GOING BACK TO THE FUTURE: PLANS FOR THE YCI FORUM PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

GOING BACK TO THE FUTURE: PLANS FOR THE YCI FORUM

The annual program of the YCI Forum is just the start of the engagement with participants, keeping the energy in the network, deepening connections between participants in the 2020 cohort, and linking them with their local hubs will be the focus of the Forum activities in late-2020 and through 2021.

YCI HUB COMMITMENTS: WHAT ARE OUR SURVIVAL STRATEGIES FOR GOING BACK TO REALITY?

During the final session of the 2020 Forum program, participants were asked to discuss one thing that they will do together as a hub after the program. This is what they said: Abu Dhabi Hub: We are already working together as a team, supporting emerging artists develop their creative practice by leveraging the power of philanthropy. Baltimore Hub: start a WhatsApp group and meet in person (when we can!) Buenos Aires Hub: We’ll set up another meeting in order to start working together Cape Town Hub: We will meet up once a month to connect, know what people doing, and develop ideas. Step 1: Cape Town ice cream date! Canada Hub: Our first concrete action will be to meet again online! Maybe not at 5:00am for the Vancouver crew… Japan Hub: We will organize Zoom→Youtube stream program to PR YCI. We think more people want to join! Malta Hub: Meet up Meet up Meet up!! Upper Midwest Hub: 1.) Set up an e-mail group! 2.) Zoom check-in in two weeks! Memphis/Detroit/New Orleans Hubs: ROAD TRIP VISIT Nairobi Hub: We will be hosting a Poetry Slam Even that seeks to intersect Political Change and Art…We have also created a WhatsApp group…as we believe this is the beginning of the conversation. Salzburg Hub: A meeting and sharing about each other’s projects in one month, seeing where it leads

PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

NOVEMBER WORKSHOPS WEEK

YCIs participated in a second series of pocket session workshops during the week of November 23, 2020. In an effort to deepen connections across cohorts, YCIs from other years of the program also had the option to participate in these workshops.

YCI HUB HUDDLES

The 2020 YCIs have been introduced to their local YCI Hub by email. A series of Hub Huddles organized by Salzburg Global, the first round of which will take place in December 2020, will help to start them to build relationships in their local Hubs.

JANUARY YCI 2020 REUNION WEBINAR

In early January, YCIs will take part in the first post-program webinar. This will focus on the Sustainable Development Goals and build on the Chaordia City activity during the October program.

YCI IN THE WORLD: EITHER VIRTUAL OR IN-PERSON

Since it is likely that convening a globally representative group of participants in Salzburg in 2021 will present a challenge due to continued restrictions on travel as a result of the pandemic despite a possible vaccine, the 2021 YCI Forum is planned to again take place virtually. This approach will be complimented by an increased number of online engagement activities throughout the year, to connect the network and to deepen connections between YCIs. As it is likely that local and regional in-person meetings will be able to take place soonest, the Forum will focus on supporting YCIs to connect within their hubs and on supporting the organization of regional meetings either online, or inperson where it is safe to do so.

CONNECTING THE YCI FORUM TO THE CULTURE, ARTS AND SOCIETY SERIES

Over the past decade, Salzburg Global Seminar’s Culture, Arts, and Society series has focused on the transformative power of the arts to shape a better world. Through futurefocused programs and projects, it has sought to raise the profile of culture and the arts in policy agendas, catalyze exchange and collaboration across disciplines and sectors, and sustain a unique creative community across continents.

In the next phase of the program between 2021-2025, all Fellows of the Culture, Arts, and Society series and the Young Cultural Innovators Forum will be invited to participate in a new Forum, which will focus on actively inserting artists and creatives into efforts to reimagine, build, and ensure futures that are more humane for people and planet.

The following critical themes will form the basis of the new Forum’s activities:

• Advancing Cultural Justice, Decolonization, Inclusion, and Diversity • Engaging the Arts as a Catalyst for Well-Being, Healing and Creating Healthier Communities • Creatively Reimagining Education and Learning • Designing a More Livable and Sustainable Planet

TOPICAL AFFINITY CLUSTERS

The topics above have surfaced in various formats within the YCI Forum over the years and will form the basis of cross-Hub, cross-cohort Affinity Clusters within the YCI network. The goal of these clusters is to share best practices, stimulate new ideas and ultimately to advance progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.

All members of the YCI Forum network and the new culture-focused Forum, will be invited to become members of these new cross-program Affinity Clusters. Select thought leaders from other areas of Salzburg Global programming may also be invited to participate in the clusters either as members or as guest speakers.

The interdisciplinary and intersectional nature of these clusters will allow YCIs to build cross-sectoral connections with Fellows from other areas of Salzburg Global programming such as education and work, finance and governance, justice and security, planet and health, media and voice.