Presenting the participants – 24 young minds from 8 countries!

In hard competition, from among 195 applications, we have chosen 24 brilliant young minds from the eight countries Botswana, Malawi, Nigeria, Pakistan, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Uganda. This youthful “brain trust” will gather at STIAS-Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, South Africa, on August 25-29 with the assignment to develop tangible proposals on how to realize the strengths of an open, lively democracy that actualizes citizens’ political equality, participation, and equity in new ways.

While being occasionally inspired in a dynamic dialogue with Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, scholars, and professionals, most of the time, the youth will hold their own meetings, guided by four conference moderators, working on their assignment.

The 24 participants choose themes, discuss how to understand the ideal of democracy, and produce a dozen proposals for democratization, democracy renewal and peace keeping, delivered in a concluding presentation and report.

Besides providing explorative ideas to research, the proposals will be published in the IYTT Handbook for Innovative Democracy to inspire leaders in civil society, industry, and politics. The 24 participants will leave the conference trained in democracy entrepreneurship, with broadened knowledge, strengthened voices, enhanced network capacities, and new friends.

While most sessions are only for the 24 participants and invited speakers and commentators, four sessions are open to the public onsite in Stellenbosch and live streamed.

Read more about the conference here

Learn more about the conference participants here

Learn more about the moderators here

Urban Strandberg

Convenor, NOBEL SYMPOSIA NS203 & 6th IYTT Youth Conference

Director & Co-Founder, IYTT