban cities, public parks are frequently beyond the reach of many, not only in a geographical sense but also for social and economic reasons.

The Heartland Alliance’s READI Chicago program helps men who have experienced gun violence to overcome exclusion from the very limited opportunities on offer to them.

Its participants undergo training in park maintenance skills that can then be used in the city’s green spaces. The program is helping those involved to establish their own identities while feeling they are helping to solve issues faced by the city in which they live.

In 2020, 678 program participants gained employment that they would otherwise have struggled to be considered for through the program.

This equitable, sustainable approach to involving at-risk individuals in creating safer spaces for their communities was highlighted as a proven approach to using parks as an intervention to prevent crime and help make communities feel more secure.

Public Spaces in Cities Need To Be Culture Sensitive and Culture Responsive

The need for spaces to be culturally responsive to provide feelings of safety for residents of urban areas is of great importance.

Colombo, Sri Lanka, was highlighted as an example where a lack of attention to the real needs of citizens had led to the exacerbation of the issue of unsafe space.

A government project to eliminate slums from the city involved the creation of 70,000 low-cost housing units over seven years in high-rise blocks. However, the relocation by force of residents to these new dwellings failed to achieve the desired outcome and instead disrupted established communities and led to a rise in social issues, a lack of public spaces, and a manifestation of an unsafe environment.

One solution to the issues faced by the residents of blocks in Colombo and their lack of safe public spaces was the proposal to children to find spaces they wanted to convert into their own areas. In addition, they were given resources to clean and grow plants and then maintain those spaces they had created.

Dealing With the Threat of Dominance and Working To Make Spaces More Inclusive

The exertion of control over public spaces by specific groups leads to others feeling unsafe in them.

Highlighting this point and how it was being dealt with practically and responsively, the example of Olympic Park in London was presented.

While a survey recently concluded that 91% of people who visited the park said they felt safe or very safe there, it was acknowledged that no consideration had been shown to women and girls in its design.

A consultation with local residents, which included inputs from youth and female demographics, helped identify the park’s issues and areas that made the space feel less safe. A park safety guide is being drawn up as a response.

In improving the park experience for women and girls, features of the park which had previously been used to manage assets, such as street light identification numbers, were now being repurposed as safety features and used as location identifiers for park users to help them feel more secure.


This webinar on Safer Cities was part of Salzburg Global Seminar’s Parks for the Planet Forum’s 2021 program, The Way We Live: Parks, People and Public Spaces. The program is in partnership with AIPH, Diplomatic Courier, The Future City podcast, ICLEI, ICUN, #NatureForAll and World Urban Parks. For more information, please visit: https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/parks

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How Public Spaces Can Build Community Cohesion and a Sense of Belonging
People enjoy walking through a public park.
How Public Spaces Can Build Community Cohesion and a Sense of Belonging
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Parks for the Planet Forum explores the unifying nature of public spaces

Parks and public spaces are places where community cohesion and a sense of belonging can be nurtured.

A deeper understanding of the values of communities, leading to more equitable access to green and public spaces for all in urban areas, and the transformative powers of a more inclusive approach to urban design were all focal points of the discussion at the second online program of the 2021 Parks for the Planet ForumThe Way We Live: Parks, People and Public Spaces.

Key Takeaways:

  • Multi-actor collaboration in the design process of parks and public spaces is essential for the creation of places that foster a sense of community ownership. 
  • Understanding a community’s needs and concerns through consultation and inclusion is critical to creating spaces that truly serve the public and drive connectivity. 
  • Flexibility in the planning process and accounting for changing needs in time helps public spaces form a backbone for communities. 
  • Re-evaluating our relationship with nature is vital for wellbeing and viewing nature as a neutral space for gathering and breaking down barriers. 

Understanding How Community Values Drive the Need for Public Space

A transformation project in Santiago de los Caballeros in the Dominican Republic offered a case study of the importance of the community as a starting point for the design process of parks and open spaces.

A busy street intersection that had been a focal point for the local community was transformed into a green space by local authorities, but this was not used by the public. It soon became clear that a lack of consultation with locals had led to a misinterpretation by the authorities about what the underlying reasons for such a previously vibrant area had been.

Two local coffee vendors had been the heart and soul of the community that congregated, and upon revisiting the plan with their assistance, a redesigned open space, with vendor stalls for other local businesses, was much more popular and helped to recover the area’s lively ambience.

Taking the concerns and requirements of a community, creating a platform where these demands can be shared, and constructing strategies for sustainable development around these views helps to achieve cohesion and a sense of belonging. 

Adaptive Planning and Designing Spaces for Continual Development 

This deeper level of understanding by planners gave rise to a discussion of the importance of adaptive planning, as opposed to conventional planning that had often failed to account for flexibility in the past. 

Adaptive planning for spaces should factor changing needs in time into the process and allow for the possibility of dealing with future uncertainties—be they environmental, economic, demographic or political—and see the open space as a critical backbone for the local community.

This was underscored by the presentation of Hafencity, a waterfront quarter in the Hamburg-Mitte district of Hamburg, Germany, which has been redeveloped with foresight for how the space and its inter-connected elements will evolve over the next 30 years to continue serving the community. 

Reconnecting With Nature Through Green Space to Promote Connections

One challenge facing many cities around the world is how to reconnect humans and nature, so that there is engagement with the natural environment and thus a sense of responsibility—as opposed to nature being viewed as a usable object.

The Organization for Environmental Education and Protection (OpEPA) in Bogotá, Colombia is successfully enabling youngsters to experience and understand the green spaces that surround their urban living environment, and is educating them on how this reconnection with nature can help in the construction of more sustainable communities.

The realization that one’s relationship with nature can mold emotional state and wellbeing can lead to a more intentional relationship with the environment. The use of nature as a neutral space for people to gather and have conversations that break down barriers was presented as an example of how public space had successfully helped individuals find common ground and promote real connections through OpEPA’s activities.


This webinar on Community Cohesion and Belonging was part of Salzburg Global Seminar’s Parks for the Planet Forum’s 2021 program, The Way We Live: Parks, People and Public Spaces. The program is in partnership with AIPH, Diplomatic Courier, The Future City podcast, ICLEI, ICUN, #NatureForAll and World Urban Parks. For more information, please visit: https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/parks

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How Public Spaces Can Help Combat Urban Loneliness 
A lonely figure walks down a deserted city street at nighttime.
How Public Spaces Can Help Combat Urban Loneliness 
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Salzburg Global’s 2021 program of the Parks for the Planet Forum opens by exploring loneliness in the city – and how parks can help alleviate it  

As the global pandemic forced many countries into lockdowns, social isolation became a widespread experience, even in densely populated cities and communities. Parks and public spaces became places of refuge for many otherwise locked down in their homes – and thus vital in combatting urban loneliness. 

The importance of public space in combatting loneliness in cities – which preceded but has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic – was the theme of the opening online program of the 2021 Parks for the Planet Forum, which is focusing on issues highly relevant to the United Nations’ Urban October initiative. With perspectives from policy, grassroots action and technology, participants heard from panelists about how approaches from each sector are being used to tackle loneliness in urban areas. 

Key Takeaways: 

  • Access to green and public spaces is a fundamental factor in mental and physical wellbeing and staving off isolation through creating a sense of belonging.
  • Sustainable community initiatives on public land in urban areas help promote social connection and support networks.
  • Marginalization of communities can lead to collective feelings of loneliness, which can be countered by enabling the use of public spaces for these groups.
  • Technology, while often a driver in feeling lonely, can and is being harnessed positively to help people access public parks and spaces and improve their wellbeing.

How Public Spaces Are Being Reclaimed in Urban Areas with Grassroots Initiatives

The Earth in Common organization in Edinburgh has helped to reclaim unused public space for locals and establish a sustainable, inter-generational community initiative that actively tackles loneliness.

Through a revival of crofting, a traditional Scottish social system of community-based food production on local land, this creation of a support network in an urban context has successfully connected people from different backgrounds in a public space.

A fostering of collective identity and cooperative spirit has helped to address a multitude of issues in the local community including mental health, hunger, nutrition, lack of a sense of purpose and exercise, and has aided in the creation of a sense of belonging and ownership of the land.

The importance of such access to green spaces and parks in built-up urbanizations has proven to be a crucial factor in the mental and physical wellbeing of residents of urban areas.

The Marginalization of Communities and Groups  

Loneliness can be experienced by whole groups and communities, not only by individuals. 

In India, where traditional social structures and hierarchies have led to the domination of spaces by privileged groups, a bottom-up policy approach has been adopted as a way of confronting exclusion from public space that leads to isolation.

One way forward to ensure inclusion is to collect data across all communities from urban areas to identify specific and urgent needs, which can then be addressed in public policy planning. 

The decriminalization of homosexuality in the country, where the LGBT* community has been historically marginalized, and the fight for advances in law and policy affording the group legal space to assert its rights in public through events and mass gatherings, was another example of how a change in public perceptions of minority groups can lead to a transformation in feelings of loneliness by enabling the use of public space for oppressed groups.

How Technology Can Help To Create Social Connections in Open Spaces

Technology, long-derided for its harmful effects on well-being, can also be a driver for positivity and connection, as demonstrated by a project currently in development in New York.

A new app, being developed by Healing Ninjas, will highlight traditional and non-traditional resources for people in crisis. It will feature maps of green spaces and promote them as gathering places where individuals who are experiencing similar feelings of loneliness can meet and talk.


This webinar on Loneliness was part of Salzburg Global Seminar’s Parks for the Planet Forum’s 2021 program, The Way We Live: Parks, People and Public Spaces. The program is in partnership with AIPH, Diplomatic Courier, The Future City podcast, ICLEI, ICUN, #NatureForAll and World Urban Parks. For more information, please visit: https://www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/parks

* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Beyond the School Gates: Developing Social and Emotional Skills Outside of Formal Education
Group of school children with teacher on field trip in nature, learning science.Photo by Halfpoint from Shutterstock
Beyond the School Gates: Developing Social and Emotional Skills Outside of Formal Education
By: Corinna Nawatzky 

OECD Director shares Survey on Social and Emotional Skills at Salzburg Global’s Education for Tomorrow’s World program

From birth to age 16, children and young people spend more time outside of school than they do inside. The importance attached to social and emotional skills is increasing, as is understanding about how they can be developed, both inside and outside the classroom.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has been at the core of Salzburg Global’s education programming since 2016. As part of its multi-year series Education for Tomorrow’s World, which Salzburg Global Seminar organizes in partnership with ETS, Microsoft, and Qatar Foundation International, it proudly presented two webinars called Beyond the School Gates: Developing Social and Emotional Skills Outside of Formal Education on October 12, 2021.

In both sessions, Andreas Schleicher, OECD Director for the Directorate of Education and Skills, presented initial results from the OECD Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES), and then joined a panel discussion with leaders from different organizations whose work offers different opportunities for developing social and emotional skills outside the classroom.

COVID-19 Impact

As the COVID-19 pandemic has had devastating effects on children’s education, it made one thing all the more clear: it requires more than just books, a classroom, and a teacher for children to learn and grow. Social and emotional skills are increasingly critical to young people’s chances of success in education, work, and relationships throughout their lives and the pandemic has led educators and policymakers to rethink long-standing approaches to formal education and to look beyond traditional expectations.

As children’s education was disrupted, whole child development and child-centered learning have become key in the discourse on what education should be able to achieve in the future.

With depression and other mental health conditions being the biggest threat to the health and well-being of under 30-year-olds, hope and resilience are crucial skills for children and youth today. “Hope is a strong and desirable character trait among our children,” said Maritza Trejo, Education Programs Director at Glasswing International, a non-profit organization working with low-income communities with high rates of school dropout and gang-violence in Latin America. In the second session of the series, she talked about how hope and optimism are often the deciding factor for children to lead a responsible life, and thus, children themselves perceive it to be a desirable skill to have.

Similarly, mentoring programs and the use of role models help enhance a sense of hope and optimism among children and youth, explained Marko Kasic, Chief Executive Officer of FundLife during session one of the series. His organization supports children from predominantly poor families in the Philippines by organizing sporting programs and other play-based activities. “We use the stories of famous sports men and women, who started from very similar backgrounds as these children and really unpack their potential,” said Kasic. Moreover, FundLife works with community champions. Young leaders who volunteer some of their time to support other children in their communities through mentoring and setting good examples.

This approach not only fosters hope and drive to break through what has often been generations of poverty. It also creates a sense of self-worth and belonging among the mentors, taking on responsibility for their communities.

Socioeconomic Impact

The SSES confirms this correlation between the social background of children and SEL: “On average, socio-economically advantaged students reported higher social and emotional skills than their socio-economically disadvantaged peers in all cities participating in the survey.” (Report: Beyond Academic Learning. First results from the Survey on Social and Emotional Skills, page 9) Thus, while a child’s disadvantaged background is often their greatest barrier to SEL, particularly when it is part of after-school activities, building social and emotional skills it is often also the solution to their disadvantages, said Schleicher.

Alia Alzougbi, Incoming CEO at Shubbak and Outgoing Head of Global Learning London talked about a similar experience of creating a sense of belonging, particularly with migrant communities in London. “Working with young people who feel disconnected from their communities [Alzougbi explained] they crave a sense of connection, and they want to be able to take ownership of their own narrative.”

The discussions throughout both sessions also highlighted the importance of safe spaces, where children feel comfortable expressing themselves without fear of judgment. With Tamkeen Community Foundation for Human Development, Karima Kadaoui works to create such safe spaces within communities throughout Morocco. During the first session, the Co-Founder and Executive President of Tamkeen talked about how children and youth come together in community centers after school to help each other with projects and homework. “Sometimes a child would ask another for help, and the other wouldn’t know the answer to their question. Instead, it would say, ‘Let’s go, find out together!’.” Education being relational rather than transactional is what Schleicher added to Karima’s statement.

Justin Edwards, Director of Learning Programmes with Minecraft Education Edition at Microsoft, explained how, for many children, video games often act as similarly safe space to children, particularly for those who may otherwise feel socially excluded. While video games are often perceived to be counter-productive to children’s development, Edwards argued that games like Minecraft often help to strengthen skills such as communication and teamwork. Moreover, they create a safe space for children to make mistakes and fail, teaching them that failure is often a way to success.

While Schleicher partly countered, arguing that many video games can often have the opposite effect on many children, he did agree with the potential they have in positively supporting children’s development. Ultimately, he praised the efforts of panelists to provide SEL to children beyond classrooms but called for an overall holistic approach: “We should be banning the word ‘extracurricular’ and instead look at what actually belongs in the curriculum.”


Beyond the School Gates: Developing Social and Emotional Skills Outside of Formal Education was part of Salzburg Global’s multi-year series Education for Tomorrow’s World, which is organized in partnership with ETS, Microsoft, and Qatar Foundation International. For more information, please visit: Education for Tomorrow's World. You can find the recordings for both sessions, as well as Andreas Schleicher's presentation, on the program page.

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The Future of Financial Industries: Ensuring Equitable and Sustainable Action in a Post-COVID World
The Future of Financial Industries: Ensuring Equitable and Sustainable Action in a Post-COVID World
By: Aaisha Dadi Patel 

The 2021 Salzburg Global Finance Forum painted a cautiously optimistic picture for global banking sector post-pandemic

Policy, data, sustainable futures, and risks – financial and otherwise – formed the basis of discussions as the annual Salzburg Global Finance Forum concluded its annual series with a two-day virtual program on June 21-22, 2021. Following on three shorter online programs held between April and June which considered various themes linked to Post-Pandemic Leadership for Financial Services, the online event centered on the topic Financial Services in the Post-Pandemic Era: An Opportunity for a Green and Digitally Enabled Recovery

“In this final program, we’ll examine the post-COVID world of finance, and we’re hoping to illuminate new risks and vulnerabilities that we face as we begin to come back from this horrible global plague,” said President and CEO of Salzburg Global Seminar, Stephen L. Salyer, in his welcome address. “We hope also to hear from all of you how industry leaders and policymakers can steer a course toward a more equitable, sustainable, digital future.”

Hosted by Salzburg Global in partnership with BBVA, Google Cloud, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., and sponsored by the European Banking Federation, Dynex Capital Inc. and Sherman & Sterling, the program saw several stakeholders from across the industries come together. Alongside co-chairs Shriti Vadera, chair of Prudential plc, and Tim Adams, the president and CEO of the Institute of International Finance, panelists and participants included senior and rising leaders from financial services firms, supervisory and regulatory authorities, public policy leaders, and professional service providers.

With evolving social, economic and geopolitical conditions coming into play, the pandemic has shone a light on the potential which overarching issues of global concern, such as climate change, have to fundamentally alter systems if they are not factored into current developments. These realities outlined the four panel discussions held over the two days. Discussants examined how policymakers and industry leaders are stepping up to new challenges, how climate action increasingly remains a question of geopolitical competition, and how financial services will be called upon to assume a leading role in providing the financial means for meeting sustainability goals.

In the first panel – “Financial Services Post-COVID: Addressing Emerging Risks” – discussants included governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey; assistant managing director of capital markets at the Monetary Authority of Singapore Lim Tuang Lee; European Central Bank Supervisory Board member, Elizabeth McCaul; acting secretary general of International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO), Tajinder Singh; and chairman of the board of directors at UBS, Axel Weber. The panel looked at the growing set of emerging risks in the financial sector, including climate-related risks, issues regarding non-bank financial intermediation, the effects of low interest rates, asset bubbles, and other repercussions of current massive government interventions

A second panel – “Towards a Sustainable Future in Finance: Global Landscape and the Roles of Private and Public Sectors” – intended to analyze the complexity of the global landscape behind the sustainable finance transition and elicit an open discussion on the scope of action for both the public and private sector towards a more sustainable future. Speakers were chair of the Impact Investing Institute, Elizabeth Corley, director-general for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union at the European Commission, John Berrigan; vice-chairman of BlackRock Asset Management, Philipp Hildebrand; chairman of BBVA Carlos Torres Vila; and former deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Daniel Mminele.

Featuring Benoît Cœuré, keynote speaker and head of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Innovation Hub; Chris Brummer, professor of law and faculty director at Georgetown’s Institute of International Economic Law; Stefan Hoops, head of the Corporate Bank at Deutsche Bank; and Wendy Redshaw, chief digital information officer of retail banking digitech at NatWest Group, the third panel –  “Emerging Policy Challenges in the New Digital Economy” – focused on the main policy challenges that are emerging with the rapid digital transformation of the economy.

The fourth and final panel – “Financial Supervisory and Regulatory Policy Coordination: New Issues and Challenges” – looked at new challenges for regulators and supervisors in the context of new geopolitical issues confronting the financial services industry and featured Denis Beau, first deputy governor at the Banque de France; Jose Manuel Campa, chair of the European Banking Authority; Randy Quarles, vice chair for supervision on the board of governors at the Federal Reserve System and chair of the Financial Stability Board; and Carolyn Rogers, secretary general at the Basel Committee for Banking Supervision.

“We set out, despite the restrictions, to create a truly world-class program, focusing, as we always do, on the big questions facing the future of financial markets,” Salzburg Global Seminar Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ben Glahn said in closing. “What this emphasizes to me is that, despite the restrictions on mobility, the restrictions on convening and travel, this kind of high-level, open, off-the-record exchange that the Salzburg Global Finance Forum has become known for can be replicated online effectively.”

Following on from the June 2021 program, a series of “virtual coffee breaks”, diving deeper into the discussions that arose. Rewiring The Financial System: Stablecoins, CBDCs and the Road to DeFi will take place on October 21, followed by The Mid- and Long-Term Macro-Economic Risks Post-COVID-19 on November 12. Registration is open to all participants of the June program. 

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Why Do We Need New Voices in Public Policy?
Vector illustration of a diverse group of people standing together.Illustration by Angelina Bambina from Shutterstock
Why Do We Need New Voices in Public Policy?
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Local and supranational policymakers lend their voices to the latest Designs on the Future webinar

With their very different but similarly non-traditional routes into public policy, Jacqui Dyer, deputy leader of Lambeth Council, London, UK, and Michaela Moua, the EU’s anti-racism coordinator at the European Commission, were well-placed to explore how opportunities for more inclusive progress in the field can be developed in the latest Designs on the Future webinar, Why Do We Need New Voices in Public Policy?

Critical issues including how to forge a meaningful way forward on increasing diversity in public policy leadership, the importance of access to opportunities for historically marginalized groups, and why bringing lived experience to the heart of policy making were key themes discussed in the public event, which marked the launch of the new program Public Policy New Voices Europe.

Key Takeaways:

  •     Non-academic pathways are fully viable routes into public policy.
  •     Lived and grassroots experience bring a real-world dimension to the public policy field.
  •     Making policy that is truly inclusive must have ongoing input in the decision-making processes from those whom it will affect.
  •     Large institutions need to be willing to adopt a multidimensional outlook when committing to change, meaningful diversity and the implementation of policy that meets the needs of the public it is trying to serve.
  •     Creating true inclusion and diversity in public policy institutions will provoke difficult conversations as part of real culture change.

Non-Standard Routes Into Public Policy

Dyer, an independent health and social care consultant, spoke passionately and movingly about her motivations for becoming involved in helping shape change for underrepresented groups.

Seeking better and more sustained intervention from public health services for a family member – “I realized I’d have to go to a different level to help influence shaping at the grassroots level, where care is delivered” – Dyer became involved in the ministerial advisory group for mental health, led by the UK Department of Health, as a lived experience adviser. She has since co-led the mental health taskforce at a national level, developing mental health policy for NHS England, before being elected to local public office in Lambeth Council.

Moua, the first person to serve as the EU Anti-racism Coordinator, outlined her own non-traditional pathway into public policy, which came after a career as a professional athlete.

Searching for a next step that would fulfil the same passion, Moua harnessed her desire for helping forge positive change and started work as an anti-racism activist at grassroots level. This opened the door to a career in public policy in her native Finland.

“I landed NGO jobs in Finland, which led to civil service opportunities and I worked for the Ministry of Justice on EU-funded anti-racism projects. That’s where I got this bug for the influence you can have at that level of working in policy.”

The Importance of Lived Experience

Lived experience was highlighted as a crucial factor in representation at public policymaking level.

“Inclusivity and co-production is the centerpiece of what it is that I propel, and lived experience is critical in that,” said Dyer.

“I mean that in terms of mental health and the lived experience of people who have mental health challenges, and the lived experience of people who have barriers in getting into employment or education.

“Paying real attention to the groups that experience the most marginalization, the most discrimination and the most disadvantage” is an effective way of helping to shape frameworks that provide a real impact on their lives, she explained.

Diversity in Public Policy and Pushing for Change in Institutions

The understanding within large institutions about how to effectively implement diversity and inclusion is another major area that needs to be tackled.

A diversity and inclusion office has been set up for the first time in 2021 at the EU Commission to help begin the process of addressing this, but as Moua explained, this requires difficult and uncomfortable conversations  to make real advances.

Dyer also stated that even when such structures are put in place, it is equally important they are fully understood and properly implemented.

“The UK does have equality legislation, but many public sectors are totally oblivious to really fulfilling that duty,” highlighted Dyer. “On paper, there are incredible levers to improve lives of diverse communities, but they are very under-utilized.”

Representation at every level of the decision-making hierarchy and having marginalized voices at the table when policy is being made were more key points Dyer and Moua aligned on.

“A shift in culture to where a large institution such as the EU Commission can truly be a safe space for people with all their differences, is a process,” explained Moua. “If I don’t see people who look like me in the Commission, I’m not going to think it’s for me, that I’m welcome to this space.”

Expanding on this, Dyer said it was essential that helping people to prepare and be aware of what opportunities and career pathways into public policy exist was key to achieving more diversity and inclusion in the field.

“How do we support people to understand how to translate policy into action that yields results that are then about the improvement of peoples’ lives?” she said. “Public policy is with that purposefulness and intention if it’s operating at its best.”

Watch this webinar in full:


Designs on the Future is an online initiative to mark the 75th anniversary of Salzburg Global Seminar and to highlight bold visions and perspectives that can inspire change and help create a more creative, just, and sustainable future. To join our next Designs on the Future webinar, sign up to the Salzburg Global newsletter: www.SalzburgGlobal.org/go/subscribe 

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Salzburg Global Presents at IUCN World Congress
Jennifer Dunn (left) with Irene Gauto, a technical assistant for the “Asuncion Green City” project at UNDP Paraguay (center), and Russell Galt, head of IUCN Urban Alliance (right) at the Urban Planet PavilionJennifer Dunn (left) with Irene Gauto, a technical assistant for the “Asuncion Green City” project at UNDP Paraguay (center), and Russell Galt, head of IUCN Urban Alliance (right) at the Urban Planet Pavilion
Salzburg Global Presents at IUCN World Congress
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Staff and Fellows discuss Parks for the Planet Forum and Emerging Urban Leaders

Staff and Fellows from Salzburg Global Seminar proudly presented at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) World Congress earlier this month.

At the Congress’ Urban Planet Pavilion, Jennifer Dunn, program development manager at Salzburg Global Seminar, shared details about two programs: Emerging Urban Leaders and the Parks for the Planet Forum.

She was joined by Fellows currently participating in Emerging Urban Leaders: Russell Galt, head of IUCN Urban Alliance, and Irene Gauto, a technical assistant for the “Asuncion Green City” project at UNDP Paraguay.

Emerging Urban Leaders and Parks for the Planet Forum have the inseparable relationship between people, nature, and the crucial role of urban environments in humanity’s future at their core.

These programs also support participants in finding ways to increase access to nature in urban spaces to improve health, well-being, a feeling of belonging and create a shared sense of responsibility to work in harmony with the environment.

It was the first time the Urban Planet Pavilion had been part of the IUCN World Congress, a key date in the conservation and nature calendar. This year, attendees convened in Marseille, France, between September 3 and September 10.

The IUCN Urban Alliance, a partner of Salzburg Global’s Parks for the Planet Forum, invited Salzburg Global to take part. The two organizations advocate for nature in cities and draw attention to the influential role cities, and their inhabitants have on nature in and around them.

As a growing majority of the world’s population lives in cities, they have a disproportionate influence on the environment, climate, and society relative to the amount of space they take up. But they also contain the significant potential to garner positive change and mitigate humans’ negative impact on the planet.

As well as presenting information on Salzburg Global’s programs, Jennifer hosted two sessions on behalf of the National Park City Foundation. This Salzburg Global partner aims to make as many National Park Cities as possible worldwide and, in the process, make them “greener, healthier, wilder and fairer places to live.”

Other events at the Urban Planet Pavilion underscored the importance and possibilities for nature in urban spaces. For example, a presentation on “Nature-based Solutions in Rapidly Urbanizing African Cities: Concrete Examples of Non-Concrete Solutions” was shared by urban design studio Kounkuey Design Initiative.

Meanwhile, Ines Hernandez, from the University of Cambridge, presented her work on “Urban Nature and Environmental Human Rights,” and Robert McDonald, a lead scientist at the Nature Conservancy, moderated an open discussion around the issue of equity and urban nature-based solutions.

On September 10, as the congress drew to a close, the IUCN published a finalized Marseille Manifesto to capture a number of the key messages from the week-long event.

Many of the commitments outlined, such as transitioning to a nature-positive economy, prioritizing investments in nature that advance social justice and inclusion, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, cannot be achieved in isolation from urban environments.

Jennifer Dunn said, “Through our programs and our partnership with IUCN Urban Alliance and other like-minded organizations, we will continue supporting a better world in which nature is a valued part of society, accessible to all, and is unharmed by human activity.”

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Salzburg Global and The Walt Disney Company Launch New Public Policy Fellowship
Public Policy New Voices Europe LogoFellows will work toward the common public policy challenge of building inclusive communities at the local, national, and international level
Salzburg Global and The Walt Disney Company Launch New Public Policy Fellowship
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Program will support and empower the next generation of diverse leaders across Europe

Salzburg Global Seminar and The Walt Disney Company have joined forces to launch Public Policy New Voices Europe.

This year-long Fellowship will connect, support, and empower a new generation of diverse leaders in public policy across Europe.

The Fellowship will provide participants with opportunities to build their capacity through virtual and in-person meetings, peer learning, mentorship, networking, and internship opportunities.

Across Europe, the profiles, backgrounds, and demographics of public policy professionals often fail to reflect our societies’ growing pluralism and multiculturalism. As governments, corporations, and communities grapple with regional and global challenges, we need diverse perspectives and bold, innovative ideas to reimagine and redesign the future of public policy in ways that are more equitable, inclusive, and effective.

Dorothy Attwood, Senior Vice President, Global Public Policy, The Walt Disney Company, said, “We know that inclusion of voices from all communities produces better policy outcomes.”

Public Policy New Voices Europe will bring together an interdisciplinary cohort of 25-30 students, graduates and early-career professionals based in Europe wishing to understand more about opportunities to effect change through public policy or aspiring to pursue careers in public policy. (See full eligibility criteria here.) In 2021/2022, the cohort members will work towards the common public policy challenge of building inclusive communities at the local, national, and international level.

Open Call

Salzburg Global has launched an open call for applications and will accept submissions until September 30. Salzburg Global actively encourages applications from communities that have been historically less visible in the field of public policy. We especially welcome applications from people of color, disabled people, those who identify as LGBT*, people from low-income backgrounds, and those from ethnically diverse and migrant communities. Additional outreach will be made to existing members of the Salzburg Global Fellowship to pair participants with appropriate mentors. 

On September 23, the program will officially be launched during a special edition of Salzburg Global’s Designs on the Future online program series titled Why Do We Need New Voices in Public Policy? This lively exchange of views between three leading European public policy experts will explore why empowering new and diverse leaders in the field of public policy is vitally important, how we can open up opportunities for historically marginalized voices to access leadership positions, and how inclusion of all voices supports the development of more equitable and effective public policies.

Online and In-Person Engagement

In November, successful applicants will participate in two online sessions to co-design the Fellowship goals and better know one another.

Then, one month later, Fellows will be matched with experienced professionals from within the broader Salzburg Global Fellowship as part of a mentoring scheme. 

Between February and September 2022, Fellows will meet once a month online, exchange ideas with thought leaders, and discuss how they can apply the knowledge shared. Among other topics, they will explore how to influence public policy and institutional change, develop and gain traction for new ideas, and align local and national priorities with global movements.

In October 2022, they will meet in person at Schloss Leopoldskron, home of Salzburg Global Seminar, and identify potential solutions to community challenges they presented in their initial applications. 

Fellows will also have opportunities to undertake paid internships with European foundations, banks, corporate partners, universities, not-for-profit organizations, public policy organizations, and think tanks.

Program Leadership

In keeping with Salzburg Global's commitment to new voices, this program will be led by Faye Hobson, Associate Program Director at Salzburg Global Seminar, who will work on the program alongside Program Development Associate Antonia Boemeke.

Hobson said, “We’re very excited to launch this Fellowship designed to support the next generation of leaders in the field of public policy. We believe that more must be done to ensure public policy is an inclusive and viable career path for people from historically underrepresented communities and to create opportunities for emerging and new voices in public policy to practice leadership through their projects, institutions, and communities.”

Apply for the Fellowship, or, for further information, visit Public Policy New Voices Europe’sprogram page.


*LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

 

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Assessing the Power of Public Voice in the United States
Illustration featuring microphone and speech bubble showing audio.Photo by FOTOSPLASH from Shutterstock
Assessing the Power of Public Voice in the United States
By: Maryam Ghaddar 

Interdisciplinary group dissects and critiques how media drives the US cultural agenda

More than 40 people convened online last month to discuss how culture, society, and media coexist with democracy in the United States (US).

The town hall-style meeting took place as part of Salzburg Global Seminar’s latest American Studies program, The President, The Press and the People.

Terron Ferguson, program director at Salzburg Global, opened the program by revealing the results of a recent survey taken by Fellows.

The survey questioned whose public voice in the United States drives culture, sets the agenda, and determines narratives. In addition, Fellows looked at which voice is most responsible for cultural fault lines, phenomena, and trends. Optional answers included the president, the press, or the people. In all cases, respondents typically pointed toward the press. As  part of the survey, Fellows also considered whether the media accurately presents stories on US culture, to which 90 percent said “No.”

This result provided a perfect segue as Fellows then heard from guest speaker Susan Neiman, director of the Einstein Forum. The moral philosopher remarked the latter question is too broad to be answered in a “Yes” or “No” fashion, given how divided US media sources are. The term “media” must be more precisely defined, as, in some cases, we don’t know which media we are talking about, and consumers don’t always look for the primary sources.

In the following question and answer segment, Neiman explained learning another language, getting the full scope of a news story, and comparing different media and cultures is central to a well-rounded education. Reading news sources in other languages will tell you more about the United States because it’s only when we’re confronted with how different cultures look at the world that we understand our assumptions and the ones we grew up with.

Neiman also suggested the US implement a small television and radio tax, which could get citizens out of the habit of thinking of news as a commodity. It would be a cultural shift if citizens began to recognize news media’s crucial role in democracy and accepted providing financial support through taxes.

In an experiential learning and simulation activity, Fellows thought deeply on the question of which media-covered cultural issue is the biggest threat to US democracy: critical race theory, US foreign policy, populism on both the right and the left, the rise of social media, or distrust in the public health community.

Each issue was available to discuss further in a breakout room. The challenge for Fellows was to work together to define the cultural issue, articulate why this issue is the biggest threat to US democracy, and brainstorm a potential solution. Fellows had 15 minutes to complete the activity before reconvening and reporting on their discussed perspective.

Several Fellows argued for social media as the greatest threat to US democracy. They defined social media as an echo chamber. Today’s technology has allowed information to be manipulated and led to a decline in truth and accountability. As a result, people enter a comfort zone because their desires and emotions feed off subjective opinions. Fellows discussed having international standards and regulations to prevent further the proliferation of misinformation. They also said social media platforms shouldn’t run based on profit but rather in the name of public interest.

The group assessing critical race theory defined it as being under attack, both legislatively and in the public eye. For example, in higher education and at the K-12 level, there is a push to remove critical race theory from the syllabus. Fellows suggested if educators can’t teach critical race theory, educators then become prohibited from using certain words in the classroom to describe the history of issues around race in the country. It signals an attempt to rewrite history and move the United States backward. Fellows suggested a need to help people better understand what critical race theory is and define it in relation to racism.

Those who decided the rise of populism from the right and left were the most significant threat recognized there is no simple definition of populism, but rather expressions and different reactions to populism. In the United States, it’s the causes of populism, such as poverty and the fact that some groups feel excluded, that truly point to the issue at hand. This is why some leaders can work against institutions of democracy in their own countries. Their proposed solution involved fighting against poverty in some countries through educational initiatives.

The online program closed with Fellows having the chance to stay online and participate in a “parking lot” open discussion with Susan Neiman. It was a further opportunity to engage and reflect on the topic ahead of the next town hall meeting on September 4, 2021, which will cover US politics’ relationship with democracy.

 

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Salzburg Global Initiative Takes New Look At The Purpose Of Criminal Justice And Its Reform
Vector illustration featuring scales of justice, gavel, books, and three peopleIllustration by VectorMine from Shutterstock
Salzburg Global Initiative Takes New Look At The Purpose Of Criminal Justice And Its Reform
By: Charles Ehrlich 

Program Director Charles Ehrlich reflects on work undertaken so far in Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety, and Justice Initiative, which began in January 2021

In January 2021, Salzburg Global Seminar launched a new multi-year initiative: Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety, and Justice. We received support from the MacArthur Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the David Rockefeller Fund. Sixty-seven Fellows from 19 countries have taken part so far in regular interconnected working groups (currently held virtually due to the pandemic). In the initial phase, we seek to identify specific points of interest, challenges, and questions that cut across the discussions, which have allowed us to focus on some big, potentially transformative ideas that could help shape the future of criminal justice systems in the coming years.

We started with the purpose of the criminal justice system, understanding that the power a government exerts over citizens must be legitimated. Therefore, we set out to explore examples of where culture has changed from heavy policing and incarceration systems – the custody, control, and suppression models – toward a focus on human dignity. This approach has included top-down system overhauls, as well as bottom-up community-level interventions. We have looked at the European human rights paradigm in more depth beyond what a “rich country” approach might be to what could be transferable to other systems. For example, we have examined the introduction of restorative justice in former communist countries that previously had punitive systems. 

Yet, we realized that these reforms do not per se address the root causes of crime and violence.  A “public health” approach to justice involves broader factors outside the traditional justice system. These factors include community safety and well-being involving collaboration across stakeholders, root cause/risk factor analysis, and investments into prevention through health care, housing infrastructure, education, poverty alleviation, addressing childhood trauma, and lack of safety in schools. 

Young adulthood is a period of vulnerability for psychological development and encounters with authority. There is a need for proactive engagement to address the estrangement of youths from historically disadvantaged groups. Some activities can be decriminalized or de-securitized (in contexts ranging from drug addiction to violent extremism) to focus instead on life skills and resilience through public initiatives derived from family, religion, and community organizations.

Exposure to violence (especially domestic violence) at a young age is the single most predictive, but not determinative, risk factor. Schools themselves can become the cornerstones of safe communities through conversion into after-school and weekend spaces, as pioneered in Latin America. Social and emotional learning can place well-being, self-awareness, and interpersonal skills at the core, proven to contribute to more inclusive, dynamic, and productive schools, communities, and workplaces, particularly in societies prone to extreme poverty and violence. 

Modeling the cost of the status quo is a powerful advocacy tool to fund preventative measures. Unfortunately, having a model does not guarantee policy action. It is challenging to evaluate programs and track real savings to public budgets, especially long-term, across systems that employ different data sets. Crime, arrest, conviction, recidivism rates, and cost are all popular metrics. Still, all fail to capture deeper desired outcomes: respectful treatment of victims and offenders, repairing harm, and rebuilding communities. Developmental psychology and neuroscience research on young adult males has successfully been used to change the narrative. Social trust could be a useful new metric as it positively correlates with resilience to crises and predicts crime rates well. 

But lack of accurate and consistent data, which often do not enter the policy debate even when collected, can lead to an erosion of public trust. Moreover, in some cases, particularly in transitional countries, these measurements are applied mechanically to evaluate judges and prosecutors, independently of what might otherwise be seen as considerations of “justice,” giving rise to perceived, if not actual, corruption.  Alternative bottom-up approaches allow hyperlocal communities to define their own indicators, but these can be expensive and difficult to collect and are locally specific by design. 

We would thus wish to develop a consistent data-based message that can be translated for policymakers and communicated to and understood by the public. But how to present policy to persuade public institutions and communities about the need for criminal justice transformation and what it means?

Active acceptance of reform is problematic if large parts of the population feel they are not consulted.  Buy-in must come both from marginalized communities that are often most directly impacted and skeptical of top-down attempts and wider publics wary of reforms, including citizens who may fear that reform would undermine law and order.

Powerful communications tactics include aligning with the larger social, national, or regional picture; emphasizing the practical value of reforms in terms of cost savings and increased security; building coalitions across society based on shared interests; and accepting and supporting compromise.  Reforms should be based on data but communicated via emotional, personal connections. Skeptics of criminal justice reform can be convinced with the right messages and authentic messengers.

The ultimate question for citizens is what society they wish to live in and what they expect from their relationship to authority. Where the justice system has not provided safety and security, then incremental reform may not be sufficient. We have had a chance to explore cases where the opportunity presented itself to create entirely new justice systems completely and how this has been presented to the general population, for example, in countries of the former Soviet Union or jurisdictions emerging from civil conflicts. Sharing experiences across borders opens examples of systemic changes that might be adapted in other contexts.

The working groups have provided rich discussions so far taking place off-the-record in small (but diverse) groups to promote open exchange. We will highlight the concrete ideas and stories, and in particular opportunities for further action on the ground and prepare those for publication and public-facing webinars later in 2021. We welcome policy leaders and innovators to get in touch and join us as we expand the initiative’s reach and impact in the coming years.

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Salzburg Global Appoints Values Process Facilitators
Salzburg Global Seminar logo and photos of Greta Muscat Azzopardi (left) and Carl Swanson (right)Greta Muscat Azzopardi (left) and Carl Swanson (right) are part of the Cultural Innovators Forum
Salzburg Global Appoints Values Process Facilitators
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Carl Swanson and Greta Muscat Azzopardi will support an internal process to identify the organizational values that guide Salzburg Global Seminar's work

Salzburg Global Fellows will help Salzburg Global Seminar identify the organizational values that guide its work as part of a new internal process.

Carl Swanson and Greta Muscat Azzopardi have been appointed Values Process Facilitators to meet this objective and begin their work later this month.

Swanson is an associate director at Springboard for the Arts, a national leader in artist resources and artist-led community development based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Muscat Azzopardi is a facilitator, coach, and communications mentor based in Malta.

Both have attended programs hosted by the Cultural Innovators Forum and remain an active part of the network.

Salzburg Global recognizes that identifying organizational values for the entire institution, including Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron, is an important part of strategic planning.

Salzburg Global is committed to reviewing its purpose, practices, and policies related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. On the recommendation of staff, board members, and Fellows, the organization will undertake this internal process to help solidify and communicate its values.

Working with staff, Swanson and Muscat Azzopardi will help define the organization's values that will guide future programmatic direction, institutional business opportunities, and brand identity.

Swanson said, "As a Fellow, I've experienced the value of these programs and have fond memories of the connections and experiences at the Schloss Leopoldskron. Organizations are made up of people, and so the work that we do towards clearer understanding and communication together makes for more creative and responsive organizations. Greta and I are here to listen, to raise up the values that are present, and work with the staff to build [a] common language and common goals. It is a very exciting project with a very exciting organization."

Muscat Azzopardi said, "I worked in the past with a group of hotels, implementing brand guidelines born from the aspirations of a small group of executives in a design agency. I, therefore, know the pitfalls of failing to involve the people at the heart of operations. I am so happy to now be facilitating an inclusive values process to acknowledge, celebrate and build on what this organization's members already hold together. This process is an important part of building tools that feel right and stay alive in the coming years."

Both Swanson and Muscat Azzopardi will deliver the identification of three to five core institutional values, a draft values statement, an action plan for operationalization, and recommendations for internal practices and communication.

They will virtually meet with staff from Salzburg Global and Hotel Schloss Leopoldskron next month.

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The Future Of The “Young” Cultural Innovators Forum
Graphic that indicates "Me to We" and text, "We Do This Together - A Personal Process, One Next to Each Other" (Illustration by Marcello Petruzzi, Housatonic)Illustration by Marcello Petruzzi, Housatonic
The Future Of The “Young” Cultural Innovators Forum
By: Faye Hobson 

Associate Program Director Faye Hobson explains recent changes to the multi-year series  

In 2013, Salzburg Global Seminar launched a new multi-year series to connect creatives and communities in cities and regions worldwide. The Salzburg Global Forum for Young Cultural Innovators, also known as the Young Cultural Innovators Forum, has since grown into a multi-disciplinary network encompassing creative practices including the visual and performing arts, literature, music, food, fashion, architecture, and design.

The Forum has welcomed more than 350 young cultural innovators (YCIs) from Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Greece, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Malta, the Mekong Delta, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Slovakia, South Africa, the UAE, and the USA. Thanks to the support of our partners, 32 mobility projects between 12 countries have involved more than 80 of these innovators.

Community co-creation is at the center of the Forum. By moving from “me to we,” each of us can build collective, collaborative, and cross-sectoral change. The program has continually evolved and adapted to the needs of the Fellows involved.

Earlier this year, we decided to reach out to our YCIs to ask for their feedback on our multi-year series name. Why? We received comments that by including “Young” in the title, we may exclude others and appear ageist.  

The original rationale behind the inclusion of “Young” was to communicate the importance of supporting rising talents and mid-career professionals. However, as the series has grown, so have our inaugural network members and the Fellows who have followed.  

As a first step, we launched a poll in our closed Facebook group, reaching 263 people. We presented three options and allowed Fellows to suggest alternative names. The original options included the Cultural Innovators Forum, Emerging Cultural Innovators Forum, and the existing name: the Young Cultural Innovators Forum.  

The feedback we received was hugely valuable. In total, we received 92 votes and many comments, which have helped us think about how we better communicate who we are looking for in future recruitment campaigns. Most of our Fellows who voted (84.78%) lent their support to one option. So we have listened to our Fellows, and we have responded.  

We are excited to confirm our multi-year series new name is the Cultural Innovators Forum.

Will this change who can apply for this program? Our focus will remain on helping rising professionals working in the cultural sector, but we will not be listing ages in our future call for applications as we have done so in the past.  

The Forum has always sought to bring in diverse participants, but we are now making a public commitment to prioritize applications from people of color, people with disabilities, those who identify as LGBT*, individuals with low-income backgrounds, and those from ethnically diverse, Indigenous, and migrant backgrounds.

Diversity is the strength of the Cultural Innovators Forum. We have Fellows with a range of life experiences, professional paths, and creative disciplines. We recognize the impact we can have on people’s lives and careers by providing them with their first international experience.  

We are continuing to look for like-minded and values-based partners to help scale this work and support our growing network. To find out how to become a support, send me an email and get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.


* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Salzburg Global Revisited: Building Healthy, Equitable Communities
A close up of people placing their hands on a branch.
Salzburg Global Revisited: Building Healthy, Equitable Communities
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Fellows from 2018 program reconvene online for follow-up discussion

In a continuation of the 2018 program, Building Healthy, Equitable Communities: The Role of Inclusive Urban Development and Investment, Salzburg Global Fellows reunited to discuss their experiences and further share their expertise across multiple areas of interest, with a specific focus on how COVID-19 has both impacted and will further shape the development of healthier, more equitable communities.

Addressing key questions such as how built environments have affected the severity of the pandemic and the inequities in its impact, and what the priorities in its aftermath should be, participants shared various examples of the opportunities COVID-19 had forced open for advancement.

Key Takeaways

  • Community-based leadership will be critical in creating healthier and more equitable communities.   
  • Listening to community-embedded organizations and individuals will help speed up and advance government-level responses to important issues around development and investment.
  • A more holistic view of how health and equity are connected to the built environment and community design will be central to dealing with post-COVID 19 challenges.

Shifting Perceptions of Public Health and Development as a Direct Result of the Pandemic

A recurring thread of the discussion was that a shift in perception around public health and development in the wider policy-making field meant, in many cases, public health was now at many tables it had not been at before. This has led to a greater acknowledgment of its importance in creating more inclusive strategies and being deferred to as a leading voice in the pandemic recovery.

How people think about public health and what it can do is something else that has changed with the impact of the pandemic. One example highlighted was the recent dissolution of Public Health England, the functions of which would now be moved into a more central government department where links with other departments would be much stronger.

Other comments from participants delivered a common theme that the built environment had been elevated in conversations in a way it had not before, but the challenge moving forward was to now keep people engaged.

A shift in the confrontation of privilege and power from being a fringe concept to something that is now front and center of public discourse, along with equity and inclusivity being central themes, were also surfaced throughout the discussions.

Opportunities To Listen to People and Develop Community Leadership Infrastructure

Inspirational community leadership has touched many areas of modern society as it continues to deal with the ongoing challenges of the pandemic.

In one case study put forward, participants heard about an initiative of the Healthy Neighborhoods Research Consortium at the Conservation Law Foundation in Boston, MA, which focuses on inequitable development and how communities need to be central to remedying this.

At the onset of the pandemic, at-risk groups were quickly identified by the consortium, which included key workers, public transit employees, and other vulnerable parts of the community, and impact research was conducted. Recommendations were made to policymakers to help inform decisions around critical measures such as paycheck support, well ahead of federal government intervention.

This powerfully highlighted the importance of listening to people living within communities, the essential value in community-based leadership being able to act earlier, and a need to consider creating an infrastructure for community leadership to be able to implant public health not as good practice but as essential and critical for equity.

Holistic Views Are Needed Moving Forward

A more holistic view of how health and equity are connected to the built environment and community design will be central to dealing with the challenges that need to be navigated as we emerge from the pandemic. Health challenges will continue to evolve, and so will our connection to the environment in which we live. 

Some cities are already taking holistic and inclusive approaches to strategy and have been for some time. Utrecht in the Netherlands was highlighted as one such city, where COVID-19 provoked questions on how it could become even more people-oriented and further develop into a sustainable city.

One example of how the city is adapting to address inclusivity was a student initiative in which a bike pathway painted in rainbow colors was created to draw attention to the acceptance, equality and safety of all people from the LGBT* community.

* LGBT: Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender. We are using this term as it is currently widely used in human rights conversations on sexual orientation and gender identity in many parts of the world, and we would wish it to be read as inclusive of other cultural concepts, contemporary or historical, to express sexuality and gender, intersex and gender non-conforming identities.

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Salzburg Global Revisited: Halting the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
A colorful selection of fruits and vegetables on a table, as seen from above.
Salzburg Global Revisited: Halting the Childhood Obesity Epidemic
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Fellows from 2019 program reconvene online for follow-up discussion

Salzburg Global Fellows reconvened for a further session of the Halting the Childhood Obesity Epidemic: Identifying Decisive Interventions in Complex Systems program, held initially in December 2019, to share experiences and explore ways to move forward from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Key Takeaways

  • Voluntary and community-led efforts were crucial in delivering food security to children during the pandemic and will continue to be.
  • How food security is framed in public and policy discourse as a rights issue will have a huge impact on any progress in addressing inequality.
  • The acceleration and reinvention of how services are delivered, and a more holistic approach to child obesity and nutrition, will be central to strategies that will combat the issue.

Adaptation of Community-led Programs To Help Tackle Food Poverty

The responses of communities worldwide to the pandemic’s impact on food supply and access was a topic that came to the fore during the session.

In Canada, there is no centrally funded scheme for school meals, but two large charities and many smaller organizations work within schools to ensure children receive healthy meals. During the pandemic, two million children missed school meals due to lockdowns. School meal programs in many neighborhoods were rapidly adapted to provide food support for families losing work and income.

Despite being underfunded, school meal programs in the country proved to be one of the most resilient structures during COVID-19. Participants put forward similar community activations in other parts of the world during the discussion, with stories of community organizations stopping their normal activities to participate in food security and provision.

This huge voluntary and societal effort will be key in tackling food insecurity moving forwards as the intrinsic link between food security, increased risk factors for childhood obesity such as ethnicity, race, and socioeconomic status, and the impact on the food supply chain were all reflected on.

Opportunities will now arise to accelerate or reinvent how services are delivered. A more holistic and collaborative approach between agencies and sectors will be required to find true equity in a post-pandemic world.

Framing of Messaging and Legislation Around Food During COVID-19

How food provision is approached and legislated is also a key factor in tackling child obesity.

In Mexico, the ministry of health held daily televised press conferences at the onset of the pandemic, communicating key information and reinforcing the importance of food in the challenges posed by COVID-19. At the same time, frontal labels on food packaging with nutritional information were widely implemented.

This constant transmission of a clear message had a profound impact on the national subconscious, and bills have recently been approved in some states that prohibit the sale of unhealthy food and beverages to children. In the state of Oaxaca, junk food has also been banned in schools.

One of the outstanding points around the Mexico example was framing the bills as enacting children’s rights rather than as preventative measures. The role of schools not only being educators but providing nutritious food was another key theme to come through in discussions around ways forward in healthy post-pandemic practices.

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Salzburg Global Revisited: Healthy Children, Healthy Weight
Children playing in the woods
Salzburg Global Revisited: Healthy Children, Healthy Weight
By: Joseph Caron Dawe 

Fellows from 2018 program reconvene online for follow-up discussion

Salzburg Global Seminar’s Healthy Children, Healthy Weight program saw Fellows reunite virtually for a session to share and discuss their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic and how learnings from this can be best utilized to optimize children’s physical, social, emotional, and cognitive health and well-being.

Key Takeaways

  • The nurturing of relationships between caregivers and other support services in children’s well-being will be central to a more holistic and inter-disciplinary approach to child welfare post-pandemic.
  • Children need to be involved in conversations about their health and well-being.
  • Data on vulnerable groups not previously been tracked pre-pandemic can help professionals to understand the context better and lead to more effective collaborations between policymakers and community-level organizations.

A More Holistic Approach to Child Well-being

When participants left Salzburg following the 2018 program, the intent was to affect a shift in child well-being to being more holistic and inter-disciplinary.

A significant part of achieving this comes from looking at the circle of care and the influence of systemic racism, and how it impacts child welfare. At the same time, the nurturing of relationships between caregivers and other support services in children’s well-being will be crucial.

Building Equity of Child Wellness and Into Systemic Changes

Inequities have widened during the pandemic, meaning children with fewer benefits have suffered the most.

The link between the focus on vaccinations during COVID-19 and the impact of this on child well-being during COVID-19 was highlighted in discussions, with a general misguided belief that children are less vulnerable to the virus resulting in a decreased attention on younger children in some instances. This needs to be redressed with a building of equity of child wellness into any systemic changes being pushed post-pandemic.

Part of this systemic change needs to involve children being brought into conversations in an equal manner to adults. In addition, the value of community work on the ground and empowering families on the needs of their children will be hugely important in optimizing measures to improve children’s all-round well-being.

The discussion also focused on the importance of maintaining focus on social issues and not being too drawn into the biomedical, as more change around social determinants such as social health need to be implemented.

New Ways of Collaborating 

Participants heard how the use of new in-depth data by the Amsterdam Healthy Weight Program, which brought forward information on vulnerable groups of children previously not covered, had helped professionals understand they were not reaching everyone.

Better collaboration between policymakers and community-level organizations using such data can help improve work around child well-being. In addition, the pandemic had opened the door for pulling together expertise from across sectors as evidence-based work gained traction, noted other participants.

The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 was mentioned as one national measure during the pandemic that will have an impact on child poverty, albeit temporarily. At a more local level, participants were told how the London Recovery program in the UK has had a direct impact on the previous Healthy Children, Healthy Weight program, with young people a specific area of focus in the nine key missions outlined in the white paper.

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Deconstructing American History and Simulating the Media’s Role
Deconstructing American History and Simulating the Media’s Role
By: Maryam Ghaddar 

American Studies academics and practitioners examine the connection between media and democracy with relation to US history and society

The American people’s voice seems to have become synonymous with democracy. But is it really? Salzburg Global Seminar explored the relationship between mediated storytelling, public opinion, and majoritarian will in the opening of its 2021 American Studies Program.

Fellows from 26 different countries convened for the first of three virtual town hall meetings as part of the American Studies Program’s multi-part series on the future of democracy, titled The President, The Press and The People: American History. The quick-fire program was designed to offer participants an opportunity to engage, collaborate, discuss, exchange, expand viewpoints, and guide thinking on what shapes the American narrative and media coverage of the US presidency.

Kicking off the online gathering, Salzburg Global Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Benjamin Glahn said: “We live in a time of real poignant change, a moment of global reconstruction, rebuilding, and renewal as we tackle the fallout of the global pandemic, the persistence of racial inequities, the entrenchment of social and economic inequalities, the rise of political populism, and the potential for very serious long-term climate change-induced devastation of the planet. In that context, international cooperation and innovation are paramount.”

Ahead of the program, Fellows were asked where they consume news stories, whether the president, the press, or the people sets the public agenda and determines public narrative, which of those three has the most powerful public voice, which is most responsible for misinformation, and what news stories people have been tracking most closely since the inauguration of President Joe Biden. 

The trends presented by American Studies Program Director Terron Ferguson at the town hall meeting revealed the COVID-19 pandemic, the current political partisanship, race relations, the economy, and international relations as the most commonly followed themes. Each of these themes is awash with history, context, and nuance, particularly around whether or not the media accurately acknowledges the history and what role history plays in driving the public narrative, explained Ferguson. This led to a spontaneous poll on whether the US press presents American history accurately, to which an overwhelming 80% said No.

Providing an insightful counterpoint to this poll result was program contributor and guest, Vann Newkirk, senior editor of The Atlantic and host of the podcast series Floodlines. This podcast serves as a combined multidisciplinary approach to storytelling and an example of how the media can and should blend history with reporting. Through a thought-provoking Q&A session, Newkirk and Fellows explored how and why much of American media and journalism is seemingly inherently unconcerned with history, addressing the lack of concern for providing context or helping audiences understand when events are influenced by or diverge from history.

Simulation

The third and final segment of the program moved on from questioning and conceptualizing these issues and paradigms and attempted to simulate in real-time what some media professionals experience on the ground. Fellows were divided into breakout groups, each representing a specific stakeholder community. Breaking news announcements popped up stating that a copycat 9/11 terrorist attack had just occurred, with some spray-painted messages sighted nearby. Teams were asked to compile a 280-character tweet to recount on the incident.

This exercise was a challenge for many, who admitted discomfort and uncertainty in what their response should be, thereby mirroring how journalists must conduct swift investigations and issue news reports with limited information. While some groups presented their Tweets with facts, others discussed various considerations on leadership, such as how to prevent widespread panic, the implications for certain decisions, and suggested action steps. This illustrated the immense relevance of positionality in the public narrative.

One group, representing an unidentified US-based news organization, reported:

“America under attack? Another possible terrorist attack just occurred in the US. Facts are still coming, but we know that several have died and messages have been spray-painted nearby. We’re sending journalists as we speak and will be sharing more shortly.” 

Another example from a fictional group of independent activists in eight countries said: “Do not jump to conclusions. We call all groups to be patient. We recognize that there are two decades of pain. We condemn violence. We empathize with families, manifest solidarity with victims, and offer help by organizing the following community dialogue of facts.” 

The group tasked with representing the US administration urged calm and caution but struggled to form an appropriate tweet in the short time given, highlighting the stress faced by politicians in such a situation, especially when an immediate response is now expected – a stark contrast with 2001, pre-social media. 

Ferguson concluded the program by encouraging Fellows to continue these conversations using the resources shared, the questions posed, and the people convened ahead of the second town hall meeting on July 20, which will discuss how the media examines American culture. 

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Free Speech And False News: How Facebook’s Regulatory System Is Making Social Media Smoother
Facebook text logo with smart phone on top of "oo" letters. Smartphone has blue screen with picture of a lock.The Facebook Oversight Board has so far received more than 400,000 appeals to consider
Free Speech And False News: How Facebook’s Regulatory System Is Making Social Media Smoother
By: Aaisha Dadi Patel 

Independent entity Facebook Oversight Board is working to create more equitable communities online

With questions of free speech, freedom of expression, and censorship more central than ever, social media sites have increasingly been brought under scrutiny as boundaries have become blurred and sharing is easier than ever before. The recently established Facebook Oversight Board is one mechanism designed to address these conversations, which were brought to light in the seventh program of Salzburg Global Seminar’s Designs On The Future series: How Should Online Speech Be Governed?

The online webinar took place on May 27 with trustee at Facebook Oversight Board Kristina Arriaga and inaugural chair of the Facebook Oversight Board Trust Paul Haaga.

President and CEO of Salzburg Global Seminar Stephen L. Salyer, started the discussion by reminding viewers the Designs On The Future series aims to highlight “the bold and sometimes controversial visions for a more just and sustainable future.”

Salyer recounted his own experiences at a 1974 Salzburg Global program, The Social Impact of Mass Communications, which considered topics including trust and bias, which remain prevalent in 2021. The Salzburg Academy on Media and Global Change was launched just over 30 years later by Salyer to examine the rise of the Internet. With the sustained growth of social communities online, these conversations have continued and evolved.

Coming from a Cuban background, Arriaga grew up against a backdrop of censorship. It filled her with a sense of what freedom of expression looked like. She calls Facebook “the largest country in the world,” owing to its 2.9 billion users, who are free to use the platform as they like. As Haaga pointed out, it is a “bulletin board,” as opposed to being an independent publisher. “Facebook is a place where other people’s views are posted, rather than becoming an editorial device,” he said.

According to Haaga, the board has elements of being a “supreme court,” a regulatory organization, and a human rights tribunal. It has so far received more than 400,000 appeals to consider, with the main criteria for consideration that they demonstrate an issue that Facebook is wrestling with so that their outcomes may determine consistency, clarity, and transparency. “The board selects cases that can have an impact on community standards,” he said. For Arriaga – who described the rationale of decisions taken by board members as “beautifully articulated” – the initiative is an evolving work in progress, which is open to approaching new challenges as they emerge.

Tuning in from South Africa, Salzburg Global Fellow Tali Nates – founder and director of the Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre – posed a question about moderating posts flagged as “hate speech.” Meanwhile, Mariana Olaizola Rosenblat, a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago, and Salzburg Global Fellow, questioned whether Facebook should see itself as subject to international human rights law.

To close, Salyer asked Arriaga and Haaga to consider who the Facebook Oversight Board would like to engage with further in the future. Salzburg Global Fellow and media literacy expert Damaso Reyes also picked up on this point, asking if social media users should be more involved in creating rules. As to who these people should be, Haaga suggested, “Regular people who want to have a decent experience on social media.”

In addition, Reyes suggested the conversation could continue in a new program at Salzburg Global Seminar, an idea Salyer was happy to entertain. He said, “We are a place trying to have these conversations that matter.”

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Emerging Urban Leaders Meet Their Mentors
Employees giving hands and helping colleagues to walk upstairsPhoto by SurfsUp from Shutterstock
Emerging Urban Leaders Meet Their Mentors
By: Isabelle Weber 

Fellows to receive mentorship as part of one-year program with World Urban Parks

Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks are pleased to reveal 22 mentors who will join our Emerging Urban Leaders program.

A valuable aspect of the program is a mentorship between each Fellow and an established urban leader who can offer guidance and advice throughout the year.

The mentorship program will suit the individual needs of each Fellow by finding specialized mentors who have the knowledge and experience to provide valuable insight on each Fellow’s respective project.

These mentors come from a wide range of sectors, including urban design, conservation, civil society, government, and health. Their professional expertise in their unique fields makes these leaders ideal mentors for the cohort.

As a mentor, these leaders are a professional recourse for their Fellow. They can offer support as the Fellows work through the program themes of leadership, equity, strategy, partnerships, and advocacy.

Through open conversations with these leaders and each other, Fellows will expand and realize their leadership potential and increase their impact. In this way, the Emerging Urban Leaders program will address the lack of representation for many groups at the decision-making level within urban space.

The first meetings between mentors and Fellows took place last month. The Fellows will continue to meet monthly with their mentors throughout the next year to discuss their project.

These meetings have already gotten off to a great start. Fellow Shamsa Birik valued the following quote from her first meeting with her mentor Liteboho Makhele:  “Despite the many challenges you will encounter, it is more important to think of the possibilities of the change you intend to bring. The possibilities are there, and they are exciting.”

Mentors in the first Emerging Urban Leaders cohort include:

  • Ali Estefam, Senior Community Outreach Specialist, Melissa Johnson Associates, Inc., USA
  • Andrei Pamintuan, Festival Director and Co-Founder, The Manila Fringe Festival; Creative Director, Pineapple Lab, Philippines
  • Chris Reed, Founding Director, Stoss Landscape Urbanism; Professor in Practice of Landscape Architecture and Co-Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture in Urban Design Program, Harvard University Graduate School of Design; USA
  • Dan Raven-Ellison, Guerrilla Geographer & National Geographic Explorer, UK
  • Eili Lepik, Deputy Strategy Director, Government Office of Estonia, Estonia
  • Fiona Wolff, Consultant for Project Work, German Association of Building Greening (Bundesverband GebäudeGrün e.V. - BuGG), Germany
  • Itai Palti, Director, The Centre for Conscious Design; Director, Hume, UK
  • Jayne Miller, CEO and Founder, Jayne Miller Consulting; Board Chair of World Urban Parks, USA
  • Jonelle Simunich, Senior Foresight Strategist/Manager/Integrator, Arup, UK
  • Liteboho Makhele, Program Manager of Sustainable Cities, South African Cities Network, South Africa
  • Mark Camley, Executive Director of Park and Venues, London Legacy Development Corporation; Chair, World Urban Parks Advocacy Portfolio, UK
  • Michelle Palmer, Director of Community Engagement Unit, Department of Conservation, New Zealand
  • Mindy Watts, Principal, Interface Studio, USA
  • Mitchell Silver, New York City Parks Commissioner, New York City Department of Parks & Recreation, USA
  • Pascale van der Leest, #NatureForAll Project Manager, Parks Canada, Canada
  • Patricia Alberth, Head, World Heritage Office, Germany
  • Russell Galt, Head of Urban Alliance, IUCN, UK
  • Sadaf Taimur, Research Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; Doctoral Scholar, The University of Tokyo, Japan
  • Scott Martin, Executive Director, River Heritage Conservancy; Executive Board Member, World Urban Parks, USA
  • Singh Intrachooto, Associate Professor of Building Innovation, Kasetsart University; Founding Director, Creative Center for Eco-design, Thailand
  • Tinni Sawhney, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation, India
  • Togo Uchida, Executive Director – Japan Office, ICLEI, Japan

Find out more about the Emerging Urban Leaders program. Keep up to date with further developments at Salzburg Global by registering for our newsletter.

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Reflecting on the Past Year and How We Move Forward Together
Salzburg Global Fellows taking part in the 2020 program of the Cultural Innovators Forum posing for a less traditional group photoSalzburg Global Fellows taking part in the 2020 program of the Cultural Innovators Forum posing for a less traditional group photo
Reflecting on the Past Year and How We Move Forward Together
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

We reveal our plans for 2021 and how supporters can help us fulfill our mission

Salzburg Global Seminar has made significant improvements to its work while overcoming the challenges of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This pandemic prevented in-person programs and events for the first time in our 74-year history, but we made radical changes to ensure we fulfill our mission.

Our online programs throughout 2020 expanded our capacity to collaborate with Fellows worldwide while still sharing some of Schloss Leopoldskron’s magic. The Schloss itself has undergone renovations to better meet the needs of our guests once in-person meetings return. In the face of disruption, we have made progress. It’s your support that has made this possible, and we want to go further.

Addressing the Challenges of Today and Tomorrow

Over the next few months, we will run 20 programs across six significant work areas, adopting a hybrid approach that includes more than 150 online meetings and workshops. Salzburg Global is focusing on the challenges of today and tomorrow. Here is what you can expect in 2021:

  • The Education Policymakers Network, held in partnership with The Lego Foundation, Diplomatic Courier, Microsoft, Qatar Foundation International, and ETS, will engage reform-minded education policymakers from over 20 target countries. This new program supports global education reform around developing social, emotional, and creative skills alongside cognitive and physical skills in young and school-aged learners.
  • The Humanizing Power of the Arts, a multi-part program of our Culture, Arts, and Society series is exploring the potential for rebuilding societies via the intersections between the arts and culture sector and four interrelated issues: climate, health, education, and justice.
  • Our Global Innovations on Youth Violence, Safety, and Justice Initiative will continue to help Fellows identify and spearhead the most promising global examples of violence reduction and criminal justice transformation, addressing themes ranging from data science to public health.
  • Emerging Urban Leaders, our new network of changemakers managed in partnership with World Urban Parks, will continue to meet online and implement innovative, practical interventions to tackle the problems facing urban environments and help build the quality cities of the future.
  • Members of Sciana: The Health Leaders Network will meet regularly throughout the year to discuss leadership and systems change in response to the pandemic and other global health challenges.   
  • Financial Services and New Geopolitics of the Post-Pandemic Era: What is the Bold Vision?, a two-day program the Salzburg Global Finance Forum, will tackle the geopolitical and market issues facing the financial services industry.
  • Our Cultural Innovators Forum will convene over 10 days in October and add new Fellows to a network of creative changemakers worldwide. Expect online discussions and innovative workshops focusing on personal and professional capacity-building in the creative sector.
  • The President, the Press and the People, part of our American Studies Program, will continue its series on the future of democracy to explore the roles and relationships between the executive branch in the US, the international media, and citizens of global democracy in a series of virtual town hall events throughout the year. These events will build toward an in-person event in July 2022 at Schloss Leopoldskron to commemorate the 75th anniversary of both Salzburg Global Seminar and the launching of the American Studies program.

Read our 2021 full calendar here.

Protect Salzburg Global Seminar’s Future

We are optimistic about the opportunities ahead, but the pandemic’s financial impact has deeply affected us. The ongoing burden of local lockdowns, international travel restrictions, and the financial challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic will likely continue for some time. Your support is a critical component of our ability to turn the corner on this season of disruption.

Please show your support for Salzburg Global Seminar and the ideas, collaborations, and people leading the international community out of this global crisis by making a gift of any size.

Our programs have served as a launchpad for global progress for nearly 75 years, and your donation ensures we can continue our mission to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world for years to come.

Thank you!

Donate Now

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Avoiding Debt Tsunamis and Building Fintech Futures: New Economic Systems in a Post-Pandemic World
Speakers emphasized that sustainable growth remains critical to thinking of the way forward for economic systems (Image credit: Tech in Asia)
Avoiding Debt Tsunamis and Building Fintech Futures: New Economic Systems in a Post-Pandemic World
By: Aaisha Dadi Patel 

Salzburg Global Finance Forum discussions highlight lessons to take into consideration on post-pandemic economic systems 

Fragmented systems, cryptocurrencies, and the importance of sustainable growth formed central points of conversation in the first two of a three-part series of online discussions hosted by the Salzburg Global Finance Forum in 2021.

As the Salzburg Global Finance Forum in 2021 marks a decade since its establishment, it has convened the series Post-Pandemic Leadership for Financial Services — in partnership with BBVA, Google Cloud, and JPMorgan Chase & Co., and sponsored by the European Banking Federation and Sherman & Sterling — to provide context to the annual two-day program set to be held in June, which will examine the geopolitical and market issues that confront the financial services industry. 

“This gathering offers us the chance to examine best thinking on systematic risk and strategic responses,” said President and CEO of Salzburg Global Seminar, Stephen L. Salyer, as the series kicked off on April 7 with Post-Pandemic Leadership for Financial Services: How Can We Prevent the Debt-Buildup from Causing the Next Crisis?

Featuring speakers including acting head of the OECD’s Financial Markets Division, Rob Patalano, distinguished fellow at the Asia Global Institute; Andrew Sheng, professor at FGV Escola Brasileira de Economia e Finanças; Sergio Werlang, a non-resident fellow at Brugel; Thomas Wieser, and chief US economist and managing director at Morgan Stanley; Ellen Zentner; the discussion was moderated by Dominik Treeck, partner, Public Sector & Policy Practice at Oliver Wyman.

With the economic impact of the pandemic being felt far and wide, the discussion provided insight into what lessons can be drawn, and the optimistic suggestion that this is not the financial crisis that was feared, with the world economy at present in a far better position than it was a decade ago. 

That said, speakers agreed that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, with some economies — especially those in emerging markets — facing combinations of challenges. Structural issues underpin a large extent of issues that the pandemic only compounded, building on historical debt that was high to begin with, and in many economies, central banks are sitting at the end of their accommodative ropes. 

While recovery is happening at a faster pace than expected in some economies, speakers emphasized that sustainable growth remains critical to the way forward. 

Moderated by Greg Medcraft, director of the OECD Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs and member of Salzburg Global Seminar Board of Directors, the conversation on April 27 centered on Post-Pandemic Leadership for Financial Services: What New Policies Are Needed to Govern the Intersection of Finance and Tech? “Perhaps more than any preceding economic crisis, this one has spawned an accelerated use of technology across the economy generally and in the financial industry specifically,” Salyer said in his opening remarks. 

Panelists included Ed Bowles, global director for public policy at F2 (Facebook Financial), Facebook; Chris Brummer, professor of law and faculty director at Georgetown University's Institute of International Economic Law; Loretta Joseph, fintech advisor at the Financial Services Commission of Mauritius; and Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). 

The dynamic discussion emphasized the rate at which technology is fast changing the way financial systems work across the world, with an explosion of digital services. This rapid expansion transverses the globe, with creative approaches to already-existing technologies taking center stage in the establishment of new systems. 

Panelists spoke about the importance of stimulating competition in the industry as well as interrogating regulatory systems, and discussed how in different regions of the world, drives for new solutions are underpinned by a common goal: that they fulfill a need for public good. 

Overarchingly, panelists agreed that a collaborative approach needs to be taken to build the next world as we know it. On June 1, the final conversation in the series will consider What Next for Multilateralism?

Registration for the June 1 event is currently open here.

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Salzburg Global and Global Alliance Share Reflections and Learning Pathway from Salzburg Process
Banner advertising the Salzburg Process on the Climate Emergency and the Future of Food
Salzburg Global and Global Alliance Share Reflections and Learning Pathway from Salzburg Process
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Post-event report published one year after virtual convening bringing together more than 300 change-makers

Salzburg Global Seminar and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food have launched a new report on the cross-cutting imperatives for food systems transformation.

The report stems from a series of online events held by both organizations in 2020 that made up the Salzburg Process on the Climate Emergency and the Future of Food.

The Salzburg Process’s overarching objective was to connect communities at the nexus of food systems and climate change.

More than 300 change-makers took part in curated conversations and engaged with thought-provoking presentations. The Salzburg Process also created opportunities for knowledge exchange and informal interactions.

The report includes a joint letter from Ruth Richardson, executive director of the Global Alliance, and Clare Shine, former vice president and chief program officer of Salzburg.

In this letter, both say, “The Salzburg Process aimed to co-create a safe space for openness. A space where ideas, issues, tensions, convergences, and divergences related to food systems and climate change could be explored and discussed on equal terms. We recognized this was an ambitious task but hoped the process and confluence of diverse perspectives would help surface potential opportunities for collective action.

“Transformational change challenges the status quo and deep-rooted behaviors, practices, and societal norms. It is dynamic, it takes time, and it takes trust. It is neither straightforward nor linear, and so neither can be our plans and processes. As you will read in the following pages, we listened intently and humbly during and after the Salzburg Process, shifting our final objectives to better reflect the realities of bridging divides online during a pandemic.

“This Reflection and Learning Pathway is a synthesis of the Process, the discussions, the feedback, and our takeaways as the convenors. It shines a light on stones unturned, and we hope, in doing so, creates opportunities for further exploration and dialogue. We invite readers to use and amplify the content in line with their own missions, resources, and capacity.

“While the Salzburg Process and the Future of Food did not result in the Shared Action Framework we intended, it generated real benefits: deep conversations, the Global Alliance’s Seven Calls to Action, and an expanded community of individuals and organizations committed to the intersectional climate and food agendas. Speaking personally, the Salzburg Process has deeply informed the way our respective organizations approach these issues. We are deeply appreciative to everyone who took part and created these opportunities for growth and learning.”

To support the Salzburg Process, the Global Alliance and Salzburg Global commissioned five discussion papers on these “hot topics” central to the food-climate nexus: nature-based solutions, livestock production, sustainable and healthy diets, food loss and waste, and just transitions.

Read the Reflections and Learning Pathway

Read the Five Hot Topics

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The Humanizing Power of the Arts: Building Back Greener
Participants taking part in The Humanizing Power of the Arts: Building Back GreenerParticipants taking part in The Humanizing Power of the Arts: Building Back Greener
The Humanizing Power of the Arts: Building Back Greener
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Ahead of Earth Day, Salzburg Global Fellows focus on how the arts can help in mitigating climate change and designing a greener planet

Several returning Salzburg Global Fellows helped launch Salzburg Global Seminar’s 2021 series on Humanizing Power of the Arts earlier this month.

This series will explore the intersections between the arts, culture sector, and four interrelated strands of work: climate, health, education, and justice. On April 20, 2021, a small focus group convened online to discuss how arts could help mitigate climate change and design a greener planet.

The points raised in this discussion and three other online meetings will feed into a more extensive three-day hybrid program in November. This program will convene an interdisciplinary and intergenerational group of approximately 60 creative practitioners, researchers, and policymakers worldwide.

In this month’s meeting, following a round of introductions, the participants split into three breakout rooms. They addressed the following questions:

  1. What is the most important gap that Salzburg Global can fill with a view to culture/arts/climate intersections?  
  2. How can we get cultural voices heard at all policy levels in the short and long term?
  3. Is there interest or value in forming a global creative alliance where Salzburg Global can be a helpful catalyst? 

Several participants discussed Salzburg Global’s strength as a convener and bringing people together who do not usually speak with one another. There are positive ideas and developments worldwide, and Salzburg Global could help ensure that good practice is more widely known, accessible, and impactful.

While sharing this good practice, Salzburg Global could also operate an online clinic and help solve some of the problems cultural practitioners regularly encounter. One participant said it could be challenging for smaller organizations to maintain awareness of what is going on. A matchmaking service could be a valuable addition to Salzburg Global’s offerings.

Participants indicated a regular pattern of smaller events might achieve a greater impact than one online gathering.  A regular rhythm of events might create more opportunities for serendipity, and stronger connections may form between participants. There is value in creating a welcome space where people can voice their concerns and build trust.

Reaching out to policymakers was seen as crucial. Their influence varies, and no policymaker is the same. By the nature of their positions, however, they do have the power to influence and persuade. They also have problems they need to solve.

Salzburg Global could create more opportunities for policymakers to connect with cultural practitioners, which may help them better understand how culture can contribute to sustainability.

The response to the COVID-19 pandemic has shown it is possible to bring about behavior change on a large scale. Artists and cultural practitioners could help policymakers explain environmental challenges in a simple way and unite people. They can help create empathy through their work and make subjects personal. One participant said people needed to see and feel things to act.

In November, the UK will host the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 26. Participants discussed activities that could take place before, during, and after the conference.  Several stressed the need to maintain momentum and better coordinate together among the existing plans other organizations have put forward.

One participant described COP 26 as a punctuation mark. A framework for action might be proposed, but nothing will happen at the conference itself. The real work begins afterward. Different stakeholders have to keep talking to one another and Salzburg Global could play an important role in keeping the momentum going.

April’s online meeting concluded with participants encouraged to keep sharing their ideas and continue an organic process of exchange. The next three online focus groups in this series will focus on health, education, and justice

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Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Think Hyperlocal
A computer screen showing a snapshot of the first webinar on a desk next to a vase of flowers and a phone. Picture supplied by Patricia Alberth.Panelist and Salzburg Global Fellow Anupam Yog presents in the first of two webinars organized by Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks (Picture supplied by Patricia Alberth)
Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Think Hyperlocal
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Salzburg Global Seminar collaborates with World Urban Parks to celebrate World Parks Week for second consecutive year

Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks have teamed up once again to celebrate World Parks Week.

Staff and Salzburg Global Fellows have taken part in webinars this week that support the idea that urban parks, and green spaces are fundamental to addressing urban quality of life challenges.

For this year’s celebration – April 24 to May 2 – people are encouraged to think “hyperlocal” and reflect on what their local neighborhoods have to offer.

In many cases, restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic have meant people have had to reacquaint themselves with their local area over the past year. However, there is also growing support for people to have access to a nearby park and their basic needs within a 10-minute journey.

Back in June 2017, Salzburg Global Fellows called on leaders to ensure all children enjoy the right to safe free play in a nature-rich space within a 10-minute walk from home. This call to action features in the Salzburg Statement on the Child in the City: Health, Parks and Play.

This year, World Park Week encourages activities like reading books about nature and the outdoors, visiting nearby parks, and thinking of ways hyperlocal spaces can help address individual and community health.

On Thursday, April 29, Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks hosted two webinars titled “Urban Parks, Urban Futures: Why Parks and Urban Green Spaces are Fundamental to Quality of Life in Cities Around the World.” The webinars took place at different times to try and make them as accessible as possible for people in different parts of the world.

Both webinars saw panelists draw on the latest research and examples from policy and practice. They also presented multiple resources and advocacy tools to help argue for urban parks in terms of benefits for health and wellness, childhood development, economic opportunity, stronger communities and climate resilience.

For the first session, moderated by Salzburg Global’s Jennifer Dunn, panelists included Bettina Borisch, a professor at the University of Geneva; Anupam Yog, a trainer, and researcher at Light On Life, Singapore; and Kevin Roth, vice president, research, evaluation and technology, National Recreation and Parks Association, USA.

For the second session, moderated by World Urban Parks’ Chair Jayne Miller, panelists included Irene Gauto, technical assistant of “Asuncion Green City,” United Nations Development Programme, Paraguay; Breece Robertson, director of partnerships and strategy, Center for Geospatial Solutions, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; and (making his second appearance of the day) Kevin Roth , vice president, research, evaluation and technology, National Recreation and Parks Association, USA.

Borisch, Gauto, Miller, and Yog are all Salzburg Global Fellows. Gauto and Yog are members of the inaugural cohort of Emerging Urban Leaders, a new Salzburg Global program organised in partnership with World Urban Parks.

Reflecting on Salzburg Global’s participation in World Parks Week, Interim Program Lead Dominic Regester said, “The experiences of many cities during 2020 have really highlighted the importance of urban parks. We really value our partnership with World Urban Parks and it was great to be able to work with them, NRPA and all of the other contributors on these advocacy webinars.  I am really happy that we could offer something to World Parks Week in this way.”

To find out more about this year’s World Parks Week, please visit the official website, which contains details of other webinars and activities taking place.

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Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Launch Emerging Urban Leaders Program
Mosaic featuring the faces of the first cohort of Emerging Urban LeadersThe first cohort of Emerging Urban Leaders
Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks Launch Emerging Urban Leaders Program
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

New initiative to help Fellows tackle challenges facing urban environments

Salzburg Global Seminar and World Urban Parks are excited to launch the Emerging Urban Leadersprogram.

This joint initiative brings together a diverse, cross-sectoral, and international cohort of practitioners and change-makers to help implement innovative, practical interventions to tackle the problems facing our urban environments.

With a focus on increasing well-being, access to green space, and equity in the city, the Emerging Urban Leaders program will tackle inequality and improve the quality of life for all urban space users.

Fellows will discuss with and be mentored by a wide range of established leaders from urban design, conservation, civil society, government, and health sectors.

Through open conversations with these leaders and each other, Fellows will expand and realize their leadership potential and increase their impact. In this way, the Emerging Urban Leaders program will address the issue of lack of representation for many groups at decision-making level within urban space.

The first cohort will begin on March 17, 2021, and will meet online every month for a year. This will be augmented with regular sessions with an assigned mentor and opportunities for exchange with the wider Salzburg Global and World Urban Parks’ communities.

Dominic Regester, the program director responsible for Emerging Urban Leaders, said, "Salzburg Global Seminar, along with World Urban Parks, are really excited to work with the 23 members of the first cohort of the Emerging Urban Leaders program.

"There was a lot of competition for places, and everyone involved in the selection process was really impressed by the quality of the ideas put forward and how they connect to the Sustainable Development Goals. We hope that participation in the program will help the first cohort with the realization of these ideas because they each have the potential to improve their cities."

Fellows in the first Emerging Urban Leaders cohort include:

  • Shamsa Birik, Program Officer, Embassy of Norway, Kenya
  • Elizaveta Fakirova, German Chancellor Fellow 2020/21, Humboldt Foundation, Germany
  • Alvera Feeny, Senior Program Specialist, Children & Nature, National League of Cities, United States
  • Renee Jagdeo, Student, University of Toronto, Canada
  • Benjamin Jonah, Secretariat Coordinator/Program Coordinator, World Urban Parks/Alberta Recreation and Parks Association, Canada
  • Sang-O Kim, Ph.D. Candidate, Cornell University, USA
  • Letica Lozano, Co-Founder & Director, MACIA Estudio, Mexico
  • Luis Roman, President & CEO/Funder & CEO, ANPR Mexico/Parks of Mexico, Mexico
  • Brittany Trilford, Research Consultant, Prague Institute of Planning and Development, New Zealand / Austria
  • Jordan van der Hagen, Founder & Vision Director, Duluth Waterfront Collective, United States
  • Nourhan Yehia, Graduate, October University of Modern Sciences and Arts, Egypt
  • Anupam Yog, Trainer & Researcher, Light On Life, Singapore
  • Zane Šime, Policy Analyst, Latvia
  • Mac Andre Arboleda, President, UP Internet Freedom Network, Philippines
  • Christopher Bass, Assistant Director, City of Douglasville Parks and Recreation, USA
  • Maria Gauto Gauto, Technical Assistant of “Asuncion Green City”, United Nations Development Programme, Paraguay
  • Namhee Joo, Senior Researcher, International Heritage Education Center, South Korea
  • Nella Lomotan, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Philippine Parks & Biodiversity, Philippines
  • Samuel Mayze, Director of Strategic Projects, UAP Company, Australia
  • Bishop Ngobeli, President, Institute of Environment and Recreation Management, South Africa
  • Jinsu Park, Master’s Candidate, London School of Economics, South Korea/England
  • Anjelica Sifuentes, Landscape Designer, Design Workshop, United States
  • Stephanie Stanov, Program Coordinator, Park People, Canada

Find out more about the Emerging Urban Leaders Program. Keep up to date with further developments at Salzburg Global by registering for our newsletter.

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To Our 2020 Donors - Thank You
Paper in typewriter which includes the words Danke, Thank you, Merci, Grazie, Gracias, Dank je wel.Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash
To Our 2020 Donors - Thank You
By: Benjamin Glahn 

A message from Benjamin Glahn, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Salzburg Global Seminar

Dear Friends,

Thank you on behalf of all of us at Salzburg Global Seminar for your support during one of the most challenging years in memory. The generosity shown by all of you was pivotal in sustaining our mission to challenge current and future leaders to shape a better world.

Over the past 30 years our borders, economies, and societies have progressively become more open. 2020 changed all of that, with travel restrictions and social distancing replacing open borders and in-person communities. Salzburg Global responded with a deep commitment to online innovation and network building, which has seen us engage thousands of new Fellows around the world in the last 12 months. We continued our decades-long commitment to international leadership, collaboration, and systems transformation, focusing our work on the inter-connected challenges of our time: economic equality and inclusive societies, racial equity and justice, and the long-term imperative to address climate and sustainability issues across our programs.

In 2020, Salzburg Global and our Fellows continued to lead bold initiatives, transform systems, and advance change with your support. For example, a six-month partnership between our Education for Tomorrow’s World program and the World Innovation Summit for Education addressed the staggering impacts of COVID-19 on global education and the need for more inclusive and equitable education systems, culminating in launching an e-book at the United Nations General Assembly meeting in September.

Meanwhile, our Climate Emergency and the Future of Food series, in partnership with the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, conducted a series of online programs addressing the urgent problems facing our world’s food supply, developing a series of priority actions for systems transformation. In addition, we established a new network of Asia Peace Innovators in partnership with The Nippon Foundation to shape long-term approaches to peace, stability, and regional cooperation across sectors, employing bi-monthly online discussions to catalyze collaborations among Fellows working on community peace-building initiatives across Asia.

In keeping with our standing as a beacon of values-based leadership, Salzburg Global also continued to facilitate open discussions with global change-makers about the key issues and challenges facing our world. Salzburg Global Fellows, Stacey Abrams, a US politician and voting rights activist, and La June Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, returned to headline events focusing on civic activism and racial equity as part of our new Designs on the Future initiative – created to address urgent social issues relevant for communities across the globe.

Last year was full of uncertainty, challenges, and reinvention for all of us. But just like any other year, we owe our accomplishments – and all the promise that our future holds – to donors like you. Thank you!

Stay healthy and safe, and we look forward to our work together in 2021.

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Salzburg Cutler Fellows Call for Renewed Public Trust
Photos of Theresa May and Jeh JohnsonFormer UK Prime Minister Theresa May and former US Secretary for Homeland Security Jeh Johnson took part in an off-the-record conversation
Salzburg Cutler Fellows Call for Renewed Public Trust
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

Inaugural online Cutler Fellows alumni event was addressed by former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and former US Secretary for Homeland Security Jeh Johnson

Salzburg Cutler Fellows and their European peers called for renewed public trust in government and a rebuilding of the Transatlantic partnership at the inaugural Cutler Fellows online alumni eventProtecting Public Safety While Respecting Civil Liberties.

The January 13 program opened with a discussion between former US Secretary for Homeland Security Jeh Johnson and former UK Prime Minister Theresa May, who had served as Johnson’s counterpart during her tenure as UK Home Secretary 2010-16. The candid, off-the-record conversation was moderated by Salzburg Global Board Member and former Legal Adviser to the US Department of State and National Security Council, John Bellinger III.

The wide-ranging discussion touched on a variety of issues, from the importance of maintaining civil liberties in the face of ongoing coronavirus pandemic to the rights of terrorist suspects and the security failings that led to the insurrection at the US Capitol the week before.

Of particular interest to the Cutler Fellows in their questions of Johnson and May and in their breakout discussions was the importance of public trust in governments in order to maintain public order and secure public safety.

Deterioration in the public’s trust in government was recognized as being a key threat to a successful coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic, fueled by an abundance of conflicting information available online and a growing politicization of measures such as mask-wearing and business closures.

The reasons for this distrust vary between countries; its specific roots need to be understood before appropriate action can be taken. Root causes identified in the Fellows’ discussions included: lack of representative government, increased polarization between political parties that fuel distrust for their own gains, and the proliferation of misinformation on poorly regulated social media platforms.

Ensuring a well-informed populace fully understands and trusts the regulations, measures and vaccines being issued by the government was identified as a key priority for governments at all levels in both countries. Simply removing “bad actors” from social media platforms might give temporary reprieve in the viral spread of misinformation, but this can lead to longer-term difficulties beyond the pandemic. As one Fellow remarked: “They haven’t gone away; they are just harder to police if we can’t see what they are saying.” A more nuanced approach was thus recommended. Extensive cooperation between government, educators, traditional media outlets and social media platforms will be required in order to rebuild public trust, some of the Cutler Fellows advised.

The young lawyers gathered in the program also called for a renewal of the Transatlantic partnership with the incoming of a new presidential administration under the less internationally confrontational and more congenial Joe Biden. The lack of international cooperation not only in the face of the ongoing pandemic but also in recent years on climate change was lamented by the audience and speakers alike.

While their European counterparts expressed reassurance that long-held alliances could be reaffirmed, there was reticence between both the American and European participants about the likelihood of adversaries such as Iran being willing to come back to the negotiating table, even under a new, non-Trump administration.

The event closed with remarks from Salzburg Global Vice President and Chief Program Officer Clare Shine who urged the young lawyers to take the opportunity through Salzburg Global’s new quarterly online program series to build a network of young American and European lawyers dedicated to shaping fair and equitable legal systems.

The Salzburg Cutler Fellow Program was launched by Salzburg Global Seminar in 2012 under the auspices of the Lloyd N. Cutler Center for the Rule of Law. The Program brings together 50-60 young lawyers from top American law schools for an intensive weekend program, usually held in Washington DC. In 2021, the usual weekend program will be held online over the month of March, with additional alumni events, such as this one, held throughout the year.

This new online series of alumni events will feature top-level speakers and expand the Cutler Fellows network outwards to include young European lawyers and aspiring leaders in the field of international law and public practice.

For more information, please contact: Alexis Stangarone, Special Assistant, Office of the President, astangarone@salzburgglobal.org

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Salzburg Global Launches Education Policymakers Network
Rainbow-colored chalk Photo by Toni Reed on UnsplashPhoto by Toni Reed on Unsplash
Salzburg Global Launches Education Policymakers Network
By: Salzburg Global Seminar 

New three-year initiative will seek to support and sustain education reform in 31 countries

We are living in a time of convergent crises: the global coronavirus pandemic, the climate crisis, the struggle for racial justice, the polarization of societies and a global learning crisis. Alongside these crises, the Fourth Industrial Revolution is changing the very nature of work and economies around the world. The workforce of tomorrow will require new skills and unprecedented nimbleness.

Taken together, these challenges place exceptional demands on educational policymakers across the world. Education reform at any point in time is challenging, complex, and requires sustained energy and political will. It is particularly challenging now because of the pandemic, however for all of the reasons above, education reform is absolutely essential, and policymakers should not delay it.

Enter Salzburg Global Seminar’s newest multi-year initiative: the Education Policymakers Network.

The Education Policymakers Network is a new three-year program designed to connect policymakers from 31 different countries to work, learn and innovate. Launching in the spring of 2021, the Network will help support and sustain education reform around the need to develop a breadth of skills – cognitive, creative, physical, social and emotional – in young and school-aged learners.

“Education reform that is focused on developing a breadth of skills within education systems is a necessary and legitimate means to tackle the interlinking crises facing the world today,” explains Salzburg Global Program Director Dominic Regester.

“Such education reform is a response to the learning and well-being needs during and beyond the pandemic; it is a forward-thinking and proactive approach for developing behaviors that can help us address the climate crisis and structural racial inequality; and ultimately, it is a component of fairer, more compassionate societies in the future.”

The Education Policymakers Network will comprise 31 policymakers working in the education sector at national and regional levels in 31 countries. The policymakers will start the three-year initiative with a series of online workshops and virtual network meetings before meeting in person at Schloss Leopoldskron, home of Salzburg Global Seminar, in 2022 for the first of three week-long programs. Network members will be encouraged to launch new collaborative projects, supported by study visit bursaries. There will also be public online conferences and a series of insight reports and an e-book of essays to further share the learnings and innovations of the Network.

The Education Policymakers Network is generously supported by a consortium of partners: the LEGO Foundation, Diplomatic Courier, ETS, Microsoft and Qatar Foundation International. The new initiative builds on Salzburg Global’s long track record in this area, most recently the series on Education for Tomorrow’s World and Education Disrupted, Education Reimagined.

To find out more about the Network and to apply to join, please click here: www.salzburgglobal.org/multi-year-series/edupolicy

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How Should Boards Be Addressing Black Lives Matter And Broader Issues Of Systemic Racial Inequality?
Person with sign that says "Black Lives Matter"The Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum was held online for the first time in October 2020
How Should Boards Be Addressing Black Lives Matter And Broader Issues Of Systemic Racial Inequality?
By: Various Authors 

Read the fourth and final summary from the 2020 annual meeting of the Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum - Putting Directors to the Test: How Does Leadership Measure Up in a Time of Crisis?

The 2020 annual meeting of the Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum took place virtually this year due to the pandemic. At "Putting Directors to the Test: How Does Leadership Measure Up in a Time of Crisis?" from 9-10 October 2020, 58 participants spread across 18 time zones, mainly directors and principals of corporations on four continents supplemented by additional stakeholder voices, explored crisis response and leadership, addressing what it takes for a business to survive an existential threat, and how companies should tackle both the distinct issues and converging risks around income inequality, COVID-19, climate change, and broader issues of systemic inequality.  

This online program – sponsored by BNY Mellon, CLP Group, the Diligent Institute, and Elliott Management Corporation, with university partner Simon Fraser University Beedie School of Business, Centre for Corporate Governance and Sustainability – consisted of four highly-interactive modules that facilitated participants engaging in candid, in-depth, and practical discussions in a conversational non-webinar format over two days. The first discussion asked, "How Should Boards Be Addressing Black Lives Matter And Broader Issues Of Systemic Racial Inequality?"

Salzburg Global Seminar would like to thank the Forum's Advisory Committee members for their programmatic advice, insight, and support in leading these conversations. Members include Melissa Obegi (Chair), Stephanie Bertels, Walt Burkley, John J. Cannon III, Bharat N. Doshi, Christopher F. Lee, Simon M. Lorne, and Robert H. Mundheim.

How Should Boards Be Addressing Black Lives Matter And Broader Issues Of Systemic Inequality?

The harrowing events of this year have galvanized a conversation on systemic inequality that has rippled through corporate boardrooms and executive meetings.  Whether prompted by their convictions and a desire to act as allies, pressure from customers and employees, new expectations for disclosure, or repeated studies demonstrating how diversity and inclusion lead to better decision-making, business leaders are exploring how to diversify their executive teams and boards.  But they will need to do more than attract female candidates or those who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. They must also address systemic inequality and foster more inclusive conversations and decision-making processes.

Reflective of this, on September 30, general counsels of 12 global financial institutions published an open letter calling for greater inclusivity in the legal profession and laying out three pillars to further diversity and inclusion initiatives.  After hearing more about how this statement came about and what it may mean for the firms that signed it, we asked: What can executives and board directors do to help ensure greater diversity and representation among directors and senior executives?  How can boards help to establish and reinforce a culture that makes room for and embraces diverse insights and ensures that they are incorporated into corporate decision-making? What can current directors and senior executives do to mentor and champion future directors and future executives from diverse backgrounds?

Key Questions for Boards on Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion:

What does it mean to be an ally?

  1. What investments are needed to help directors and corporate leaders learn the history of key terms and to adjust their everyday speech and language?
  2. How can directors create space, help to amplify key messages, and stand up in the moment?
  3. How can directors build and demonstrate their compassion?
  4. How can directors encourage companies to explore opportunities related to people, purchasing, partnerships, place, and pace?
  5. What new resources or recruiters can be deployed who are more skilled at recruiting diverse candidates?

What is the role of targets and quotas?

  1. Can government-imposed quotas prompt a wider search process, increasing the talent pool?
  2. Can quotas and targets be successful without addressing the underlying structural issues that lead to discrimination?
  3. Is it better for companies to set and monitor their own targets?

How important are public commitments?

  1. Is it important for boards to make a public commitment to combatting systemic inequities?
  2. Is it necessary to tie statements to metrics with financial incentives and penalties?
  3. Should they be reporting on their progress?

How do you build a strong talent pipeline?

  1. Should companies be providing scholarships and other supports to members of historically disadvantaged groups during their time in college and university?
  2. Should companies be making investments at the high school and community level?

Have an opinion? 

We encourage readers to share your comments by joining in the discussion on LinkedIn

The Salzburg Questions for Corporate Governance is an online discussion series introduced and led by Fellows of the Salzburg Global Corporate Governance Forum. The articles and comments represent opinions of the authors and commenters, and do not necessarily represent the views of their corporations or institutions, nor of Salzburg Global Seminar. Readers are welcome to address any questions about this series to Forum Director, Charles E. Ehrlich: cehrlich@salzburgglobal.org To receive a notification of when the next article is published, follow Salzburg Global Seminar on LinkedIn or sign up for email notifications here: www.salzburgglobal.org/go/corpgov/newsletter

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