Boyan Yurukov is a prominent Bulgarian activist and blogger, laureate of
many awards. Some of you might know him from the first edition of th!nk.
Most recently, he was a delegate to the global leadership summit One Young
World, and today he blogs about it for us th!nkers.
The world is full of suffering, hunger, war, environmental and industrial disasters. We
see it around us, in our newspapers and all over the Internet. Furthermore, as a sense of
rising aggression resonates from our history books and the news, it seems logical that
inevitably all these horrors will repeat themselves throughout history, indefinitely.
In his talk at TED, Steven Pinker rightfully states that in fact, violence has decreased
tremendously over the centuries. With the help of the modern media we learn faster and
more about the current individual cases of suffering. Through our ever expanding your
circle of compassion, as Robert Thurman defines it, we feel the need to share our
welfare and experience. The ideals that form a stable society and that are constantly
proclaimed in our media and schools, are exactly those that push us to help others. The
above mentioned role of the news media however ends here.
On the 8 February 2010, 823 young leaders from 112 countries gathered on a boat in the
Thames river. Two days later the first few One Young World resolutions were voted in -
"The Environment and its Protection," "Interfaith Dialogue," "Global business and its
role in shaping society." "Media: its changing identity and its power," "Global Health,"
and "Developing leadership for a positive future." You can find the resolutions and more
on the related discussions at the OYW website, on YouTube and in Facebook.
The greatest result from the OYW summit however is the inspiration, contacts and ideas
that were generated there. Meeting with the movers and shapers of the future world was
really an electrifying experience that pushed each and every delegate to accomplish
more.
One example is the delegate from Haiti – Alcime James, who not only survived
the earthquake and managed to come to London, but delivered a wonderful insight in the
efforts to bring the country up on it's feet. Being a community organizer and youth
leader, he brings back experience and hope to his people. Currently he is working with
the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus on a project to support enterprises
across the devastated country. Another example is Parker Liautaud, who attempted to
become one of the youngest people to ski to the North Pole. With his journey – The Last
Degree, he wanted to teach and inspire others to act on the pressing environmental
issues that will shape our future. Last, but not least, Elliott Verreault and a team of
visionaries are soon launching the "It's One Humanity" project, that will convey a
message of urgency across many social networks and information channels regarding the
importance of COP16.
These are just a few of the many projects on which OYW ambassadors, as former delegates
are called, are working. A common thread in all of them is the use social networks,
blogs and other channels like Google Wave to collect insight, ask for feedback and
organize initiatives. This is what connects and inspires the young minds today and what
will convey change for the future. Many say that the social media is full of distractions
(like the silly games in Facebook), but it's not really the network itself that will give
strength to a young girl to become one of the top 40 women in Kenya or a boy to reach
out to the Palestinian side and to initiate grassroots peace talks – it's the knowledge that
there's someone out there watching, someone to reach out to and someone to talk to.
Seeing that such amazing things are possible in the minds and hands of young
enterprising people can influence many more to act on their ideas.
It's exactly the young we should invest time and resources in, as they are the ones that
dream of a better future and carry less weight of the past. A summit such as One Young
World is not a grassroots movement in itself, but rather aims at spawning many such
movements though empowering visionaries and telling them, for a change, that
everything is possible.
When was the last time someone whispered those words to you?
Thank you Ivaylo for inviting me to take part. The next OYW summit will be in November 2011. The location and application details are still pending. If you have any questions about the OYW ambassador network or the projects I mentioned above, please write a comment and I’ll answer you.