The Youth Cafe Attends Open Think Tank Network Conference 2019
From Fri, Oct 4, 2019, 1:00 PM to Tue, Sun 6, 2019 2:30 PM
By Giulia Castelnovo
Open Think Tank Network Conference 2019 session in progress.
The majority of Kenyan youth is excluded from meaningful participation in civic processes. And yet, young generations are any society's best asset to secure democracy.
Last year, while I was attending a congress in Milan, I had the chance to share some words with Willice Onyango, the young author of the first Kenya Youth Manifesto. Together with his team, organised in the non-governamental organisation The Youth Café, Willice advocates for diversity, environmental sustainability, active citizenship and youth empowerment in Kenya.
Luca Brunner explains a point during the conference.
On the other side of the globe, a network of passionate youngsters has managed to create something unique: the first global network of grassroot think tanks - the Open Think Tank Network.
Within the network, member think tanks work together on key issues in international affairs and are committed to developing constructive, coherent and future-oriented policy solutions. Such an organisation aims to be a game-changer in shaping our future and shares a culture of open debate and discussion. As explained in their website (https://knowledge.openthinktank.org/), all organisations which are part of the Open TTN network are non-partisan and inclusive.
Time for food and drinks!
All great adventure come to those who share the same passion. From Africa to Europe, the Youth Café and The Open TTN share a common interest for youth advocacy and empowerment, but more than a few kilometers separate them. For this reason, when Willice asks me to represent The Youth Cafe at the Open Think Tank annual conference in Vienna, as part of my volunteer programme, I am more than happy to go.
A panel session.
Once landed in Vienna, it takes me some time to reach the place in which I will spend the night. And it is during these hours that I keep asking myself: what is the passion that unites the two organisations?
Inside the metro, there is a man playing with a Rubik cube. He moves his hands fast on the coloured toy, making a dry sound. After less than ten moves he is done: the Rubik enigma is solved. People around do not seem to have noticed his extraordinary speed and the potential of his simple, dry gestures, but I do. I smile at him, and he smiles me back. He mixes the small coloured components of his cube again, and after less than six moves the four surfaces are tainted with the same colour: the enigma is solved again. I smile at him, and he smiles me back.
Group session.
Now that the conference is over and that a few months have passed, I might have the answer to that queston that was keeping me company during my first day in Vienna, on my way to the hostel. What is the passion that unites the two organisation? The Youth Café and the Open Think Tank network share a strong common faith in collective intelligence.
Through collective intelligence, the Youth Café has managed to extract policy ideas from the bottom, lifting them up and transforming them into meaningful, long-lasting projects that had a real impact on Kenyan society.
The city of Vienna.
Likewise, whithin the Open Think Tank network, a dazzling energy vibrates making unique things happen. As their Swiss members Foraus who created a public digital platform aimed at creating political impact by pushing "policy recipes" to decision makers (https://www.policykitchen.com/landing-page/policy-kitchen-crowdsourcing-policy-recipes).
And how much do you believe in collective intelligence? Do you want to get involved? Would you like to know more about the Youth Cafe upcoming projects with the Open TTN? Don't miss your chance to become an agent of youth empowerment and get in touch with us!