ם The young students of the “Tel Aviv Summer Youth University” in a mission for a better future

The young students of the Summer Youth University, were called this year for a special mission; As part of the WYRED project (netWorked Youth Research for Empowerment in the Digital society) – a cross-border European project, funding by “Horizon 2020, Europe in a changing world” – they were asked to explore the future society, and – representing the young generation – point out dilemmas and issues that they will present as a challenge to the decision-makers, locally and globally.

The participants  received a good luck greeting from  Dr. Tal Soffer, head of The unit for technology and society foresight (TSF) at Tel Aviv University, partner in the project.  

The program began with a video clip – presented by imaginary student from the year 2030, who described a pessimistic scenario of the future, wich required their  immediate action in order to have a better future.   The first phase was a journey of learning and researching various problems related to the current reality and the future of  the Israeli society through tours and lectures in a variety of subjects: artificial intelligence, information society, economic gaps, cultural and social cleavages, inclusion and issues relating to sustainability and mega cities.

During the next phase, the students will receive practical tools that will enable them to learn different ways to express their opinions, engage large audiences and reach decision makers. This will be done through lectures about social activity, lobbying, media workshops and more. 

Summer Youth University is a project that enables high school students from Israel’s geographic periphery, most of whom are the first generation for higher education in their family, to have an academic semester at Tel Aviv University. The participants in the program, who have a high potential for excellence in studies, are located with the help of high school principals from the north, to the south. As such, they are a representative and fresh expression of the spectrum of voices of the younger generation in Israel. Tel-Aviv Youth University operates in the Tel Aviv University’s School of Education. It is the largest, most innovative and comprehensive excellence center in Israel.