Youth are the main consumers and participants in education. Despite intimate knowledge of the successes and failures of modern education, youth rarely become architects, shapers, or producers of a system that is built on their behalf. The World Bank Group (WBG) Youth Summit 2016 will seek to bridge that gap, giving youth an active voice in creating the vision for the future of education.

Structure of the Youth Summit

The two-day Summit will be held on the 14-15 November 2016 in Washington DC and livestreamed globally. The 2016 Youth Summit will have three components:

Plenary: The Summit will open with a plenary session to connect youth representatives and speakers from the World Bank Group, the private sector, government and academia with the objective of engaging views, ideas and debate to rethink the future of education.

Workshops: Attendees will participate in workshops that delve into the Summit’s four subthemes, giving participants an opportunity to share ideas and experience and debate the future of education.

The subthemes are:

• Innovation and Technology in Education
• Skills for the New Economy
• Gender Equality in Education
• Education in Crisis Zones.
   

Competition: On the second day of the Summit, the live final of the Youth Summit Competition ‘Rethinking Education: Innovative Ideas to Transform Education’ will take place. The competition finalists will have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to the audience of attendees and an expert jury. To find out more about how to participate in the competition, visit our competition tab.

A full Summit agenda including speakers will be released closer to the event date.

 

Register to Attend

The Summit invites youth who are passionate about utilizing their own experiences inside and outside the classroom to reimagine the future of education. Attendance at the Summit is open to youth aged 18-35 from around the world.

Attendance to the event is free of charge. Interested youth are encouraged to find sponsors to pay for their transportation tickets and accommodation for the two days of the event. 

Register to attend here

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"RETHINKING EDUCATION: INNOVATIVE IDEAS TO TRANSFORM EDUCATION"

-> Submit your idea through the Competition Submission Form

ABOUT THE COMPETITION

Rethinking education to ensure that young people – today and in the future – are well equipped to fully realize their potential and shape their own paths is one the most complex, pressing challenges of our time. Everybody has a role to play – but no one is better placed than young people themselves to identify the obstacles faced in education and find ways to overcome them.

The purpose of this competition is to challenge young people to solve the problems that matter to them most by crafting their own solutions, so that they can build the future they want. In doing so, the competition also aims to inspire, create a dialogue on innovative ways to address education problems, and encourage entrepreneurship.

WHY PARTICIPATE?

Do you have an idea that has the potential to improve how education is designed and/or delivered – and thereby positively impact your community, your country, and/or society at large? If the answer is yes, then the Youth Summit 2016 Competition gives you the opportunity to share your idea, connect with peers and high-level experts, and explore how to bring your idea to the next level. 

WHO SHOULD PARTICIPATE?

The competition is open to individuals or teams of 2-4 people aged 18 to 35, from all over the world. Prior entrepreneurial experience or business background is not required – all individuals with the drive to innovate are encouraged to participate, including professionals from business or policy, students and academics, NGO leaders, government officials and start-up founders.

HOW TO ENTER THE COMPETITION?

Participants should propose an innovative and action-oriented idea on how to provide young people with a quality, inclusive and relevant education, adapted to the realities of the 21st century. The proposed solution can be aimed at business or policy (e.g. product, service, program, policy, course, initiative etc.) and should relate to at least one of the subthemes of the Youth Summit 2016:

• Innovation and Technology in Education
• Skills for the New Economy
• Gender Equality in Education
• Education in Crisis Zones

 

DEADLINES & PROCESS

Stage 1 – Submit your Idea (Deadline: 1 October 2016)

Participants must submit their proposal by October 1 2016, 11.59 pm EST. Proposals will be evaluated by an Expert Committee. Shortlisted individuals/teams will be announced by mid-October and will proceed to the next stage.

Stage 2 – Refine your Idea & Prepare your Pitch (Mid-October to Mid-November)

Individuals/teams shortlisted in Stage 1 will receive feedback on their proposals and may be asked to submit further information, refine their proposals and/or submit short ?pitching? videos. Based on that, the Expert Committee will select the ?Finalist? individuals/teams who will proceed to Stage 3.

Stage 3 – Pitch your Idea at the Youth Summit 2016 (14-15 November 2016)

Finalists will join the Youth Summit 2016, taking place at the World Bank Group Headquarters, Washington DC. The entire morning of the second day of the Summit (November 15th) will be dedicated to showcase Finalists? ideas. Finalists will present their proposal in front of a Judging Panel and Summit attendees – presentations will be live-streamed. At the issue of the presentations, one winner will by designated by the Judging Panel, and another winner will be designated by the audience.

 

READY TO APPLY?

To share your idea and enter the Youth Summit 2016 Competition, you shall:

1. Make sure that you/your team meet the Eligibility Requirements:

• The Competition is open to individuals or teams of 2-4 people, from all over the world, aged 18 to 35 inclusive as of 11.59 pm EST on October 1, 2016. 
• Teams and individuals are limited to one submission each. 
• Active (at the time of the submission up until the closing of the Youth Summit 2016) staff of the World Bank Group, including Consultants and Interns, are not eligible to participate in the Competition.

2. Prepare a proposal that outlines your idea, according to the following Submission Rules:

• Proposals must be created by and owned by the Participants.
• Proposals must be submitted in English. 
• Proposals shall provide an innovative and action-oriented business-level or policy-level idea on how to provide young people with a quality, inclusive and relevant education, adapted to the realities of the 21st century. The idea must relate to at least one of the subthemes of the Youth Summit 2016 and must apply to a least one client country of the World Bank Group. 
• Proposals must (a) provide a short 2-5 sentences summary of the idea, (b) describe the specific educational problem/need that the proposed solution seeks to address, and (c) describe the solution proposed to address this specific problem/need (e.g. a product, service, program, policy, course, initiative etc.). 
• Proposals will be judged based on the following Judging Criteria: (1) Clarity, scope and relevance of the problem and of the proposed solution (2) Innovation and originality (3) Feasibility of implementation (4) Potential for impact. Please refer to the Competition Rules and Regulations for further information about the Judging Criteria.
• Proposals must be between 1,000-2,500 words in length, all-inclusive – i.e. including all bodies of text, titles, headings, tables, textboxes, footnotes, endnotes, references, appendices etc. – and must not exceed 4 pages in total. 
• The following information must be provided at the top of the first page of the Proposal: (a) the names of the Participant(s) submitting the Proposal – for teams, all team members? names shall be listed (b) the final word count (all-inclusive).

To write your proposal, you can refer to the Writing Tips, which provide a resource to help you structure and develop your proposal – referring to these tips is not mandatory proposals will be judged solely based on the Judging Criteria.

3. Make sure that you are aware of, accept, and agree to the Competition Rules and Regulations.

4. Submit your proposal by 11:59 pm EST, October 1, 2016 through the online Competition Submission Form. You will be asked to provide some information about you – including a short 200-word bio for each team member - and to upload your proposal in PDF format.  

 

Any questions? Contact us at youthsummit@worldbank.org