By Shahad Haif
DUBAI — Expo 2020 arranged on Nov. 14, 2015, at Meydan Hotel’s Sky Bubble a full-day forum called Youth Connect and filled it with workshops and talks to inspire young adults to participate in sharing their ideas and skills for improving Expo 2020 projects.
Youth Connect targeted youth between 18-25 years old, and successful business people and inspirational speakers hosted all the talks and workshops. Workshops and talks concentrated on innovation, business leadership, technology, culture, lifestyle and health.
The forum theme was connecting minds and creating the future. The workshops had limited seats requiring people to register weeks earlier, and go through process of submitting their achievements and interests to be accepted.
The two workshops I had the privilege to attend were the leadership workshop by Adrian Hayes, and the ideation lab workshop by Customer At Heart.
Leadership Workshop
The leadership workshop was held in the morning session with the purpose of directing youth into goal setting and having a positive mindset. Adrian Hayes — a record-breaking polar explorer, keynote speaker, author, campaigner, and business coach — focused participants on thinking deeply about their goals and future over the 2-hour workshop.
Hayes had youth answer and discuss questions like, “Who are you?” and “What are your values and goals?” The audience spent time thinking about their life goals and then proposed ideas of how they will reach them.
The workshop had a secure, friendly environment to motivate the audience to engage with their ideas. The youth were encouraged to communicate and share their achievements with each other.
It was one of the most influential workshops I have attended and I advise other people to look up the speaker for his upcoming workshops.
Ideation Workshop
The second workshop I attended was the ideation workshop, which was held for 3 hours in the afternoon session by the employees from Customer By Heart. The audience was asked to form groups to work together according to the topics they were given.
All assignments that were given were about creating new ideas for Expo 2020, from things the youth would love to see in year 2020 to innovations they wanted to make happen. First tasks included creating mind maps followed by tasks to implement the ideas by creating models and samples using recycled tools.
I was one of the lucky people who had the great opportunity to be accepted to participate in the event. I advise Zayed University’s students to register in the coming forums by Expo 2020. Also, it is best if students keep up-to-date about the events, since there are limited numbers of people who can participate in Expo 2020 events. To be updated, check out the official Expo 2020 website.
About the Author
Shahad Haif is a junior at Zayed University majoring in International Affairs. She enjoys writing, editing, and interviewing people. She is an artist at HearMyEcho.com.
This story was originally published on Nov. 18, 2015. It was re-uploaded on Dec. 27, 2020. The photo that accompanied this story was lost due to the loss of the domain name.
