Muscat Youth Summit 2010 English Report by Sami Asmi

summit report 2010

youth beyond borders

Contents

Our Nation, Our Youth - 2 About Brand Oman Management Unit - 4 The Muscat Youth Summit - 5 Muscat Youth Summit Partners - 6 Realizing Potential - 7 Talking Across Cultures - 8 Core Goals - 9

Day 1 - Entrepreneurship - 10 Workshop Recommendations - 10 Day2 - Urban Development - 12 Workshop Recommendations - 17 Day 3 -Media - 18 Workshop Recommendations - 20 Muscat Youth Summit Field Trips - 22 Muscat Youth Summit in the Media - 25 Our Demographic Window of Opportunity - 25 Summit Feedback - 26

Nurturing and supporting the required qualities, skills and talent in our youth will strengthen Oman, making it a smarter, healthier, wealthier, attractive and greener nation.

Our Nation, Our Youth HH Faisal bin Turki Al Said, COO, Brand Oman Management Unit We live in a world where countries are often viewed as products and the appeal of a nation is measured in terms of its ability to provide labour, land, services and industrial infrastructures to businesses. In addition, proper resources for housing, shopping, leisure and other amenities for residents and tourists play a vital part in attracting commerce, industry and investment. In this regard, BOMU is working with multiple partners in the public and private sector to help differentiate Oman from other nations. This will

facilitate the promotion of the Sultanate’s place product offer – to make its national identity, its brand stand out. In simple terms, a nation’s brand is a multidimensional assortment of functional, emotional, relational and strategic elements that collectively generate a unique set of associations in the public’s mind. This set of associations creates a brand image – a bundle of ideas, feelings and attitudes that people have about a particular country. We believe the astute branding of Oman will

highlight the essence of the Sultanate to the international community. This, in turn, will assist potential investors, residents and tourists identify its core benefits, values, style and culture, whilst helping them ascertain the sources of place products relevant to their needs. In all of this, it is important that we project Oman’s stance on youth entrepreneurship, urban development, innovation and creativity. We must demonstrate to the world that we understand the enterprise culture, its significance to our social and

economic development and are nurturing a youth with an understanding of that culture and the capability to carry those values forward. Indeed, as a nation, we actively encourage innovators, talent and ideas that add value to Oman as a country and to our offer as a nation. It is this philosophy that is at the heart of Muscat Youth Summit. The Muscat Youth Summit is not only about insight, it is about large-scale involvement from a diverse range of young people, business, government, academia and the third sector. Hundreds of young people’s voices are

encapsulated in this Report, telling us what kind of future they want to see for Oman and how they want to achieve that goal. In particular they want more opportunities: • To get hands-on with real projects that will benefit them and the Sultanate. • For leadership and control in their relationships with business, government, education and the third sector. These young people are a sharp reminder of the talent Oman has at its fingertips and it is our collective responsibility to ensure

their thoughts and ideas are taken forward. Indeed, the endeavours of our youth in enterprise, their energy, enthusiasm and success present a wonderful image of Oman to the world and, as such, are a key part of our branding efforts. In its second year Muscat Youth Summit is, like its participants, still developing and, again like its participants, showing enormous potential for the future. We are proud of our achievements so far and are very aware that this could not have been accomplished without the support of our

partners. We value their enthusiasm, input and commitment to our goals as we value their belief in the potential of our youth. Muscat Youth Summit has a great role to play in supporting our young people; helping them become responsible citizens and equipping them with the skills necessary for personal growth and the achievement of their full potential. Nurturing and supporting the required qualities, skills and talent in our youth will strengthen Oman, making it a smarter, healthier, wealthier, more

attractive and greener nation. Our youth will, in time, assume responsibility for our national competitiveness, our national success and our aim is to prepare them well for this task.

About Brand Oman Management Unit The Brand Oman Management Unit (BOMU) was launched in January 2009 and has been set up to create value for Oman by aligning the messages that the Sultanate already conveys, in accordance with a powerful and distinctive strategic vision. By working in conjunction with private and public sector partners we will unlock the talent of Oman’s people, businesses

and institutions, thereby creating a powerful, effective and memorable voice which will enhance our international reputation. We believe that developing and communicating a strong national brand identity can only help speed up Oman’s development by attracting investments, entrepreneurial talent and tourists. That, in turn, will build familiarity

with, and loyalty to, Oman’s unique products and services, help local companies grow and create jobs and increase the Sultanate’s global influence. But it is important to put our branding efforts in historical context, it is something we have been engaged in since the 15th Century, when Ahmed ibn Majid – probably the Arab World’s greatest

navigator – helped Vasco da Gama sail from Africa to India. Moreover, Oman was the first Arab nation to establish diplomatic ties with the US and, by all accounts, the 1840 crew of the Sultanah took New York by storm. So, as a nation, we have been out talking to people about who we are, what we stand for and what we offer the world for centuries.

The Muscat Youth Summit

This Report is an outcome of the 2nd Muscat Youth Summit, ‘Youth Beyond Borders’ held at Al Nadha Resort & Spa, Barka, Sultanate of Oman, 1 – 4 November 2010, attracting 180 young people aged 15 – 24 from 14 countries. It offers an overview of the workshops held during the four-day program as well as a set of recommendations suggested by Summit participants on entrepreneurship, urban development and media.

Realizing Potential

Muscat Youth Summit values the support of all its partners, be they in government, the business community, education or the third sector. Indeed, the event was founded on the principle of partnership – partnership enables Muscat Youth Summit to give young people exposure to some of today’s most important issues; to meet their diverse and growing needs; to help them flourish and contribute to their respective communities; to guide them towards realizing their full potential; and to prepare them to meet the challenges of the future and to lead Oman, in the years to come, onto the world stage with pride and to compete in the international arena with confidence.

Andrea Coleman, Young Foundation, talks to HE Habib Al Riyami, Secretary General of Sultan Qaboos Center for Islamic Culture and HH Sayyid Faisal Al Said

Partners The Summit was generously supported by Oman’s Ministry of Education, The Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science, UNESCO, Omantel, Khimji Ramdas, Oman Air, Sohar Aluminium, OMIFCO, Omran, Qalhat LNG, City Cinema, Al Wisal FM, Times of Oman and Oman Daily. Workshops were delivered by The Prince’s Youth Business International; The Commonwealth Secretariat;

The Young Foundation; Omran; Intilaaqah; Omantel; Knowledge Horizon; Atkins; Landor Associates; GUTech; Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council; Aedas Architects Ltd; Flip Media; SB.TV; United Media Service; Al Wisal FM and O2. Summit participants were joined at various points throughout the four days by HE Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Dr. Salim Al Ruzaiqi, CEO, Information Technology Authority and HE Habib Al Riyami, Secretary General

for the Sultan Qaboos Centre for Islamic Culture. It is encouraging to see the continued support of senior government officials and the Muscat Youth Summit delegates appreciate them giving up their time to attend the Summit and value the fact that they listened to their thoughts and opinions. The Summit’s media coverage was very positive, with appearances on satellite TV as well as articles in domestic and international print media and online news sites.

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Core Goals

Promote citizenship skills, responsibility and an effective framework for community participation.

Talking Across Cultures

A variety of important domestic and international challenges were discussed at the Summit, from youth entrepreneurship, urban development to the power and reach of social media.

Muscat Youth Summit is intent on helping young people find new opportunities in life, with particular emphasis on entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and urban development. It has also been designed to strengthen youth-related policies, help government organizations, business and the third sector address youth concerns and

support new information and learning channels for young people. Moreover, the Summit blends social interaction with cultural, economic and entrepreneurial components to create a cohesive experience that promotes cross-cultural youth dialogue and socially responsible leadership. We hope you find this Report informative and can take something from it. Indeed, it is marvelous to see the progress that the Muscat Youth Summit has made over the past two years and we are confident it will continue to flourish in the years to come.

Nurture young leaders and provide opportunities for young people to develop entrepreneurial and creative skills.

Develop the skills, aspirations and talents of young people in order to increase their employability.

Improve confidence levels and self-esteem amongst young people.

Enable young people to achieve through new experiences, challenges and activities.

Recognize skills, abilities, talent and excellence.

Increase cultural awareness, diversity and understanding.

Encourage young people to engage in community development.

Getting to Grips with Entrepreneurship As the world emerges from the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, what better time to launch a start-up business? There are a host of questions to answer when considering entrepreneurship: Where do I start? Where are the emerging opportunities? How do I discover such opportunities? How do I finance my idea? These were just some of the issues explored on the first day of Muscat Youth Summit.

Day 1

Entrepreneurship

Workshops deliver ed by: o The Commonw ealth Secretariat o The Prince’s Yo uth Business Internat ional o The Young Foun dation o Knowledge Horizo n o Intilaaqah

Youth in the World Today Today’s global youth population is at a historical high of more than 1.2 billion. At a time when 87% of these young people live in developing countries, many are unable to secure decent work, as youth are on average three times as likely to be unemployed as adults. In the last 10 years, the world’s youth population grew by 10.5% while youth employment only grew by 0.2%. The International Labour Organization is also estimating that another 1 billion young people will enter the world’s labour market within the next 10 years.

Given this demographic explosion it is critical that we identify and pursue innovative approaches for increasing and improving economic opportunities for young people. Moreover, young people often see their communities as places with little economic activity or opportunity. With this in mind, Muscat Youth Summit workshops presented entrepreneurship as an opportunity to create positive change.

Workshop Recommendations Enterprise Oman

Multiply the Summit’s domestic and international reach by creating similar learning opportunities through entrepreneurial workshops, seminars and exhibitions for a wider range of young people.

Support Networks of Young Innovators Several Muscat Youth Summit participants are already involved in innovation and entrepreneurship clubs at university. There is an opportunity to formally support these groups and help integrate their activity with that of the Summit.

Give Muscat Youth Summit participants an opportunity to apply first-hand the procedures and techniques learnt at the Summit in public and private sector internships.

can bring and explored ways to use their talents for a greater social good. Indeed, the workshops were designed as an introduction to entrepreneurship and covered the characteristics of an entrepreneur, the process of evaluating business opportunities, target customers and market mix, business plan basics and securing and managing funds to start a business.

business environments, ethics, management, production, marketing, accounting and global interests. At the end of each workshop participants took part in a business start-up project pitch to a panel of judges.

Students learnt how to assess and evaluate their ideas for a new business and how to develop an idea into a written outline.

Summit participants considered examples of entrepreneurship in their own community, brainstormed changes that new business

The workshops also offered Muscat Youth Summit participants a brief survey of business functions including forms of business ownership,

Work Connect

Oman Summer Service (OSS)

Business Mentor Oman (BMO)

OSS is an initiative designed to hire students for jobs that can last up to 16 weeks, beginning in June and ending September 30.

A program aimed at linking young entrepreneurs and mentors in a supportive relationship; introducing the concepts and benefits of mentoring and stimulating business learning through a mentor’s experience.

An online resource that will register job vacancies and help employers find the right person for the job.

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Urban Opportunities

Day 2 workshops gave students an insight into urban planning, defined what urbanism is, what makes good and bad places to live and work, and to encourage Summit participants to think about how lessons learnt from other cities might be applied to the future of Oman’s urban development.

Themes & Activities

The workshop program included a range of activities including discussion, role play, video clips, question and answer sessions, practical exercises, case studies and team work to present innovative urban development solutions for different locations in Oman. Role-play sessions sought to give participants an understanding of strategic planning issues – it is relatively easy to look at urbanism piecemeal and locally, but good strategic planning has a wider field of vision and longer term view – with many peripheral and balancing influences.

Students analyzed different cases of urban life through images and models.

Workshops were based on the assumption that city life comes with social, economic and ecological risks. However, city dwellers also find opportunities in the urban environment which researchers call ‘the urban advantage’. This positive force consists of four aspects: density, scale, association and extension. Unless these aspects are integrated, urbanization comes without urbanity. Students analyzed and compared different quantitative aspects of cities, such as density and scale. They also examined the qualitative aspects of human interaction in and between cities through case studies. Rapidly growing cities often not only double their size in short periods of time, they also triple or quadruple their area. The current global trend of urbanization is therefore also a challenge of density and a quest for the non-renewable resource

of space. Modernist city planning of the 20th Century advocated disperse cities, however, today’s urban designers call for compact cities. In order to get an understanding and feeling for the topic of urban density, students analyzed and compared different Middle East, African and European cities. Students learnt that cities are less about single buildings, but rather about the relationship between them and the activities and people they host. Urbanity – the way of living in cities – requires structures that allow for the interaction and exchange of people, goods and ideas within and beyond its boundaries. In order to understand this ‘software’ of a city, students analyzed different cases of urban life through images and models. The aim was to create an awareness of how the built environment enables us – and also sometimes disables us – to interact with others in order to trade, learn, work, relax and progress. Oman has been both circumspect and farsighted in its approach to development. In terms of recent events in the Gulf region this approach has proven to be a successful model. However,

students analyzed and discussed the Sultanate’s increase in population, the decrease of fossil resources, global warming, changes in lifestyle and the growth of in-bound tourism – all of which are set to challenge Oman’s urban development. Day 2 workshops were effective as they not only provided information to expand awareness of urban development but they also provided opportunities for Muscat Youth Summit participants to explore their own abilities to apply urban development concepts and create ideas and projects for developing their respective communities

Workshop Recommendations 1 Present the work of Summit participants to government bodies overseeing ‘Oman’s Vision 2020’ plan enactment so that Omani youth can have an influence over its detailed content and application. This would give output from Muscat Youth Summit some real purpose, it could also be a stepping stone to wider youth consultation.

< Overhead view of Seeb. (Map used for illustrative purposes only. May not be according to scale.)

Digital Muscat 2.0 – a map that captures and categorizes Muscat’s digital environment. The map would profile the city’s leading websites, blogs, forums, social networks, portals, attractions, amenities, hotels, museums, galleries, sports facilities and creative businesses. In brief, provide a journey through Muscat’s digital landscape.

2 Create an online Urban Learning Network connecting Muscat Youth Summit participants which could be taken further (meetings, discussion groups, group trips, site visits, lectures, etc.) for those who would like to learn more about urban development and its elements. Professionals in this field could be involved as mentors and discussion facilitators.

5 Affordable Housing Design Competition – the competition would seek to find a new exemplary architectural design for affordable Omani family housing. This new type of housing would provide a sustainable, spacious and high-quality living environment for its residents.

3 Collaborate with domestic and international organizations that could offer internship programs to participants interested in urban development.

6 Know Your Neighbourhood – teams of students would compete against each other, accruing points by visiting a variety of places throughout Muscat, solving historical, cultural and urban puzzles.

Day 3 Media Workshops delivered by:  Al Wisal FM  SB.TV  O2  Flip Media  Omantel  United Media Services

Hands-on Experience

Getting in Touch with Social & Digital Media

Day 3 workshops were a mix of practical and theory that focused on the changing landscape of mainstream media (MSM) as well as the rise of social and digital media.

Over the past few years, social media has had a significant impact on people’s daily lives. The global conversation we now have because of Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube – now the second largest search engine in the world after Google – would have been unimaginable 10 years ago. In short, social and digital media communication tools are profoundly changing our lives and how we interact with one another and the world around us. Large media companies will not disappear overnight, nor will the need to communicate by phone or meet people in person, but social and digital media is providing another means of engaging with people and, if used effectively, will provide people with a greater choice in how they live their lives and what happens in their world. Moreover, since half the world’s population is under 29 and over 70% of 12 - 29 year-olds are on social networks, there is no doubt that social and digital media will play an integral role in the lives of young people.

Workshops offered Muscat Youth Summit participants an opportunity to analyze various aspects of MSM as well as social and digital media including magazine content, layout, design and editing. Training in professional digital cameras, filming and editing was also offered. With the guidance of experienced documentary filmmakers, workshops showed participants how to approach sound, camera and editing in the context of the documentary. They also benefited from individual mentoring as they shot and edited a short Muscat Youth Summit film. A further workshop offered students the opportunity to learn about radio broadcasting, the departments that make up a radio station and the companies driving today’s radio broadcast industry. Students also learnt about the technical skills required to be a radio announcer, running a mixing board, playing CDs, music scheduling, audience research and copyright issues. By the end of the workshop, students had created their own radio station.

Day 3 workshops clearly identified the fact that today’s media landscape is rapidly changing and the future of journalism and communication will in a large part be driven by young entrepreneurial and innovative talent.

Build a social bookmark library of relevant educational links to research, presentations, blogs and videos.

The Changing Media Landscape The newspaper industry is expected to shrink significantly in terms of circulation, readers and advertising revenue. However, skilled journalists and media outlets – whether they are in print or online – will enjoy increased following and continue to influence. Workshop participants fully expect traditional news and social media to become entwined in a real-time multimedia format, covering local as well as global issues with a professional rigour and eagerness never seen before.

Launch a weekly youth radio program.

Organize ‘Creative MCT’ a week-long celebration of creativity in Omani advertising; film and video; broadcasting; publishing; architecture; design; music; visual arts and performing arts.

Workshop Recommendations

Internships in mediarelated organizations.

Establish ‘Crowdsourcing Muscat’ an online community created to ask young people how they would like to see Oman’s capital city improve by sending in ideas, reviewing them and then showing progress of the idea. The most insightful and tangible ideas from Crowdsourcing Muscat will be taken forward to a co-creation workshop. The workshop will see those who contributed to www. crowdsourcingmuscat.com come together with urban experts and key Muscat stakeholders to refine the best concepts and convert them into robust solutions. The top three ideas collected from the co-creation workshop will be put up for voting online and the idea with the most votes will then be presented to Muscat Municipality.

Spearheaded by BOMU, Creative MCT would invite domestic organizations involved in the creative life of Oman’s educational, arts, design, advertising, music, service organizations to participate. Indeed, the breadth and quality of Muscat’s talent pool are the essential building blocks for Creative MCT and the city’s growing creative economy. They are the artists, performers, writers, musicians, architects, sound technicians, graphic and fashion designers and many others whose ideas and unique skills give form to Muscat’s rich cultural life. Events would include, though are not limited to, presentations, films, seminars, recitals, exhibitions and networking events.

Generate Haiku-poems of experiences we have had with Oman. Some of the best Haiku-poems describe daily situations in a way that gives the reader a brand new experience of a wellknown situation. Poems are to be displayed at a public exhibition and produced in an accompanying booklet.

Day

Field Trips Field trips provided participants with the opportunity to connect Summit workshop learning to real-world experiences. Indeed, the shared experience of a Muscat Youth Summit field trip allowed students to reflect together on a common experience which enhanced their learning beyond the traditional classroom environment. In brief, Muscat Youth Summit field trips offered students the chance to draw on the sounds, smells and textures of the real world which gave them a powerful learning experience.

Asian Beach Games site visit organized by Omran

Yoga

organized by Art of Living

Horse riding

organized by the Omani Equestrian Association

Muscat Youth Summit in the Media

The work to increase Muscat Youth Summit presence in the media continued this year. In total, the Summit was covered in over 40 domestic and international print and online publications as well as on satellite TV, generating editorial worth in excess of US$100,000 that reached an audience of millions.

Our Demographic Window of Opportunity Oman boasts a range of thriving businesses in sectors that include technology, tourism, oil and gas, manufacturing, banking, engineering, construction, design and healthcare. As well as providing employment and earnings, these businesses help boost productivity, attract investment and talent and push the boundaries of innovation, entrepreneurship and skills development. However, the recent global economic crisis has changed how businesses around the world think and operate. Over the past 20 years the norm has been to obtain competitive advantage through lower costs and faster speeds – getting things to work better than they did before. But in today’s environment, businesses have to offer something different, they have to have a competitive edge; those that succeed will be organizations that offer customers added value – this will not be achieved by cutting costs but by enriching the product, service or experience they provide. Will Oman’s business community be able to meet the challenges inherent in this? We are a young nation and to be successful it is something in which we must involve our youth – they are our future, the key to our competitiveness. It is a challenge that Oman’s youth have to rise to and a task, given what we witnessed at Muscat Youth Summit 2010, to which they are clearly well-matched.

Summit Feedback I thought Muscat Youth Summit was amazing! What an opportunity for the students to mix with others, both from elsewhere in Oman and from other cultures. It seems to blend good planning and organization with a relaxed ‘go with the flow’ atmosphere, which was significantly helped by the enthusiasm and self discipline of the students. I have never been with, and didn’t expect to find, such a well mannered and respectful group of young people – it made our role so much easier and more enjoyable. I would not hesitate to participate again, or recommend it to others. Dominic Boyes, Aedas Architects Ltd (www.aedas.com)

Many thanks for inviting us to join the Muscat Youth Summit. We were inspired by the energy of the young people we met and impressed by the focus on promoting innovation among the next generation of Omanis. Congratulations on pulling off such an impactful event. Andrea Coleman, The Young Foundation (www.youngfoundation.org)

A very well organized event. The organizers were very prompt in responding to any request we had. Participating students were a joy to work with. Overall, an outstanding initiative.

The Summit was successful in bringing young people from various backgrounds and interests together to explore important topics of our time.

I was impressed by the Summit and really enjoyed the social media workshop. I met lots of new people from different parts of the world. It was a great learning experience, thank you!

The Summit was very well organized and the BOMU Team energetic, helpful and charming until the end. Aswathy Karthikeyan, Flip Media (www.flipcorp.com)

Dalal Darwish, Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com)

Salim Al Riyami, Summit Participant, Oman

This is exactly the kind of event we’ve been looking for. The workshop presenters, agenda, topics and location were great. Every session I went to was thought provoking.

Mohammed Al Salmi, Oman Telecommunications Company SAOG (www.omantel.net.om)

Patrick Pender, Summit Participant, Ireland Muscat Youth Summit was well organized and the calibre of participants was a revelation. Mayank Singh, Oman Economic Review (www.oeronline.com)

I enjoyed it enormously and the students were simply terrific, spirited and engaged. Peter Oborn, Aedas Architects Ltd (www.aedas.com)

Muscat Youth Summit was inspirational and life-changing. Umaima Al Hosni, Summit Participant, Oman

The Urban Development workshop taught me about environmental, transport, heritage and design issues I’d never associated with cities before. Muscat Youth Summit opened my eyes to how cities function. An excellent event and one I’ll definitely be recommending to friends. Sara Ali, Summit Participant, Bahrain

As a representative of the Netherlands National Commission for UNESCO I’d like to thank BOMU for organizing the Muscat Youth Summit. The opportunity to meet so many people from different countries and to gain an insight into Oman was absolutely fantastic. Roy Spijkerboer, Summit Participant, Holland

Supporters

Strategic Sponsors

Official Carrier

Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsor

Bronze Sponsors

Media Sponsors

Further copies are available from: Brand Oman Management Unit Marketing and Research Department PO Box 25 Wadi Kabir, 117 Sultanate of Oman Tel: +968 24623393; Fax: +968 24623336 E-mail orders and enquiries: info@muscatyouthsummit.com www.muscatyouthsummit.com