2021, Doha

6th Youth Global Forum Qatar

Youth Time International Movement’s (YTIM) mission is to give a chance to youth of all nationalities, creeds and genders who wish to make a positive impact both in their society and globally. We achieve this through creating a space for youth from around the world to meet each other, encouraging them to participate in educational & cultural programs and enrich each other with their thoughts and experiences.

Since 2015 the Youth Global Forum has been an annual event that has served as a platform to promote youth interests, intergenerational and intercultural education and opportunity. Each year the Youth Global Forum travels to a new destination, with previous versions of the event being held in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Jakarta, Dubai and Paris with previous themes such as ‘Worldwide Impact Investment: The Role of Entrepreneurs’ and ‘Industry 5.0 vs Inclusive Development: Where is the Future?’.

The Youth Global Forum also hosts the annual Idea Grant Competition where ten selected projects are given the opportunity to present their ideas in front of those in attendance and a jury panel consisting of members with expertise in entrepreneurship, business, academics, and social Impact. These projects compete for prizes including funded scholarships for higher and continued education, and the grand prize of receiving the ‘Youth Time Idea Grant’ that provides the funding necessary to turn at least one project into reality.

This Year’s Theme

Each year the Youth Global Forum brings together over 100 talented young innovators and leaders from all around the world to discuss the most prevalent issues facing youth today. This time the Youth Global Forum brings to the table a topic related to education and the skills that will have to be developed to meet the challenges of the knowledge-based economy of the future.

We are rapidly moving towards a future where knowledge and specific skills will probably be the dominant factor in sustaining the global economy rather than natural resources. Worldwide digitalization, AI, and technology are, day by day, moving towards dominating the workplace. The young professionals of today should be constantly alert to acquiring the skills that will be essential to remaining competitive in a labour market that will develop and evolve in a framework of fast-changing economics while being mindful that equal access to this educational development is essential to reducing inequalities as opposed to increasing them whereby only the developed communities and societies will have access and be fully prepared for the future.
This year, Youth Time International Movement is focusing on future skills for a sustainable workplace. Over the course of the Youth Global Forum 2021 we will discuss the theme of “Education based on the Digital Revolution: Building Capacity for Youth Transformation”. We will explore the importance of education at different ages and career phases as well as the roster of the essential new skills that will relate to the transitional period.

Program Overview & Educational Methods
With the help of a diverse range of field experts and industry leaders including youth stakeholders, we will create a four-day event with a three-day educational program with non-formal methods based on multiple workshops, keynote speeches, and master classes. There will also be various activities that promote and enable the exchange of cultures and networking, highlighting the importance of sharing experiences, views and reducing inequalities and prejudice.
All sessions will be required to host an active Q&A session in order to share local and international engagement, an exchange of ideas and the establishment of a connection between nations and generations. Panel discussions will look to explore ideas, trending topics and prevalent issues in a less-structured, more open and interactive dialogue to promote relativity and organic ways of thinking resulting in a more positive engagement from all that attend.

Goals
The goal of the Youth Global Forum 2021 will be to provide a unique world-class non-formal educational and cultural program on a par with the highest international standards, designed to equip participants with the knowledge and capabilities to take on the world’s challenges. The Forum will help to develop the necessary skills to achieve success in the future, both on a professional and personal level while being able to pass on the learned insights to other youth and aim to fulfil their roles as young social leaders. At the same time, in the framework of the Forum, selected young entrepreneurs will compete in the final of the 2021 Idea Grant Competition to pitch their very own projects, related to the theme of ‘Sustainable Education’, explaining not just the project but also the issue the project looks to tackle, opening a discussion for others to add their views on the issue raised while aiming to secure prizes including funded scholarships for higher and continued education, and the grand prize of receiving the ‘Youth Time Idea Grant’ that provides up to €10,000 in supportive funding to turn at least one project into reality.

Why Qatar?
Doha, Qatar will provide a fitting backdrop to the Youth Global Forum 2021. Formal education in Qatar began to take shape in the late ‘40s and early ‘50s. The education system of Qatar has gone through various educational reforms in order to keep up with the country’s ever-changing economic landscape and have the image of today. Qatar has undergone a steep modernization curve in a short period, which makes the pattern of development in the education system unique and outstanding.
The education sector is still learning what the best way forward as a nation will be in order to fulfil Qatar’s vision of becoming an independent and knowledge-producing country. Although Qatar is not finished with its reforms, the country has come a long way from the relatively non-existent education system a few decades ago and the heavily illiterate population that characterised Qatar at that time. Today, Qatar is gradually establishing itself as a leading education centre in the Arabian Gulf and the greater Middle East, moving away from the stigma of being an ‘oil rich’ country towards a ‘knowledge rich’ country.
The Communications and Information Technology sector in Qatar is witnessing a great expansion that seeks to transform Qatar to an information society to achieve broad-based prosperity and well-being on both social and economic levels, which supports the national objectives of Qatar’s National Vision 2030.
Youth Global Forum 2021, together with young adults from around the world, will take advantage of Qatar’s experience and get inspired in order to explore the opportunities that the Skills of the Future will bestow upon the world.