BEST Virtual Summit

A pandemic is a huge adversity with tremendous health, social, and economic consequences. A pandemic is also a opportunity. A permission to change, to build back better. COVID-19 highlighted how our world is interconnected and interdependent and how, today more than ever, a brighter future is only possible through international, cross-generational, and cross-sectoral inclusive cooperation.

BEST thrives to empower diversity. We see challenges as opportunities for a better way forward. As an organisation, and most importantly as young active volunteers, reaction wasn’t merely sufficient. Our belief in the power of youth contribution led us to the creation of BEST Virtual Summit (BVS), a youth-led space for meaningful conversations, inspiration, and value co-creation for young people who decide to take an active role in tackling important societal challenges and defining what is next.

BVS was an interesting challenge by itself. We had only 5 weeks to make it happen from conception to realization. Dozens of volunteers from all over Europe quickly came together to create an event that brought more than 50 prominent speakers from institutions such as the World Economic Forum and UNDP, universities such as ETH Zurich and Politecnico di Torino, companies such as Atos and JP Morgan, and organized over 40 sessions for 7 continuous days. The online event, entitled “Beyond The Pandemic”, gathered students, young professionals, thought leaders, universities, companies, and public institutions to network, discuss, inspire and get inspired, and define what’s next in Education, Work, and SDGs. It was a signal for young people to not just undergo the changes, but to help shape them.

The week-long event was not only full of insightful keynotes, hands-on workshops, discussion panels and networking opportunities between volunteers, but it was concluded with a real case study that challenged the attendees to craft a solution for a better inclusion of people with disabilities in the workplace. The case study was co-developed with Atos, the main partner of the event. The event was sponsored by Atos, InnoEnergy and Isomat and was supported by European Society for Engineering Education (SEFI), European Federation of National Engineering Associations (FEANI) and BEST Alumni Network.

Looking back at how BEST Virtual Summit was born, developed and lived by the volunteers and the stakeholders, it’s a reminder of the incredible value of youth civic societies such as BEST and how they can drive change in society, instead of reacting to it. BEST is a fertile environment that encourages young people to go beyond their boundaries, embrace the uncertainty of doing work that matters, and show up with something generous. BVS might have not changed the world, but it definitely is a signal that changing the world is possible, starting with ourselves.