I'm pretty excited about Global Pulse 2010 (thanks, @richmondjobnet), which kicks off today and hopes to involve thousands of voices around the world in a series of discussions and conversations about socially important issues:
Global Pulse 2010 is a 3-day, online collaboration event that will bring together socially-engaged participants and organizations from around the world. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is sponsoring the event, in partnership with the U.S. Departments of State, Education, Commerce, and Health and Human Services.
As the name implies, Global Pulse 2010 will take the pulse of thousands of participants on key issues facing communities around the world. The goals of the event are to connect and engage participants who are champions for the same challenges to help build new, or strengthen existing relationships, and to inform U.S. foreign assistance and diplomatic strategies on major themes emerge from the course of conversation.
The ideas that Global Pulse seeks to address are among the very issues – writ large, on a global scale – that the local organizations I regularly consult are beginning to identify as critical to consider. For instance, Jay Knott, the mission director for USAID in Jordan opened the forum on "Inspiring A New Generation" with these statistics and questions:
In developing countries, young people aged 12-24 number 1.3 billion and represent the largest youth cohort in history, according to the World Bank. In Jordan where I live, those under the age of 30 represent more than 60 percent of the population, and there are many other countries with this same youth profile. What all of this means is that the youth of today will have the opportunity and the responsibility to build the world in which they, and everyone, will live.
What sort of world will the next generation be inspired to build? What are the positive lessons that we are learning today that will be the most useful in the future? Who inspires us most? ... What values and skills will it be most important for the youth to have in order to have the most positive impact on their families, communities, nations and the world?
What's most fascinating about the discussions from my vantage point are the common threads that overlay this attempt at a global conversation – and the unique perspectives that aren't a normal staple in our traditional media diet. Not to mention that the dialogue is unfiltered.
It's going to be interesting watching Global Pulse 2010 unfold. And to see if it drives toward meaningful outcomes.
