Multilateral Intergenerational High-Level Dialogue: Youth Special Track

Summary

This high-level dialogue focused on “Digital Changemakers: Youth-Driven Innovation for Community Impact” as part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) youth engagement track. The intergenerational panel brought together young leaders and senior officials to discuss how youth are shaping digital transformation and their role in the next 20 years of WSIS processes.

Deputy Secretary General Thomas Lamanauskas opened by emphasizing the need for fresh perspectives unburdened by legacy constraints, defining youth as those with “more dreams than memories.” Young panelists shared inspiring examples of local digital initiatives, including climate action platforms in the Caribbean, AI governance frameworks in Asia-Pacific, and intergenerational projects connecting rural wisdom with urban youth in China. The discussion revealed that youth are not merely beneficiaries but active drivers of innovation, creating solutions for community challenges through technology.

A central theme emerged around moving from tokenistic youth participation to meaningful integration in decision-making processes. Panelists stressed that good intergenerational leadership requires mutual listening, combining youthful energy and curiosity with experienced wisdom. Several speakers highlighted the importance of “unlocking gates” – providing youth with access to networks, resources, and funding rather than just advisory roles. The conversation identified key barriers including limited access to capital, restricted networks, and the tendency to place youth in advocacy roles rather than co-creation positions.

Practical solutions discussed included embedding youth throughout organizational frameworks, creating innovation challenges, establishing formal youth seats in governance structures, and ensuring youth representation in national delegations to international conferences. The session concluded with a call for genuine partnership where youth voices have real influence and decision-making power in shaping the digital future they will inherit.

Keypoints

## Major Discussion Points:

– **Intergenerational Partnership in Digital Innovation**: The discussion emphasized moving beyond traditional hierarchical relationships to create genuine collaboration between experienced leaders and youth, where older generations provide wisdom and access to resources while youth bring fresh perspectives unburdened by legacy constraints.

– **Youth-Led Local Digital Initiatives**: Panelists shared concrete examples of youth-driven projects making community impact, including climate action platforms in the Caribbean, AI governance frameworks in Asia-Pacific, space agency youth programs in Azerbaijan, and intergenerational wisdom preservation projects connecting rural elderly with urban youth.

– **Barriers to Meaningful Youth Participation**: Key obstacles identified included lack of access to funding and networks, “youth washing” (tokenistic inclusion), and the tendency to limit youth to advocacy roles rather than embedding them in decision-making processes and policy creation from the ground up.

– **Embedding Youth in WSIS for the Next 20 Years**: Participants called for moving from token inclusion to shared decision-making, creating formal youth seats in tech governance, funding youth-led innovations, and ensuring youth are co-designers of digital policies rather than just participants or beneficiaries.

– **Practical Implementation Strategies**: Concrete suggestions included innovation challenges and hackathons, intergenerational mentorship programs, multi-stakeholder consultations that specifically include youth voices, and creating ownership opportunities where youth take responsibility for driving solutions forward.

## Overall Purpose:

The discussion aimed to examine how to meaningfully integrate youth perspectives into digital transformation and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process, moving beyond superficial inclusion to create genuine intergenerational partnerships that leverage both youthful innovation and experienced wisdom to address global digital challenges.

## Overall Tone:

The conversation maintained an optimistic and collaborative tone throughout, characterized by mutual respect between generations and a shared commitment to meaningful change. While participants acknowledged significant barriers and challenges, the discussion remained solution-focused and forward-looking. The tone was particularly empowering toward youth voices, with senior leaders consistently emphasizing the need to “unlock gates” and provide platforms rather than impose restrictions. The energy was dynamic and inclusive, with panelists building on each other’s ideas and sharing concrete examples that demonstrated successful youth engagement models.

Speakers

**Speakers from the provided list:**

– **Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro** – Moderator of the high-level dialogue of the Wizards’ Jewelry Special Track at WSIS

– **Tomas Lamanauskas** – Deputy Secretary General of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union)

– **Jason Slater** – Representative from UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)

– **Nadir Atayev** – Works at the Space Agency of Azerbaijan as a cosmonaut, represents the International Technical Union, board member, professor at Azerbaijan Technical University

– **Huan Ni** – From Shanghai Green IT, works in education for sustainable development

– **Isabelle Lois** – Swiss government representative, Swiss Ofcom, CSTD (Commission on Science and Technology for Development) vice chair

– **Ashutosh Chadha** – Representative from Microsoft

– **Francis Gurry** – Role/title not specified in detail

– **Dorian Amanda Clarke** – ITU gender champion, founder of Youth Climate Voice Caribbean, one of ITU’s 160 gender champions

– **Corinne Momal-Vanian** – Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation

– **Nils Berglund** – Youth Ambassador with the Internet Society, Research Associate at the European University Institute

– **Sylvia Poll Ahrens** – Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary General, heads the Office of Gender and Youth

– **Roser Almenar** – Member of ITU Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board

**Additional speakers:**

None identified beyond the provided speakers names list.

# Digital Changemakers: Youth-Driven Innovation for Community Impact

## Comprehensive Report on WSIS High-Level Dialogue

### Executive Summary

This high-level dialogue, moderated by Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro as part of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) youth engagement track, brought together an intergenerational panel of leaders to examine “Digital Changemakers: Youth-Driven Innovation for Community Impact.” Described as a “Davos-style intergenerational panel,” the discussion featured senior officials from international organisations alongside young digital leaders, creating a unique forum for examining how youth are shaping digital transformation and their role in the next 20 years of WSIS processes.

The conversation revealed strong alignment around moving from tokenistic youth participation to meaningful integration in decision-making processes. Participants emphasised that youth are not merely beneficiaries of digital transformation but active drivers of innovation, creating solutions for community challenges through technology. The dialogue highlighted concrete examples of youth-led initiatives whilst identifying systemic barriers and proposing practical solutions for genuine intergenerational collaboration.

The moderator explained that ideas from this panel would be captured and included in the official Youth Track Outcome Report, with audience participation facilitated through Slido Q&A system and QR codes. Despite receiving 28+ questions through Slido, time constraints limited the discussion to panelist responses of “one minute or less.”

### Opening Framework: Redefining Youth and Innovation

Deputy Secretary General Tomas Lamanauskas set a transformative tone by challenging traditional age-based categorisations, defining youth as those with “more dreams than memories.” This philosophical reframing influenced the entire discussion, moving beyond chronological definitions to focus on mindset and aspirations. Lamanauskas emphasised the need for fresh perspectives “not burdened by legacy experience and expertise,” whilst acknowledging that wisdom and knowledge from experience remain valuable.

This opening established a foundation for genuine dialogue rather than traditional hierarchical relationships. Lamanauskas noted the paradox of being considered too young for senior leadership roles whilst simultaneously being asked to represent the elder generation in youth discussions, highlighting the arbitrary nature of generational boundaries in professional contexts. He also mentioned that robotics competition finals would be happening “tomorrow,” demonstrating the practical youth engagement activities occurring alongside the dialogue.

### Concrete Examples of Youth-Led Digital Innovation

The discussion featured diverse examples of youth-led digital initiatives addressing local challenges through innovative approaches, demonstrating that youth are already designing systems and solutions that communities depend upon.

Dorian Amanda Clarke, founder of Youth Climate Voice Caribbean and ITU gender champion, shared examples of leading digital campaigns and webinars connecting young people with climate data and early warning systems across the Caribbean. Her work illustrates how youth can bridge technical climate information with community action through digital platforms, creating infrastructure that serves as early warning systems whilst building local capacity for climate adaptation.

Nils Berglund, Youth Ambassador with the Internet Society, presented a youth-authored report on AI and digital governance based on regional consultation that influenced policy networks. This example demonstrates youth capacity for serious policy research and analysis that contributes to formal governance processes, moving beyond advocacy to structured policy impact.

Huan Ni from Shanghai Green IT described intergenerational projects connecting rural wisdom with urban youth, including initiatives that preserve traditional climate knowledge through digital storytelling. Specifically, she mentioned a project involving visiting a village in Shandong province to collect “climate proverbs connectors” and using the WeChat platform for Chinese audiences, with plans to include international case studies. These projects exemplify how youth can serve as bridges between traditional knowledge and contemporary digital innovation.

Nadir Atayev, representing the Space Agency of Azerbaijan, described supporting youth startups and research in space-related fields whilst allowing young people to contribute in their areas of expertise. This model demonstrates how traditional institutions can create space for youth innovation whilst maintaining technical standards and safety requirements in highly technical fields.

### Barriers to Meaningful Youth Participation

Despite the inspiring examples of youth-led innovation, participants identified significant structural barriers that prevent meaningful participation. Corinne Momal-Vanian, Executive Director of the Kofi Annan Foundation, highlighted lack of access to capital and resources as one of the biggest barriers to youth-led innovation. She emphasised that whilst ideas and energy are abundant among youth, the financial resources needed to implement solutions remain locked away.

Huan Ni introduced the critical concept of “youth wash,” a term she learned from an Indonesian partner, describing tokenistic participation where youth become “plastic existence in many international or national conferences.” This framework provided participants with language to identify and address superficial engagement that appears inclusive whilst lacking genuine influence or decision-making power.

Nils Berglund noted that youth perspectives face challenges when multi-stakeholder engagement opportunities shrink, highlighting how broader trends in global governance can disproportionately impact youth participation. This observation connects youth engagement challenges to wider questions about democratic participation and multilateral effectiveness.

### Intergenerational Leadership Models and Institutional Humility

The discussion revealed sophisticated thinking about intergenerational collaboration that moves beyond traditional mentorship models. Francis Gurry articulated that “good intergenerational leadership is dialogue between energy and experience with mutual listening,” emphasising reciprocity rather than one-directional knowledge transfer.

Ashutosh Chadha from Microsoft described how youth bring curiosity and ability to question fundamental tenets whilst experience provides holistic perspective. He also referenced the Global Digital Compact (GDC) implementation discussions, emphasising the importance of involving youth throughout the entire technology value chain from design to implementation.

Corinne Momal-Vanian provided perhaps the most striking reframe of intergenerational relationships, stating that “intergenerational leadership is not a generation telling the younger generation what to do, because clearly we haven’t done it right.” This institutional humility opened space for genuine partnership rather than directive relationships.

The concept of “unlocking gates” emerged as a central metaphor for effective intergenerational leadership. Rather than gatekeeping resources and networks, senior leaders should actively open access to enable youth innovation and leadership. This represents a fundamental shift from protective to facilitative approaches.

### Moving Beyond Tokenism to Genuine Co-Creation

A central theme throughout the discussion was the need to move from superficial inclusion to genuine participation in decision-making processes. Speakers consistently emphasised that meaningful youth engagement requires more than advisory roles or consultation processes.

Dorian Amanda Clarke called for moving “from token inclusion to shared decision-making with youth as co-designers of digital policies.” This framework positions youth as partners in policy creation rather than subjects of policies designed by others.

Ashutosh Chadha distinguished between having “a seat at the table” versus having “a voice at the table,” emphasising that physical presence without influence represents hollow inclusion. This distinction provided a practical framework for evaluating the quality of youth engagement initiatives.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens, Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary General, emphasised that youth must be part of decision-making activities and included in delegations to conferences where decisions are made. She also referenced the ITU’s 160th anniversary celebration and its connection to gender equality themes, demonstrating how institutional milestones can be connected to youth engagement priorities.

### Institutional Approaches to Systematic Integration

Several speakers described institutional approaches to embedding youth throughout organisational frameworks rather than limiting engagement to specific youth programmes. Jason Slater from UNIDO emphasised that youth should be embedded throughout organisational frameworks from thought leadership to implementation.

The ITU model includes youth advisory boards, gender champions, AI leaders hubs, and robotics competitions. This comprehensive approach creates multiple pathways for youth engagement rather than relying on single programmes or initiatives.

Isabelle Lois from Swiss Ofcom described including youth voices in policy creation through internships and multi-stakeholder consultations, demonstrating how government agencies can systematically integrate youth perspectives into policy development processes. Her description of Swiss practices showed how interns can be meaningfully included in policy creation rather than relegated to administrative tasks.

### Innovation Through Cultural Adaptation and Global Reach

Francis Gurry provided a compelling example of youth-led innovation through his discussion of micro-dramas, prefacing his remarks with Henry Thoreau’s observation about the telegraph between Texas and Maine: they may have nothing to say to each other, but the technology enables communication. Gurry described how micro-dramas originated as youth-led innovation in China and spread globally, demonstrating how youth adapt traditional media to digital platforms and reach audiences through contemporary communication methods.

This example illustrated youth capacity to bridge traditional content with digital distribution whilst creating new forms of cultural expression that transcend geographic boundaries. The micro-drama phenomenon exemplifies how youth innovation can emerge from local contexts and achieve global impact through digital platforms.

### Economic Dimensions and Resource Access Challenges

The discussion consistently returned to economic barriers as fundamental obstacles to youth leadership. The conversation revealed tension between recognising youth innovation and providing the resources necessary to scale solutions. Multiple speakers noted that showcasing youth initiatives without providing implementation support represents another form of tokenism.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens described providing opportunities for youth to learn and create capacity then multiply efforts in their communities, suggesting that investment in youth development can create multiplier effects that extend impact beyond individual participants. This approach addresses both immediate resource constraints and long-term capacity building.

### Digital Governance and Future WSIS Processes

Participants consistently connected youth engagement to broader questions about the future of digital governance and multilateral cooperation. The discussion positioned youth not just as stakeholders in current processes but as essential architects of future governance systems.

Roser Almenar, member of the ITU Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board, emphasised in her closing remarks that youth representation matters because they are digital natives who know firsthand how technology impacts lives. This perspective positions youth as subject matter experts rather than just affected parties.

The conversation revealed that embedding youth in WSIS processes for the next 20 years requires structural changes rather than programmatic additions. Participants called for formal youth seats in governance structures, funding for youth-led innovations, and systematic inclusion in policy design processes.

The moderator also referenced the Sri Lanka ISOC Global Youth Forum happening in parallel to this event, demonstrating the global scope of youth engagement in digital governance discussions.

### Implementation Strategies and Concrete Actions

The discussion generated concrete suggestions for implementing meaningful youth engagement. Francis Gurry proposed youth challenge competitions addressing real-world problems that could conclude at major international conferences, creating structured pathways from innovation to implementation whilst providing platforms for youth to present solutions to decision-makers.

Participants emphasised the importance of funding youth-led innovations rather than just showcasing ideas, creating capacity-building opportunities that enable youth to multiply efforts in their communities, and developing skilling processes focused on future needs rather than outdated approaches.

The conversation highlighted the need for multi-stakeholder platforms that specifically elevate youth voices, particularly when traditional diplomatic channels may be less accessible to young people. The moderator mentioned a 5 p.m. June Outcome Session, indicating concrete follow-up activities planned to continue the dialogue.

### Unresolved Questions and Future Directions

Despite the alignment on principles, several implementation questions remain unresolved. These include how to systematically address youth unemployment and economic disparity whilst ensuring meaningful participation, specific funding mechanisms needed to support youth-led innovations at scale, and methods for measuring effectiveness beyond tokenistic participation.

The discussion also revealed ongoing questions about how to balance fresh youth perspectives with necessary institutional knowledge, ensure geographic diversity in youth engagement, and maintain momentum across different sectors and organisations.

### Conclusion and Path Forward

This high-level dialogue demonstrated that meaningful intergenerational collaboration in digital governance is both necessary and achievable. The alignment among participants suggests that barriers to youth engagement are structural rather than philosophical, requiring systematic changes in how institutions operate rather than fundamental shifts in values or priorities.

The conversation positioned youth engagement as essential for institutional survival and innovation rather than merely a moral imperative. This framing elevates youth participation from nice-to-have to strategically necessary, providing stronger justification for the resource allocation and structural changes required for meaningful implementation.

The dialogue’s emphasis on moving from consultation to co-creation, from advisory roles to decision-making power, and from showcasing to funding represents a sophisticated understanding of what genuine partnership requires. The practical examples shared by participants demonstrate that such partnerships are already emerging and producing tangible results.

Most significantly, the discussion revealed that both youth and senior leaders are aligned on fundamental principles and ready for more ambitious collaboration. This alignment provides a strong foundation for implementing the structural changes necessary to embed youth meaningfully in digital governance processes for the next 20 years of WSIS and beyond.

The conversation’s combination of inspiring examples, honest assessment of barriers, and practical solutions suggests that the digital transformation youth are driving can be supported and scaled through genuine intergenerational partnership. The challenge now lies in translating this consensus into the systematic changes required to unlock youth potential for community impact through digital innovation, with concrete follow-up activities already planned to continue this important dialogue.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Good afternoon everyone, we’re going to start in two minutes. We’re going to start in two minutes. We’re going to start in two minutes. Good afternoon, everyone. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to this high-level dialogue of the Wizards’ Jewelry Special Track. My name is Melissa Muñoz, and I’m honored to moderate this event. This session is a part of a full day of youth-led engagement here at WSIS. Nine sessions in total, from workshops and cafes to networking receptions, all highlighting how young people are driving change through technology and innovation. The ideas shared in this panel will be captured and included in the official Youth Track Outcome Report, helping shape youth input for the WSIS review process. As we go to today’s session in one minute, we’re also going to be taking questions from the audience via Slido. So you will see later a QR code on the screen. Please feel free to scan it and submit your thoughts at any time through the session. If we have time, we will take like one or two questions. And now to officially start, it’s my pleasure to welcome to the stage the Deputy Secretary General of the ITU, Mr. Thomas Lamanacos, for the opening remarks.

Tomas Lamanauskas: Thank you. Thank you very much, Melissa. And welcome, everyone. Happy afternoon. I have to admit, I’m always conflicted when I’m asked to speak in an intergenerational part of youth tracks. Because when I speak in those tracks, I speak from the perspective of a generation of elder people. However, when I want to do something meaningful, like to run for ITU Deputy Secretary General, I’m being told I’m too young to run for ITU Secretary General or Deputy Secretary General, sorry. I mean, I proved people, you know, wrong. You know, I’ve managed to get that position. But I have to tell you, I have to convince other people that I’m not too young. And out here, I probably still have to convince you I’m not too old as well, you know, to be on the youth side as well. I think I really like the description of the youth that I once heard from Rebecca Greenspan, UMDAT Secretary General. She said, the young person who is defined that way is the person who has more dreams than memories. And I hope that everyone here on the stage and everyone here in the audience, audience can be defined as a young person by this definition. Of course, you know, there should be a meaningfulness in having young people discussing with non-young, sorry, putting in a quote marks here. So I think in that meaningfulness for me, I was really thinking now and chatting with my colleagues going, why we having youth dialogue? Why we having youth? And the very good answer was because we need a fresh perspective. Fresh perspective that’s not, sorry to use that word, burdened by the legacy experience and expertise. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need legacy experience and expertise, because that brings wisdom and knowledge. But we need people who say, I don’t care that you used to do that work. I don’t care that this is how we agreed 20 years ago. The world is different now. And I don’t care that you’re a Deputy Secretary General, I’m an intern, you know, like I care that you know what you have to say, what you have to contribute. I think this dialogue today should be about that, not about which age we are, you know, how much, you know, where we, how much years of experience we have, but how can we really merge that expertise and experience of the people who can say, I’ve been here 20 years ago when the WSIS started in this specific halls, where the people said, I haven’t been there, I don’t care. And actually, the world is very different now, and I’ll tell you how the world is there. And actually, it’s then sort of merging from those experiences in a very meaningful way to get the new expertise. And I do, it’s not the only thing that we’re doing to really have those dialogues. And we collaborated with quite a few of you in that regard, and recognizing Kofi Annan Foundation for their great partner, but also others for these dialogues here. You know, Doreen has her young leaders at RISD board, actually, to bring those perspectives to the people who haven’t been in ITU, and don’t know all the ITU processes and procedures, and don’t know what mandate is, and are burdened by the fact that, oh, you cannot do this, because Resolution 25 from Plenary Court 2008 doesn’t allow you to do that, no? But they couldn’t say, no, but actually, the world is like that, and we need to do that. And of course, then you merge that with a different experience, and say what we can and what we can’t. We have our young AI leaders hubs. in actually 50 countries around the world, 103 hubs, where young people from all around the world bring together this energy of knowledge of our technology in willingness to change the world and actually bring that change to everyone around them. So we have here in these halls, you’ll see, I think tomorrow, we’ll have our finals of the robotics competition where really young people, you know, most of them are high school age, come here to demonstrate how to use robotics and AI to solve real life challenges, including disaster management. We included young voices also in our Green Digital Action in Baku, and of course, Sylvia Poll Ahrens, the youth office, AG for youth office, United Nations, is our great partner, thank you, in making sure that we really bring those different perspectives on the table. So I wish you today a very great conversation to bring those different perspectives without hierarchies, you know, if I can challenge you without scripted notes, you know, but really to have that discussion and bring those different perspectives where we should go with WSIS, how to take that legacy and transform it now for the better. Thank you very much and have a great debate. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. Thank you very much, Mrs. Thomas, for your continued commitment to empowering youth and now in the WSIS process. And now let’s begin our Davis-style intergenerational panel that is titled today, Digital Changemakers, Youth-Driven Innovation for Community Impact. The format is that this is going to be a fast-paced and informal discussion. Not everybody needs to answer to every question, but please keep your attention to one minute or less. Now let’s start with something light to get us warmed up. Please first introduce yourself, and in one sentence, please use the words youth and innovation to describe how young people are shaping the digital future. I will go first. Youth, for me, are not waiting for the permission to innovate. We are already designing the systems that we… will all depend on tomorrow. Please.

Jason Slater: Thank you. Jason Slater, UNIDO. The sustainable future must be built with youth, not just for them. Innovation thrives through co-creation.

Nadir Atayev: Thank you. I’m Nadir. I work at the Space Agency of Azerbaijan as a cosmonaut and I also represent the International Technical Union. I’m also a board member. For me, basically, the youth are not just the beneficiary but the drivers of actual innovation and bringing the old ideas and the fresh energy to solve today’s most pressing challenges. Thank you.

Huan Ni: Hi, I’m from Shanghai Green IT. We are doing the education for sustainable development and we originally think we are empowering the youth but actually all the youth, they are the reverse mentors to us and they are the creators of new content and the new initiatives and we are actually empowered by them. Thank you. I’m Isabelle Lois from the Swiss government, Swiss Ofcom and also CSTD vice chair and I believe that youth is empowered to create and unlock innovation in the digital world and they should take that power.

Ashutosh Chadha: Yes. Hi, Ashutosh here from Microsoft. I believe that youth today are not just the leaders of tomorrow, they are the innovators of today who build solutions for a much more empowered and inclusive future. Thank you.

Francis Gurry: Good afternoon. My name is Francis Gurry. Well, innovation is an expression of a desire to change the world or the status quo and it’s a natural tendency for youth to innovate.

Dorian Amanda Clarke: Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Doreen Clark. I’m an ITU gender champion. My sentence this afternoon is, in the Caribbean,

Corinne Momal-Vanian: Hello, my name is Corinne Momal-Vanian, I’m the Executive Director of the Coffee and Ant Foundation and unlike Thomas very much on the old side, I completely understand that I am a boomer but that’s okay. So my sentence is, if we don’t place youth and innovation at the heart of multilateral reform, there won’t be any reform at all.

Nils Berglund: Nils Berglund Good afternoon everyone, my name is Nils Berglund, I am a Youth Ambassador with the Internet Society and also a Research Associate at the European University Institute and I’ll try to be a little bit cheeky with this ice breaker and say that youth without innovation might be ignored or overlooked but innovation without youth is doomed to fail.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens: Silvia Paul Yes, thank you very much, my name is Silvia Paul, I’m the Senior Gender and Youth Advisor to the ITU Secretary General and I’m heading also the Office of Gender and Youth in her office. For me, digital innovation cannot happen without youth.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Awesome, that was beautiful and now let’s start with the local level and I want to hear the young voices in the room where the most of the real change begins in the local level and this International Youth Day theme is Local Youth Actions for the SDGs and Beyond, which highlights the transformative role of young people in localizing the SDGs and we would love to hear your stories, please, young leaders, if you can share a youth-led digital initiative or it could be your own or one you have seen that is making a real difference in local communities. Adir, maybe you first.

Nadir Atayev: Adir Ghani Thank you very much, Melissa, I’m delighted to express my gratitude to the youth for their contributions to the SDGs and beyond and I to express more of the ideas currently while I’m still living in Azerbaijan, the capital city of Baku. And we as the working space agency and along being a professor at the Azerbaijan Technical University, I do see and also do contribute in supporting the youth generation and you can see the immersive activities and fabulous ideas coming out from the youth mind and especially the one important thing is to basically let them and allow them to contribute and to focus over their initiatives and force them to contribute in their certain fields. And of course within all that I’ve had an humble initiative to actively contribute over to supporting their startups, working with them closely in their various scientific and article researches, supporting them as space related to international Australian congresses, various conferences, and also basically support their ideas to go forward because as I’ve just previously said, they are really and have that bold actions and bold ideas to just to come up front and just to break the ice and say that’s how we are really what we are doing with our initiatives. So yeah, thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Awesome. Dorian, maybe you want to come in?

Dorian Amanda Clarke: Sure, thank you for that question. As founder of Youth Climate Voice Caribbean, I’ve helped lead digital campaigns and webinars that connect young people with climate data, early warning systems, and SDG storytelling. Empowering grassroots actions from coastal communities to classrooms across the region. It’s basically about making digital transformation accessible, empowering, and ethical for everyone. And so this is where leaders from regional communities come together.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you, Doreen. Now, Niels and Isabel.

Nils Berglund: I can start by sharing one example that I know several of my colleagues, my fellow ISOC youth ambassadors, one of which Annie could not be here, have worked on, which is a project from netmission.asia, their Asia-Pacific Policy Observatory, which is a youth-led initiative that just last month in June published a youth-authored report on AI and digital governance based on consultation with countries in the region. And I think it’s a really nice example of sort of policy or research to policy impact. They developed this really nice framework around youth rights and AI safety that was really tailored to specific local contexts and has now been picked up by some advisory networks in Malaysia and the Philippines. And I think this is a really nice kind of structured type of youth engagement that can be really impactful and also shows that youth networks can go beyond the sort of role of advocacy or awareness raising, which is kind of a box that I think youth is often put into.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Now, last but not least, Isabel.

Isabelle Lois: Thank you. So I don’t want to talk about a specific project we have, but maybe our philosophy a bit of how we’re bringing youth voices into the policy decisions we make, especially internationally at the Federal Office of Communications. So one of the things we have is we always have an intern who participates in creating our policies and creating our briefings and participating in creating the notes for meetings and forming sort of the Swiss position. And one of the other aspects we have to not just have one youth participate in it is to use our multi-stakeholder consultations to not only have experts, private sector, civil society, the technical community, bringing in their perspective, but also bringing in youth. So for that, we specially use the Swiss IGF, where we have a youth track as well, and they can also bring in their perspective, their input, and really share their knowledge with us. And then that becomes sort of the overall overarching Swiss position.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. So inspiring to hear how youth is making digital transformation accessible for all all over the world. And next, let’s talk about collaboration. And I want to hear now the high-level profiles in our table today. We know that youth-led innovation can thrive in isolation, it requires space, support, and a shared responsibility. So the question is, what do you think good intergenerational leadership and partnership look like in the digital transformation era? Maybe Francis wants to jump in.

Francis Gurry: Okay, thank you. Well, I think it’s a dialogue between energy and experience. And the very important part is mutual listening, active mutual listening. And that will produce, I think, a blend which is, well, without peer, without rival.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Beautiful. Astosh?

Ashutosh Chadha: Yeah, I would sort of concur with what Francis said. I think it’s a mixture of the energy and the curiosity which comes with it, which is important. As Thomas was saying that we sometimes border on the factors, are we too old and do we come with too much of experience? And sometimes we feel experience also breeds or leads to a lot of complacency. It’s that curiosity and the ability to actually question the very fundamental tenets of what are you doing and why are you doing it this way not because you read about it long ago or that’s the way it always happens and I think so that’s what youth brings. What experience brings is the ability to possibly bring a calm to that energy and enthusiasm so that the youth can actually look at problems from a holistic 360 degree angle and that’s the convergence which actually intergenerational collaboration really brings

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: benefits to. Beautiful, that power in asking questions and now Helen.

Huan Ni: I think that empathy is very important. Back to 20 years ago when I was studying in the UK I was the local volunteer to visit the elderly people who live on their own and my job was to listen to them every time I visit them for one hour and now in China we have a lot of elderly people living in the countryside and in the urban area and they are very lonely and now we have this intergeneration project that’s in part the young kids and they are mentored by university volunteers to interview their grandparents or the old people in the community and this summer next month we will visit a very remote village in Shandong province that’s the old people living in the village they have a lot of illness but they have the lack of a company and we came up with story about the new project is climate proverbs connectors because all these farmers they have been experienced in farming. They know exactly what time to go for the seedling and how to harvest. And all these proverbs are gold mines of the indigenous wisdom. And now it’s disappearing because the urban kids, they live on their wealthy or affluent lifestyle. And their parents, they sell them to put them into the rural areas. And in the rural areas, a lot of young people are living in the urban area. And all these wisdom are disappearing. So I think the empathy is very important that we need to empower the young people to discover the treasure, the treasure hunting from the elderly people. So I think the intergenerations link is from the traditional wisdom and also our traditional culture. And I hope everyone, maybe in the next year, we will have something solid to come back to report and share. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. Corinne, would you like to comment?

Corinne Momal-Vanian: This is, thank you for sharing that. That was wonderful, thank you. I think intergenerational leadership is not a generation telling the younger generation what to do, because clearly we haven’t done it right. So we shouldn’t tell the others what to do. It’s about unlocking the gates. It’s really about opening our networks and our resources to the younger generation. Because that’s all they need, really. They need access. And we need to really stop the gatekeeping that many of us have been doing. So that’s one thing. And the second, it’s about coming back to the basics where, yes, different generations may speak different languages, but where they intersect. Basically, it’s on values. So, I think good intergenerational dialogue is based on a common understanding of what are basic human values that matter to reaching our goals. And, I mean, it’s basically about equality, diversity, inclusion, respect. In particular, as regards to digital transformation, because there are so many ethical issues raised by the digital transformation. So, good dialogue is about values and it’s about my generation unlocking the gates.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: So powerful. Jason?

Jason Slater: Thank you. So, I mentioned before I work for UNIDO, but UNIDO is an organization in industrialization. And so, you know, it was very difficult when you think about the first industrial revolution, etc. But here we are now with AI innovation and digital and how it is being embedded in all that we do. And this is now the perfect opportunity for us to actually engage with youth. And I like the point that Neil’s mentioned before. It’s not about advocacy. It’s about really ingraining youth within your strategy, your framework. We just launched one recently, which it looks at from thought leadership all the way down, convening partnerships to actually implementing as UN agencies, projects and programs. So, how can we engage with youth? Particularly, we collaborate extensively with ISEC. Just by chance, the youth forum is going on in parallel to this in Sri Lanka. So, a couple of my youth envoys are there now working on a number of actionable solutions with them to see how can they show us the light in terms of the skills of the future, the future workforce. How should it look like? What do we now need to prepare to put in place today that will enable that 10, 20 years from now? In addition, as I mentioned, partnerships is absolutely fundamental, whether that be with ISEC, academia, etc., and trusting them to actually co-create. I mentioned this in my sentence at the beginning, and I think it’s essential. that we can provide, as we’ve just said, those of us in the more experienced generation can provide some wisdom, some guidance. But frankly, I am not capable of developing the solutions that we need today that will embed such technologies like AI to disrupt and minimize post-food losses in rice, in tomatoes, in coffee, which then leads us into our projects and programs. So my last comment just simply on this is that it’s absolutely essential that we bring youth and embed them throughout our own transformational frameworks, from thought leadership all the way down to the projects and programs we do, especially as UN organizations. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you, Jason. And now, my dear Sylvia.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens: Thank you, Melissa. Well, I think we all know that the more diverse the conversations, being having women and girls, being having young people, persons with disabilities, et cetera, in the discussions, we will have richer outcomes and better results in whatever conversations we have. Second, partnerships are key, are essential, are critical. Most of us have limited resources and we need partnerships to be able to amplify the work, to be able to enhance it. And I’m very proud to say that in ITU, we’re walking the talk. The fact that the ITU secretary general has her own advisory board that gives her advice and the fact that she also thinks that it’s important enough with her very limited time. Just to give you an example, on Friday, we had our annual meeting and she spent just a few hours before these events, she spent half a day with our advisory board. That’s every minute of her is so valuable. and the fact that she spent the half of the day and then she arrived again at the end of the day, that is very important for her and that she really wishes that whatever we discuss is operationalized and put into the work of the ITU. And finally, why do we think this is important? Because the decisions that today there are so many decision-making leaders here, probably many of your decisions, you’re taking decisions in your organizations, in your ministries, as regulators in the private sector. You are taking decisions that will affect the youth today and the next 20 years. So we need to hear their voices, we need to know what they think and what is important to them. So that’s what we’re trying to do in ITU. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you Sylvia and congrats to the ITU again for putting the youth at the center of this institution. It’s a call to actions to all the leaders here to replicate this example. And now let’s zoom out as we reflect on these 20 years of WSIS, we also look ahead. The question is how do we ensure that youth are not just invited to the table but embedded in the WSIS process for the next 20 years? What will that practice look like? And this question is open to any of the panelists who want to respond. Let’s take like three or four

Dorian Amanda Clarke: interventions. Thank you for that question. So I’ll respond. So for that, I really thought about it a lot and what I will say is to truly mainstream youth in the WSIS process, we must move from token inclusion to shared decision-making. Like most, I would say most of our elders, I consider them to be our elders just said, right? Ensuring that youth, especially from vulnerable countries, vulnerable regions, are co-designers of these And now, I would like to ask you all to please stand up and stand up for these digital policies, not just participants. This means funding youth-led innovations, strengthening digital literacy in under-deserved SDGs or SIDs, and formalizing youth seats in tech governance. Our digital future must, and I will stress, must reflect the all of the youths in this room, those who are watching online, who will inherit it? And that is where I’ll leave it. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Beautiful. Okay. Any other panelists?

Ashutosh Chadha: So I think it’s not important to have a seat at the table. It’s to ensure that there is a voice at the table. That’s important. And as each one of us looks at the next 20 years of technology and what technology can do for all of us, we need to innovate, design, develop, and deliver solutions around technology, not for youth, but build them with youth and through youth. It’s extremely important. So the entire value chain, we need to make sure youth get involved. And if you look at the WSIS action lines, we need to be proactive in making sure that each one of those action lines has to have youth involved in the conversation right from the beginning.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Awesome. Please.

Isabelle Lois: Thank you. I just wanted to highlight what my both speakers, previous speakers have said, because I fully agree with that. Maybe go even a step forward in saying that we should create an ownership, I think, with youth, because there’s many issues that remain open with the newer technologies that are arriving and embedding themselves in every aspect of our life. And there has been a lot that has been done in the past 20 years. We see it now, this week especially, there’s so much celebration of 20 years of amazing. Thank you so much for this amazing work. And there’s a lot that remains to be done that is necessary to be done. But we need to create this ownership also with youth to continue to work and to deliver on the principles that we wanted to achieve with Action Alliance. And I think this sort of co-creation and ownership that this is also my issues, it’s also my role, my responsibility to try to make it better, I think is essential, and not just handing it over without it being theirs.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Yeah, also being responsible. Helen, please.

Huan Ni: I’d like to just give you an example happening just in another room before this session. It’s a global classroom and local action that we were chairing. And we heard some of the case studies from Ghana, from Vietnam, and Senegal, and our youth groups were sharing their stories in China. And suddenly, before I left for this room, my colleague, who was born after 2000, and he captured me, said, I want to have an initiative with the Senegal partner, because their stories can be embedded in our location-based service, LBS, because we are mapping out all the climate education case studies across China. But we were only thought about that will be based on WeChat, available for Chinese. But after this session, they came up with this idea, oh, why not? We will have some international case studies sharing on the WeChat to make Chinese people to learn about other stories from outside China. So I think this is not only the empathy just mentioned, but also the initiative they would like to take, or the risk they would like to take. And we wanted to be the mentor, or not the helicopter parents, just push them in. in the front, and they will surprise you. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: I think this is the best question of the panel. I think we still have time. So I will take three more interventions from the panelists. If you give me one second. Before that, I want to ask the logistics team if we can share on the screen the QR code for the audience to make some questions after this one. Thank you. And let’s continue, please. Yep.

Francis Gurry: Thank you. Well, look, I agree with just about everything that’s been said, I think, absolutely. And in particular, the table, you know, as the saying goes, if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. So it really is important that it be absolutely integrated into everything. But one thing that I’d like to throw out is the possibility of a youth challenge. You know, designing a challenge that is a real problem in the world and setting it as a competition, as it were, for the youth all around the world, which comes to its conclusion at the AI. This one to English Channel. Some of the very best answers, and indeed, the winner.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. Jason, you wanted to join me?

Jason Slater: No, because it’s a perfect follow-on from that, because that’s one of the things that we have started to do. And as I mentioned, it’s going on now in Sri Lanka, the ISAC Global Youth Forum is setting very specific innovation challenges. We didn’t set the challenge. There is a global digital compact. There’s a clear set of objectives. It’s already out there. It says that this is the new generation that should be supporting us. Go ahead and tell us what we, and provide the guidance to us as to what we should do to develop those solutions. I think through innovation challenges, embedding hackathons, et cetera, but also seeing it through, it’s not enough just to win the challenge. It’s enough to then trust. what comes out of that challenge, the solution, and I’d say put your money where your mouth is and actually fund it, and that’s something… Juan T, 345, this is James from Chinese Mandarin channel for… Cool, thank you, thank you, thanks a lot, thank you. …help you actually implement those solutions. So absolutely, I would agree with what Francois said there, thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: And Sylvia?

Sylvia Poll Ahrens: Thank you very much. I think it’s also important, and I think this is what we have tried also to do in ITU, is to not only bring… English channel, soundcheck, Jim soundcheck, English channel, thank you. …can have opportunities like these to learn, to create capacity, to add knowledge, and then go back to their communities and multiply those efforts. Dorian is part of our ITU 160. This year, the ITU is 160 years young, and we’re as relevant as 160 years ago. And the theme of this year for the 160 years is gender equality for visual transformation. And we had this initiative with the support of the government of Canada, where we’re bringing 10 young women, and Dorian is one of them. And what we’re also wanting to do is that she’ll hopefully try to talk to her, engage with her, give her opportunities as much as you can in each one of our ITU 160 gender champions. We chose them because of the work they already are doing in their communities, and you can already see why we chose Dorian, okay? That was very easy. And all the other young women are exceptional. And they’re going back to their communities, hopefully, to multiply and to grow the efforts based on what they learned in these type of events. So it’s important also to do that because the… Young people will, they have the drive, they have the passion, they want to do more things. But we also, let’s give them opportunities to come to activities like this, to events like this, to conferences, to trainings, where then they can go back and multiply those efforts. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you, Sylvia. So now we’ve been collecting your questions via Slido through all the session. And if you haven’t scanned the QR code yet, it’s still on the screen, feel free to submit now. And let’s start with this one that is pretty powerful to our panelists. What do our panelists think are the biggest barriers to youth leadership today? Any of you who wants to jump in? Biggest barriers, okay. You too.

Corinne Momal-Vanian: I think one of the biggest barriers is what I said, the fact that we have locked access to resources and to networks. And I think in terms of, we really have to invest and to fund innovation, youth-led innovation. And the ideas are there, the skills are there, the knowledge, the drive. What is not there always is the capital. And just to give a very quick example, we have something which is called the Kofi Annan Innovation Award for Africa. And that’s in partnership with the government of Austria. And every other year, we choose one SDG and we select three companies, youth-led companies using digital technologies in Africa to meet the challenge of that specific SDG. And the government of Austria gives a considerable amount of money to each of the three. So it’s just one tiny example and the needs for capital are immense. But really, this is one of the main barriers is lack of access to capital.

Nils Berglund: I agree that resources is always the largest problem. I’m gonna talk about one other barrier, I think, that also kind of relates to it. what we talked about when it comes to intergenerational leadership. And I think that good intergenerational leadership is also multi-stakeholder leadership. And this is a challenge that I think youth has. I mean, youth perspectives and multi-stakeholder perspectives are always going to be inexorably tied because I mean, nowhere else besides the multi-stakeholder community are youth perspectives as elevated and as nurtured. So in areas where in digital governance, where maybe negotiations are more centralized, youth perspectives face the same challenges that civil society do when the space for civil society to engage shrinks. And I think, you know, when you’re reflecting on the next 20 years of WSIS, something that’s worked very well in the last 20 years of WSIS, like a new ISOC and ICANN report highlighted, is just how much the IGF has done for youth engagement. It’s totally exploded in the last 10 years. And so these kind of multi-stakeholder engagement opportunities also really highlight youth voices. So encouraging multi-stakeholder engagement in that sense also enables youth voice.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. We’re going to take three extra questions for the audience. And the next one is, what is the strongest example of youth engagement you have seen in your career? And what made them work? If any of you would like to jump in. An example? Okay.

Ashutosh Chadha: So I won’t say this is the strongest because there have been lots of examples, but this is a more recent one that we did as I came into this role a year ago. And it sort of coincided with the GDC getting passed as a part of the UNGA last year in September. There was a lot of conversation in Geneva around what could be a good multi-stakeholder process for making sure Geneva participates equally in the GDC implementation process. And what we did was we actually… engaged with a graduate institute over here in Geneva and got four of their students to do an interesting survey on doing an ecosystem scan on what good multilateral processes and multi-stakeholder processes are. Reflect by asking questions to people who are already driving these processes in the UN ecosystem and in the permanent missions in Geneva and come up with solutions. And that’s where the interesting thing happened. They started asking very tough questions, right? And that actually came and then we actually pushed them in front of a whole host of people in what we call the Geneva Innovation Network and asked them to present their findings and that actually set a ball rolling of the ecosystem starting thinking of different ways by which we can actually drive the stakeholder implement multi-stakeholder discussions and implementation of the GDC where Geneva can have a bigger voice or an important voice which it always has. That, according to me, that had a great impact. One, it gave us newer ways to think about multi-stakeholderism. The second, it also gave the students an opportunity to get into something which they possibly would not have thought of earlier and it gave us answers. It’s just interesting and it goes back to what I initially said, don’t be afraid to ask questions.

Francis Gurry: Please. Well, you know, the American writer Henry Thoreau said in the 19th century, they’re building a telegraph between Texas and Maine but maybe Texas and Maine don’t have anything to say to each other. And the point of the story is content is important and the example of the that I would like to give is micro-dramas which is youth-led innovation. So, it’s the adaptation of traditional film and television to social media and digital media where you have dramas of perhaps 20 series and they’re between two and ten minutes long more like two than ten and they go and people are able to watch them on their smartphones on whatever. Other advice it originated in China spread quickly to neighboring countries now is spreading worldwide and it’s a huge industry and it’s a good example of youth seeing that traditional film and television just was not appropriate always for digital media and let’s innovate and do something.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you. Okay we have two extra questions I will ask them together and any of the panelists that wants to jump in. First, what practical steps can we take to make youth participation meaningful rather than just tokenistic? And second, youth across the world face challenges with unemployment and economic disparity. How do we meaningfully include youth at the table amidst this difficult reality? Sylvia.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens: I think we have to, as you say, you have to be very careful to being tokenistic. I’ve seen the experience that sometimes they want youth to be part or they want to invite youth but they want that youth are on the sidelines. So what we have learned is that youth have to be in the events, in the conferences and we’ve had sometimes resistance in the sense we know there are rules and procedures for especially statutory conferences but youth want to be a part of the decision-making activities and we are trying to encourage that, for example, delegations for young people. in their own delegations. We fully understand there’s limited resources and some delegations can maybe only send one or two people to a conference, but you have to definitely, that’s a very concrete actions, include young people in the delegations to especially in conference where decisions are being made. And activities like this, where it’s not only you to participate and sit in the audience, you are here, you’re exactly there, you are also making your comments and your own reflections, and we have our advisory board members here also as panelists giving us their thoughts, Dorian as our gender champions. So again, it’s not inviting them to come see events and just go and sit in the audience, no, we want you to be part of these activities. Or what we did earlier, where we had very interactive sessions where we wanted to hear what can be done for the next 20 years with this and it will be included in the outcome documents. So these are very concrete actions that I think should be taken and strengthened.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you Silvia, please Helen.

Huan Ni: I think the key word I learned from an Indonesian partner, he told me about youth wash. So this is my first time to learn about this term. And he told me that he’s a youth group so always face this youth wash and they were the plastic existence in many international or national conferences and he asked me, if you have ever faced this kind of situation? I said so far, not yet, but in my NGO, we did take all the situations seriously. Seriously, because we respect all the youth volunteers who are working with us. And also we have our pro bono lawyers to work with us to deal with some youth bullying and some discriminations. And I think for this NGO like us, we have so many, like 20 initiatives led by at least 100 youth students and they felt very empowered and they take the lead. And also we have the mechanism to allow them to make mistakes. And we regularly have the reflection session online to share their mistakes and also to share their experience and how to improve or how to avoid the mistake again. So this mistake sharing session is most popular because, for example, how to write a business letter and how to attend this kind of conferences with a very good manner. So after this session, all the delegates came along with me. They will have the podcasting in China to share what they have learned. So I think this is, we have to get the belief that all these young people, they have their own power and they have their mechanism of self-correcting mechanism and also sharing with peers. So I think that attitudes and the mindset should be equal and respectful for the young people. Then they trust you and we trust each other and we grow together.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Yeah. Okay. One extra. Okay. Let’s take two.

Dorian Amanda Clarke: So in Jamaica, we have this saying, it says encouragement, strength and labor. Basically, if you’re doing a good job at something, and I will come to you and say, you know, you’re doing a good job, you should keep up the good work, it will make you want to go an extra mile. And that is basically what Youth Climate Voice Caribbean is about. We highlight grassroots projects that youths across Latin America and the Caribbean are doing basically to encourage them to even want to go further. Because the Caribbean is a small island developing state, and we’re so vulnerable to the impacts of natural disasters, and anything that basically comes by, we’re like a piece of paper, a little light would just blow us away. And so what we do is whatever activities, whatever projects that these youths are working on, we basically showcase it on our page. And that will basically bring other persons to go and visit and even want to partner and collaborate with them and make their initiative even better. And so that is what I would say you should do. If you see somebody doing something, encourage them, not only encourage them, but support what they’re doing, contribute meaningfully to it. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: First, I want to remind you the second question, because all the answers have been focused on the first one. Youth across the world face challenges with unemployment and economic disparity. How do we meaningfully include youth at the table that meets this difficult reality? If any of the panelists have any thought about this, please.

Ashutosh Chadha: So what I’m going to say is basically a general statement around this, and that is, let’s involve youth meaningfully in the entire process. And when I’m saying meaningfully, I’m saying, let’s also understand how they want to get involved. And I’ll take a piece out of what you said, Francis, that those two to 10 minute videos, one of the reasons they got created initially in China was that, I mean, the youth today have the ability to span across multiple sensory at a much more speed and ability than And we have. And for them, if you can communicate something within two to 10 minutes, that hits the nail on the head. We need to figure out what’s the best way to build solutions by which the youth can get involved in creating those solutions or creating those policies. And when you start talking about how do we make sure we address employment or all of that stuff, we’re all talking about skilling, right? But are we talking about the skilling processes of what was good 10 years ago? Or are we talking about the skilling processes of the future and the way the youth are learning today? Do we even know about that? And the problem is sometimes we create skilling solutions, keeping our generation in mind and not the future generations in mind.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Okay, well, before we get the closing remarks, I would like each panelist to give me just one reflection before we close and also give the floor to the audience. So please, Jason.

Jason Slater: Thank you very much. Just underline what most people have said is it’s about trust and empowerment and including throughout the entire process, youth and just providing guidance as and when not to be seen to be managing, but basically putting your arm around and providing the necessary encouragement. And the evidence is there, I think we’ve heard it from all of the panelists. Thank you.

Nadir Atayev: Thank you. So yeah, basically, as all the panelists have mentioned, nowadays, the youth has a great potential and greater opportunities than they had in the digital terms. So as of the last week, when we were with the Secretary General and overall reviewing the IT policy, we have conducted the several points there, as you have known, that empowering, engaging and participating that allows the youth generation to act and showcase their potential. There are certain necessities in terms of the digital inclusion and adding their own ideas to solutions. As of us, we’ve been really honored to participate in that. Now, of course, I am really encouraged to assist and more inform our Azerbaijani and young bright minds to be able to know more about this and all the initiatives and what they really have in mind and what you asked to foster them to participate more in these events. Thanks.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Okay, I will ask all the participants to keep their talk to 50 seconds.

Huan Ni: My reflection of this session is perhaps next year we will have this high-level dialogue. Maybe we will have maybe half of the delegates who will be aged under 30. That will be even nicer. Thank you.

Isabelle Lois: Thank you. I will try to be short. Maybe one of the points I would like to highlight that I take out of most of what we’ve been saying here on the panel is involvement and how do we get youth to know about this space. Because I think it is quite complicated, even just with this. What does it mean information society? How are these terms understood now? Maybe 20 years ago, very logical. But even when I started in this space, I just wondered, what does it mean? How do you engage in it? And I think so there’s room for improvement in the guidance and getting involvement. And I think maybe last reflection, maybe daring to believe that we don’t know everything and the way we’ve been doing it might not be the best and we can find new solutions. Thank you.

Ashutosh Chadha: I think it’s being purposeful and intentional in creating the platforms which ensure genuine collaboration.

Francis Gurry: Well, as we’re all painfully aware, we’re facing a crisis in multilateralism, and I think that we need to design a system for the future that includes digital diplomacy. And youth are perfectly placed to do this, at least to assist in this process. And I think that it’s exceptionally important that youth be engaged in designing what will be a new multilateral system. Thanks.

Dorian Amanda Clarke: My final remarks would be, don’t just listen to our ideas, act upon them, partner with us to lead a digital future where no one and everyone is included.

Corinne Momal-Vanian: So we’ve heard that it’s not enough to give young people a seat at the table. You must give them a voice. And I would go one step further. You must allow them to have influence. And this comes both through having a formal sort of vote, a formal right to influence the outcome. And second, it comes from being prepared, as Helen said. We need to help them prepare for taking this voice and having influence at the table. And this is something that befalls us already at the table to prepare the next generation.

Nils Berglund: I’ll try to end on a positive note and say that it’s clear that we’ve come very far, and there are so many best practices. We know what works. We heard about a lot of great examples from intergenerational mentorship and inclusive programs, dedicated policy consultations, the impact of the youth IGFs and so on. It’s just about capitalizing on that momentum and scaling those things up, which is the goal going forward.

Sylvia Poll Ahrens: Thank you. My final reflection is, or word, hope. The very challenging times we’re living currently in this world, the fact that I get the privilege and honor and I feel very blessed to work with young people, it gives me a lot of hope. Hope that the next generation is engaged, they’re hungry to work with us, they want to contribute, they want to have a purpose, and that’s so hopeful and so motivating. And I’m very grateful to have that opportunity and that blessing. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thanks, Sylvia. Now, we want to close this talk with you, the audience, and we’re going to select one participant to share their biggest takeaways from the session, 30 seconds. Any participant in the room? Over there? Okay. Rosa, please. Do you have a microphone? Okay. It’s coming. Thank you, Dorola. Perfect. Okay. Okay, thank you so much.

Roser Almenar: Thank you, Melissa and to all the panelists for this very impactful session. My name is Roser Almenar and I am one of the members of ITU, Madam Secretary General’s Youth Advisory Board. So this session and this panel was especially meaningful to me as I shared what I think is the main takeaway that youth representation matters and it matters a lot, especially in the digital sphere. First of all, because we are digital natives, we were born or in my case raised using digital technologies. So we know firsthand how this can truly impact our lives. And second of all, because we are here and we want to be present in the discussions that are being discussed and that will affect our future. So, what I think is the most important part is the intergenerational approach, because even though we are full of ideas and we really want to be engaged, I really liked something that one of the distinguished speakers mentioned, that it is not only about being on the table, but to have a really meaningful voice on the table to be meaningfully engaged. I think it is really, really, really important that it is not just us conveying our ideas, but also being supported by our seniors and the people who have the experience to guide us so that we can have all together. And achieve meaningful and an inclusive digital sphere for all of us. So please, and I think I can close with a little bit of a call for action. Please listen to us, please engage with us, and let us demonstrate to you why we are the next generation of future leaders. Thank you.

Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro: Thank you, Roser. This was a very powerful conversation. Thanks for everyone who contributed on the stage and also in the room. We got more than 28 questions. Sadly, we couldn’t take it all because of time. As a reminder, we will be sharing the highlights from this session at the June Outcome Session later today at 5 p.m. And now I want to say thanks to all our panelists, Nadir, Dorian, Isabel, Thomas who was here before, and Celia who is representing him now. Francis, also Helen, Corinne, and Jason. Thank you for accepting this invitation and make the time for making a room for the youth. Now let’s take a group picture. Please come to the front of the stage. Thanks to everyone.

Agreement points

Youth are active innovators and drivers of change, not passive beneficiaries

Speakers

– Melissa Michelle Munoz Suro
– Nadir Atayev
– Huan Ni
– Ashutosh Chadha
– Francis Gurry
– Sylvia Poll Ahrens

Arguments

Youth are not waiting for permission to innovate but are already designing systems we will depend on tomorrow

Youth are not just beneficiaries but drivers of innovation, bringing fresh energy to solve pressing challenges

Youth serve as reverse mentors who empower organizations and create new content and initiatives

Youth today are innovators of today who build solutions for a more empowered and inclusive future

Innovation is a natural tendency for youth as an expression of desire to change the world

Digital innovation cannot happen without youth participation

Summary

All speakers agreed that youth should be viewed as active agents of innovation and change rather than passive recipients of programs or policies. They emphasized youth’s current contributions and leadership capabilities.

Topics

Development | Economic | Sociocultural

Meaningful participation requires moving beyond tokenism to genuine decision-making power

Speakers

– Dorian Amanda Clarke
– Ashutosh Chadha
– Sylvia Poll Ahrens
– Huan Ni
– Corinne Momal-Vanian

Arguments

Must move from token inclusion to shared decision-making with youth as co-designers of digital policies

Important to have voice at the table, not just a seat, involving youth in entire technology value chain

Youth must be part of decision-making activities and included in delegations to conferences where decisions are made

Youth wash – tokenistic participation where youth are plastic existence in conferences without meaningful involvement

Intergenerational leadership means unlocking gates and opening networks rather than gatekeeping

Summary

Speakers strongly agreed that superficial inclusion of youth is insufficient and potentially harmful. They emphasized the need for genuine participation in decision-making processes and policy creation.

Topics

Human rights | Development | Legal and regulatory

Intergenerational collaboration combines youth energy with experienced wisdom

Speakers

– Francis Gurry
– Ashutosh Chadha
– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Huan Ni
– Corinne Momal-Vanian

Arguments

Good intergenerational leadership is dialogue between energy and experience with mutual listening

Youth bring curiosity and ability to question fundamental tenets while experience provides holistic perspective

Youth dialogue should merge fresh energy with experience to create new expertise without hierarchies

Empathy is crucial for connecting generations and preserving traditional wisdom through intergenerational projects

Intergenerational leadership means unlocking gates and opening networks rather than gatekeeping

Summary

Speakers agreed that effective intergenerational partnerships require mutual respect and active listening, combining youth’s fresh perspectives with older generations’ experience and wisdom.

Topics

Development | Human rights | Sociocultural

Access to resources and capital is a major barrier to youth leadership

Speakers

– Corinne Momal-Vanian
– Huan Ni
– Nils Berglund

Arguments

Lack of access to capital and resources is one of the biggest barriers to youth-led innovation

Youth wash – tokenistic participation where youth are plastic existence in conferences without meaningful involvement

Youth perspectives face challenges when multi-stakeholder engagement opportunities shrink

Summary

Speakers identified structural barriers that prevent youth from meaningful participation, including lack of financial resources and reduced opportunities for genuine engagement.

Topics

Economic | Development | Human rights

Similar viewpoints

Youth can and should be involved in serious policy research and implementation, moving beyond advocacy to create concrete policy impact through structured engagement mechanisms.

Speakers

– Nils Berglund
– Dorian Amanda Clarke
– Isabelle Lois

Arguments

Youth-authored report on AI and digital governance based on regional consultation that influenced policy networks

Leading digital campaigns and webinars connecting young people with climate data and early warning systems across the Caribbean

Including youth voices in policy creation through internships and multi-stakeholder consultations

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development | Human rights

Institutional commitment to youth engagement requires systematic integration across all organizational levels and structured programs that provide concrete opportunities for youth participation and leadership development.

Speakers

– Sylvia Poll Ahrens
– Jason Slater
– Tomas Lamanauskas

Arguments

Providing opportunities for youth to learn and create capacity then multiply efforts in their communities

Youth should be embedded throughout organizational frameworks from thought leadership to implementation

ITU has established multiple youth engagement initiatives including AI leaders hubs and robotics competitions

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Economic

Organizations and older generations need to adapt their approaches to match how youth actually learn, communicate, and innovate rather than imposing traditional methods.

Speakers

– Ashutosh Chadha
– Francis Gurry
– Huan Ni

Arguments

Understanding how youth want to get involved and adapting processes to their learning styles

Youth-led innovation like micro-dramas shows adaptation of traditional media to digital platforms

Youth serve as reverse mentors who empower organizations and create new content and initiatives

Topics

Sociocultural | Development | Economic

Unexpected consensus

Youth as reverse mentors and teachers to older generations

Speakers

– Huan Ni
– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Corinne Momal-Vanian

Arguments

Youth serve as reverse mentors who empower organizations and create new content and initiatives

Fresh perspective from youth is needed because they are not burdened by legacy experience and expertise

Intergenerational leadership means unlocking gates and opening networks rather than gatekeeping

Explanation

Unexpectedly, senior leaders and experienced professionals openly acknowledged that they need to learn from youth rather than just teach them. This represents a significant shift from traditional hierarchical relationships to more reciprocal learning partnerships.

Topics

Development | Human rights | Sociocultural

Criticism of traditional approaches and institutional processes

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Corinne Momal-Vanian
– Isabelle Lois

Arguments

Fresh perspective from youth is needed because they are not burdened by legacy experience and expertise

Intergenerational leadership is not a generation telling the younger generation what to do, because clearly we haven’t done it right

Daring to believe that we don’t know everything and the way we’ve been doing it might not be the best and we can find new solutions

Explanation

Senior institutional leaders unexpectedly acknowledged that traditional approaches may be inadequate and that established institutions need fundamental change. This level of self-criticism from those in leadership positions was surprising.

Topics

Development | Human rights | Legal and regulatory

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion revealed remarkably strong consensus across all speakers on key principles: youth as active innovators rather than passive beneficiaries, the need for meaningful rather than tokenistic participation, the value of intergenerational collaboration, and the importance of addressing structural barriers to youth leadership.

Consensus level

Very high level of consensus with no significant disagreements identified. The implications are positive for youth engagement in digital governance, as both youth and senior leaders are aligned on fundamental principles and approaches. This consensus provides a strong foundation for implementing concrete changes in how youth are included in WSIS processes and digital transformation initiatives.

Different viewpoints

Definition and scope of meaningful youth participation

Speakers

– Ashutosh Chadha
– Sylvia Poll Ahrens
– Dorian Amanda Clarke

Arguments

Important to have voice at the table, not just a seat, involving youth in entire technology value chain

Youth must be part of decision-making activities and included in delegations to conferences where decisions are made

Must move from token inclusion to shared decision-making with youth as co-designers of digital policies

Summary

While all speakers agreed on the need for meaningful youth participation, they emphasized different aspects: Chadha focused on having influence throughout the technology development process, Poll Ahrens emphasized formal inclusion in official delegations and decision-making bodies, while Clarke called for youth as co-designers rather than just participants in policy creation.

Topics

Human rights | Development | Legal and regulatory

Unexpected differences

Generational identity and age-based categorization

Speakers

– Tomas Lamanauskas
– Corinne Momal-Vanian

Arguments

Young people should be defined as those who have more dreams than memories

Unlike Thomas very much on the old side, I completely understand that I am a boomer but that’s okay

Explanation

An unexpected philosophical difference emerged regarding how to approach generational identity. Lamanauskas advocated for a mindset-based definition of youth that transcends chronological age, while Momal-Vanian explicitly embraced generational labels and accepted her position as a ‘boomer.’ This represents different approaches to intergenerational dialogue – one seeking to blur age boundaries and another acknowledging them while working across them.

Topics

Sociocultural | Human rights | Development

Overall assessment

Summary

The discussion showed remarkably high consensus on fundamental principles with disagreements primarily focused on implementation approaches and emphasis rather than core values. The main areas of difference involved the specific mechanisms for achieving meaningful youth participation and the best strategies for addressing barriers to youth leadership.

Disagreement level

Low level of disagreement with high collaborative potential. The speakers demonstrated strong alignment on goals with complementary rather than conflicting approaches to implementation. This suggests a mature dialogue where different perspectives can be synthesized rather than requiring resolution of fundamental conflicts. The implications are positive for advancing youth engagement in digital governance, as the various approaches can be combined into comprehensive strategies rather than requiring choice between competing visions.

Partial agreements

Similar viewpoints

Youth can and should be involved in serious policy research and implementation, moving beyond advocacy to create concrete policy impact through structured engagement mechanisms.

Speakers

– Nils Berglund
– Dorian Amanda Clarke
– Isabelle Lois

Arguments

Youth-authored report on AI and digital governance based on regional consultation that influenced policy networks

Leading digital campaigns and webinars connecting young people with climate data and early warning systems across the Caribbean

Including youth voices in policy creation through internships and multi-stakeholder consultations

Topics

Legal and regulatory | Development | Human rights

Institutional commitment to youth engagement requires systematic integration across all organizational levels and structured programs that provide concrete opportunities for youth participation and leadership development.

Speakers

– Sylvia Poll Ahrens
– Jason Slater
– Tomas Lamanauskas

Arguments

Providing opportunities for youth to learn and create capacity then multiply efforts in their communities

Youth should be embedded throughout organizational frameworks from thought leadership to implementation

ITU has established multiple youth engagement initiatives including AI leaders hubs and robotics competitions

Topics

Development | Infrastructure | Economic

Organizations and older generations need to adapt their approaches to match how youth actually learn, communicate, and innovate rather than imposing traditional methods.

Speakers

– Ashutosh Chadha
– Francis Gurry
– Huan Ni

Arguments

Understanding how youth want to get involved and adapting processes to their learning styles

Youth-led innovation like micro-dramas shows adaptation of traditional media to digital platforms

Youth serve as reverse mentors who empower organizations and create new content and initiatives

Topics

Sociocultural | Development | Economic

Key takeaways

Youth should be embedded as co-designers and decision-makers in digital transformation processes, not just participants or beneficiaries

Effective intergenerational leadership requires dialogue between youth energy/fresh perspectives and elder experience/wisdom through mutual listening

Youth are already driving innovation as digital natives who understand technology’s impact firsthand and can question established methods without being burdened by legacy approaches

Meaningful youth participation requires moving beyond tokenism (‘youth wash’) to provide genuine voice, influence, and ownership in policy-making processes

Local youth-led digital initiatives are making real community impact through climate action, policy research, space technology, and cross-cultural collaboration

Access to capital, resources, and networks remains the biggest barrier to youth leadership and innovation

Multi-stakeholder engagement opportunities are crucial for elevating youth voices in digital governance

Youth should be included in official delegations to decision-making conferences and embedded throughout organizational frameworks from strategy to implementation

Resolutions and action items

Include youth voices in the official Youth Track Outcome Report to shape WSIS review process input

Replicate ITU’s model of youth advisory boards and youth champions in other organizations and institutions

Fund youth-led innovations and startups rather than just showcasing ideas

Create youth challenge competitions addressing real-world problems that conclude at major international conferences

Provide capacity-building opportunities for youth to learn at international events and multiply efforts in their communities

Include young people in official delegations to statutory conferences where decisions are made

Establish formal mechanisms for youth to have voting rights and influence in outcomes, not just advisory roles

Develop skilling processes focused on future needs and youth learning styles rather than outdated approaches

Unresolved issues

How to systematically address youth unemployment and economic disparity while ensuring meaningful participation in digital governance

Specific funding mechanisms and amounts needed to support youth-led digital innovations at scale

How to balance fresh youth perspectives with necessary institutional knowledge and procedures

Methods for measuring the effectiveness of youth engagement beyond tokenistic participation

How to ensure geographic diversity and inclusion of youth from vulnerable regions in global digital governance

Specific structural changes needed in multilateral organizations to accommodate youth leadership

How to maintain momentum and scale up successful youth engagement practices across different sectors

Suggested compromises

Merge youth energy and fresh perspectives with elder experience and wisdom through structured intergenerational mentorship programs

Balance questioning of established methods with respect for institutional knowledge by creating safe spaces for youth to challenge processes while learning from experience

Address resource constraints by having experienced leaders unlock their networks and resources to youth rather than gatekeeping

Combine formal youth representation (seats at tables) with informal influence through advisory roles and consultation processes

Use multi-stakeholder platforms like Internet Governance Forums to elevate youth voices when traditional diplomatic channels may be less accessible

Adapt communication and engagement methods to youth preferences (like micro-content) while maintaining substantive policy discussions

I’m always conflicted when I’m asked to speak in an intergenerational part of youth tracks. Because when I speak in those tracks, I speak from the perspective of a generation of elder people. However, when I want to do something meaningful, like to run for ITU Deputy Secretary General, I’m being told I’m too young… I really like the description of the youth that I once heard from Rebecca Greenspan… She said, the young person who is defined that way is the person who has more dreams than memories.

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Reason

This comment reframes the entire youth-elder dynamic by highlighting the arbitrary nature of age-based categorizations and introduces a profound philosophical definition of youth based on aspirations rather than chronological age. It challenges traditional hierarchies and sets a tone of mutual respect.

Impact

This opening comment established the foundation for the entire discussion by breaking down generational barriers and creating psychological safety for genuine intergenerational dialogue. It influenced subsequent speakers to adopt more collaborative rather than patronizing tones when discussing youth engagement.

Fresh perspective that’s not, sorry to use that word, burdened by the legacy experience and expertise. It doesn’t mean that we don’t need legacy experience and expertise, because that brings wisdom and knowledge. But we need people who say, I don’t care that you used to do that work. I don’t care that this is how we agreed 20 years ago. The world is different now.

Speaker

Tomas Lamanauskas

Reason

This comment articulates a crucial tension in organizational change – the value of institutional memory versus the need for disruptive innovation. It legitimizes youth questioning of established practices while acknowledging the value of experience.

Impact

This perspective shift influenced multiple panelists to discuss moving beyond traditional consultation models to genuine co-creation, and it provided intellectual justification for why youth voices aren’t just nice-to-have but essential for organizational evolution.

Youth without innovation might be ignored or overlooked but innovation without youth is doomed to fail.

Speaker

Nils Berglund

Reason

This succinct statement captures a fundamental interdependency that challenges both youth advocates and established institutions. It suggests that innovation isn’t just enhanced by youth participation – it’s impossible without it.

Impact

This comment elevated the discussion from ‘how to include youth’ to ‘why youth inclusion is existentially necessary for innovation.’ It influenced subsequent speakers to frame youth engagement as a strategic imperative rather than a moral obligation.

If we don’t place youth and innovation at the heart of multilateral reform, there won’t be any reform at all.

Speaker

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Reason

This comment connects youth engagement directly to the broader crisis in multilateralism, suggesting that youth aren’t just stakeholders in reform but essential catalysts for it. It elevates the stakes of the discussion beyond individual organizations to global governance.

Impact

This comment shifted the conversation from tactical youth engagement strategies to strategic questions about the future of international cooperation, influencing later discussions about designing new multilateral systems.

I think intergenerational leadership is not a generation telling the younger generation what to do, because clearly we haven’t done it right. So we shouldn’t tell the others what to do. It’s about unlocking the gates. It’s really about opening our networks and our resources to the younger generation.

Speaker

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Reason

This comment represents a rare moment of institutional humility and self-reflection. It acknowledges systemic failures and reframes the elder generation’s role from directive to facilitative, challenging power dynamics.

Impact

This honest assessment influenced the tone of the entire discussion, encouraging other senior participants to adopt more humble, collaborative approaches and focus on resource-sharing rather than guidance-giving.

I think one of the biggest barriers is what I said, the fact that we have locked access to resources and to networks… What is not there always is the capital… this is one of the main barriers is lack of access to capital.

Speaker

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Reason

This comment cuts through idealistic rhetoric to identify concrete, systemic barriers. It shifts the discussion from abstract principles to practical obstacles and solutions, grounding the conversation in economic realities.

Impact

This intervention redirected the conversation toward practical solutions and resource allocation, influencing subsequent speakers to discuss specific mechanisms for funding and supporting youth-led initiatives.

I think the key word I learned from an Indonesian partner, he told me about youth wash. So this is my first time to learn about this term… they were the plastic existence in many international or national conferences.

Speaker

Huan Ni

Reason

Introducing the concept of ‘youth wash’ provides a critical framework for understanding tokenistic participation. This term crystallizes a widespread problem and gives participants language to identify and address superficial engagement.

Impact

This concept introduction influenced the latter part of the discussion, with multiple speakers referencing the need to move beyond tokenism to meaningful participation, and it provided a diagnostic tool for evaluating youth engagement initiatives.

It’s not important to have a seat at the table. It’s to ensure that there is a voice at the table… we need to innovate, design, develop, and deliver solutions around technology, not for youth, but build them with youth and through youth.

Speaker

Ashutosh Chadha

Reason

This comment distinguishes between symbolic representation and actual influence, while also articulating a progression from ‘for youth’ to ‘with youth’ to ‘through youth’ that represents increasing levels of agency and ownership.

Impact

This framework influenced subsequent discussions about meaningful participation and helped other panelists articulate more sophisticated models of youth engagement that go beyond consultation to genuine co-creation and leadership.

Overall assessment

These key comments fundamentally shaped the discussion by establishing intellectual frameworks that elevated the conversation beyond typical youth engagement rhetoric. Lamanauskas’s opening comments created psychological safety for honest dialogue by acknowledging generational complexity, while Momal-Vanian’s institutional humility enabled genuine self-reflection among senior participants. The introduction of concepts like ‘youth wash’ and the distinction between seats and voices provided analytical tools that influenced how participants framed their contributions. Most significantly, these comments shifted the discussion from ‘how to include youth’ to ‘why youth inclusion is essential for institutional survival and innovation,’ transforming youth engagement from a moral imperative to a strategic necessity. The cumulative effect was a more sophisticated, honest, and actionable conversation about intergenerational collaboration in digital governance.

How can we create more structured youth engagement frameworks that go beyond advocacy and awareness raising to include policy research and implementation?

Speaker

Nils Berglund

Explanation

This addresses the need to move youth engagement beyond traditional roles into more substantive policy development and implementation work, as demonstrated by the netmission.asia example

What specific mechanisms can be established to ensure youth have formal voting rights and decision-making power in multilateral processes?

Speaker

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Explanation

This focuses on moving from consultation to actual influence and decision-making authority for youth in formal governance structures

How can we develop better funding mechanisms and access to capital for youth-led digital innovations?

Speaker

Corinne Momal-Vanian

Explanation

This addresses one of the biggest barriers to youth leadership – lack of resources and capital to implement their innovative ideas

What would a comprehensive youth challenge or competition framework look like for addressing real-world problems through the WSIS process?

Speaker

Francis Gurry and Jason Slater

Explanation

This explores how to create structured innovation challenges that not only identify solutions but also provide pathways for implementation and funding

How can we better integrate youth perspectives into the design of future multilateral systems and digital diplomacy?

Speaker

Francis Gurry

Explanation

This addresses the crisis in multilateralism and the need for youth to help design new systems for international cooperation

What specific strategies can address youth unemployment and economic disparity while ensuring meaningful participation in digital governance?

Speaker

Audience question via Slido

Explanation

This connects economic realities with participation opportunities, requiring research into how to make engagement accessible to youth facing economic challenges

How can we develop better guidance and onboarding processes to help youth understand and engage with complex digital governance spaces?

Speaker

Isabelle Lois

Explanation

This addresses the complexity barrier that prevents youth from understanding how to engage meaningfully in technical policy discussions

What are the most effective ways to scale up successful youth engagement models like Youth IGFs to other areas of digital governance?

Speaker

Nils Berglund

Explanation

This focuses on replicating and expanding proven models of youth engagement across different governance contexts

How can we develop intergenerational mentorship programs that effectively combine traditional wisdom with contemporary digital innovation?

Speaker

Huan Ni

Explanation

This explores the practical implementation of programs that bridge generational knowledge gaps, as demonstrated by the climate proverbs project

What mechanisms can prevent ‘youth washing’ and ensure authentic rather than tokenistic youth participation?

Speaker

Huan Ni

Explanation

This addresses the critical issue of superficial youth inclusion and the need for genuine engagement frameworks