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I created this eLearning pathway at the request of a youth peace delegation participating in the UN General Assembly in New York for the first time. In the context of intergenerational knowledge transfer, they asked me to share lessons learned through my years of advocacy.
As I have consulted the Austrian Parliament (in communications and cross-cultural topics) for decades, I have many contacts there. In that regard, I regularly set up impactful intergenerational dialogues. For example, in recent months this has involved two young peace advocates (Doaa Al Zamel and Malaika Oringo) meeting with Parliamentarians. In former years, this has also meant dialogues with elders such as Ela Ghandi and atomic bomb survivors.
I developed a scalable design feature for engaging global youth in making positive social changes. This design was later chosen to be featured at the UNs’ High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Given subsequent requests for more details, I created this eLearning path to enable others to replicate the design.
During the 2015 Syrian refugee wave, I identified four high-potential young women of a refugee background who were struggling to survive on their own in the EU. I combined them into a group, gave them mentoring, and facilitated their entry into university programs. These women now have developed into recognized leaders in fields ranging from medicine to climate action.
I have conducted media-literacy trainings for young people in many contexts, such as for the Global Shapers community, at European Forum Alpbach, in high schools, and beyond. Topics include how to evaluate information, ask critical questions, avoid manipulation, and safely engage in digital spaces – among other areas. These workshops have evolved with the changing media landscape.
Since 2007, the Austrian Parliament has run a very successful program for high school students to learn about ‘democratic political processes, (political) participation, and civil society engagement’. I have supported this program by conducting related workshops, bringing in intergenerational speakers, and making connections to other global entities.
For over a decade, I have collaborated with the Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) in creating public access TV segments. For roughly that same period of time, I have supported the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation in training its journalists.
In addition, I create a variety of multimedia items on my own, offered for global classroom use on a pro bono basis.
This initiative aims at conducting in-depth interviews with war witnesses (WWII to contemporary) to learn from their wisdom about retaining personal peace and leading a life contributing to the greater good.
Having been a teacher for decades, I supported this youth-oriented book project with advice on strategic positioning for classroom use. In addition, I made the website and mentored corresponding eLearning creation.
I developed this showcase format to create community, educational multimedia, and shared solutions for contemporary challenges. As you can see on each Hub, the teams are completely intergenerational.
I initiated, developed, and coordinated this intergenerational United Nations Vienna event – and on a pro bono basis. In the process, I mentored a youth team and supported follow-up projects.