#CollaborativeAction

[worldwatcher3072]

Empowering the Future: Inspiring Young Voters to Make Their Voices Heard

In a world brimming with challenges and opportunities, the voices and perspectives of young people are vital for shaping our collective future. One of the most powerful ways to make a difference is through the democratic process, and that begins with voting. In this blog post, we explore strategies to engage and empower young voters, igniting a passion for civic participation and encouraging them to exercise their right to vote.

Amplify the Issues That Matter: Young people are passionate about a range of critical issues, from climate change and social justice to student debt and affordable housing. By highlighting the impact of political decisions on these issues, we can inspire young voters to recognize the importance of their participation. Provide clear and accessible information about how voting can influence policies and effect change on the causes they care about most.

Harness the Power of Digital Platforms: Today's youth are digital natives, deeply immersed in online communities. Leverage the power of social media, digital platforms, and engaging content to capture their attention. Create informative and visually appealing content that breaks down complex political issues into digestible formats. Encourage sharing, discussions, and virtual activism to foster a sense of community and collective action.

Educate and Empower: Many young people may feel disillusioned or disconnected from the political process. Bridge this gap by providing comprehensive and engaging civics education. Develop partnerships with educational institutions, community organizations, and online platforms to deliver interactive workshops, webinars, and resources that educate young voters about their rights, the electoral process, and the impact of their vote.

Cultivate Youth Leadership: Empower young leaders to spearhead voter engagement initiatives in their communities. Establish youth-led organizations, clubs, or task forces focused on voter registration, education, and mobilization. Encourage young activists to organize local events, town halls, or candidate forums where they can directly engage with elected officials and candidates. Foster an environment that celebrates and nurtures youth leadership, providing mentorship and guidance along the way.

Collaborate and Build Alliances: Forge partnerships with youth-oriented organizations, political campaigns, and grassroots movements to create a united front in engaging young voters. Collaborative efforts can increase resources, outreach, and impact. By working together, we can create a broader network of support that reaches young people in various communities and backgrounds.

Break Down Barriers: Identify and address barriers that hinder young voters' participation. Advocate for policies that facilitate easier access to voter registration and polling locations, such as automatic registration or extended early voting periods. Organize transportation to polling stations, educate young voters about absentee and mail-in voting options, and ensure they are aware of voter ID requirements. Empower young voters to overcome logistical obstacles so that they can fully exercise their right to vote.

The power to shape our collective destiny lies within the hands of young voters. By engaging and empowering them to participate in the democratic process, we unlock the potential for transformative change. Let us create a future where young voices are valued, where their concerns are addressed, and where their dreams can flourish. Together, let's inspire a generation of engaged citizens who understand the power of their vote and work towards a better tomorrow.

Remember, every vote matters, and when young people stand up and make their voices heard, they become agents of change, shaping a brighter and more inclusive future for all.

[swamibhoomanandatirtha]

Cultural Heritage Class (CHC) camp in Narayanashrama Tapovanam (26-May-2024)

In a vibrant gathering of 43 children, the resonating theme of "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" set the stage for a day filled with enlightenment and camaraderie.

The morning commenced at 9:30 am in the serene ambiance of Vijnana Bhavan. The children were shown a PowerPoint presentation titled 'The Story of Ashram'. Poojya Swamiji graced the occasion with profound insights, responding to the eager inquiries of the young minds. One child sought to unravel the journey of Swamiji from being a disciple to where he is now, while another expressed her lingering doubt - What is God? nobody has seen him, so is it only a supernatural power?

Following this enlightening session, Ma, with her gentle eloquence in Malayalam, shared heartfelt reflections on how blessed the children are, being part of such an enriching session. Her words resonated deeply as she expressed her own aspirations as a child to embody goodness.

After a hearty lunch, crowned by the delectable payasam dessert, the children were grouped into six teams, engaging in collaborative activities, meant to make them understand valuable lessons in synergy, cooperation and teamwork.

The culmination of the day was marked by a drawing assignment, prompting the children to illustrate their daily essentials on paper. Amidst animated discussions, the canvases came alive with symbols of interconnectedness — stars, sun, moon, trees, rivers, roads, hospitals and so on. Through their creations, the profound message echoed loud and clear: our existence is interwoven with the fabric of the universe, each component indispensable to our very being.

Poojya Swamiji, Nutan Swamiji, and Ma listened to their explanations, as they examined each artwork with care and appreciation. With the distribution of prasada and a jovial tea session, the day drew to a close, leaving hearts brimming with gratitude and souls enriched with the wisdom of unity.

Click here latest News from Bhoomananda Foundation: https://www.bhoomananda.org/latest-news/

[ecologyalike]

PART I Ideas of John Dewey on democracy and what’s that got to do with the COP 24?

In his email to all followers of Earth Innovation Institute today Dan Nepstad, Executive Director of Earth Innovation Institute writes “As I look back on this turbulent, exciting, and frightening year, the main lesson I take away is this: our efforts to avoid the most dangerous impacts of climate change must bring people together and build trust in democratic institutions.“ 

This captured my attention perhaps first because we now have a rule book to implement the Paris Climate Agreement, but especially because I was jut going to write more about American Philosopher John Dewey….

On my way back from Indonesia this weekend,  in between of napping and watching couple of movies, I had a change to finally read the paper of professor Festenstein on Dewey. The paper interprets Dewey’s thoughts on democracy. As Festenstein puts it “running like a thread on this account, is a critical analysis of the distortion of hierarchy and class division on social knowledge, which Dewey believes democracy can counteract.”

How then thoughts on future direction of climate change governance, trust to public institutions and ways how democratic institutions can counteract hierarchy and class division on social knowledge link together?

For me the Dewey’s practical conceptions of experience, intelligence and inquiry, which form a pragmatic frame for analysing the potential of the democratic process, is indeed a very interesting one.

Experience embedded in the environment and socio-political context of the problem in question;

intelligence as being able to, search, analyse and use the available knowledge attempting to solve the issue; and

inquiry as means to “muddle through”, to test and reflect on what works and what does not through an iterative process of learning by doing.

In Dewey’s practical conceptions I see a parallel to the wider interpretation of “knowledge”. I agree that one should not only refer to a scientific knowledge when talking about knowledge, but also a practise oriented knowledge derived from experience and inquiry, as well as inherent knowledge of social networks built on traditions, beliefs, values and culture that shape human interactions.

Social knowledge in a democratic institution is shared, it is not something that only those on top of the hierarchy can produce or justify, but its validity or usefulness can be challenged by the masses.

The idea of not allowing a wide citizens participation in decision making on the highly complex issues of governance, derives from the technocratic conception that masses do not have the access to information, and perhaps more importantly the required ability to analyse this information in order to make “wise” or “best” decisions (information which undoubtedly is going to just increase exponentially in the era of information technology). However, Dewey thinks that the technocratic elite, while perhaps having the access and ability to analyse information or “knowledge”, is far from the public, and even alien and ignorant to the real-life problems and real-life solutions which stem from experience and inquiry.

Specialists represent a social division of labor; and their specialization can be trusted only when such persons are in unobstructed cooperation with other social occupations, sensitive to others problems and transmitting results to them for wider application in action (John Dewey)

They,  a “technocratic elite”, may possess more capacity to use the scientific knowledge, but lack the understanding on the context where decisions must be executed or implemented. As a conclusion “the knowledge of public needs, cannot be achieved without engagement and participation of those whose needs are at issue.”

Stay tuned, this blog continues tomorrow….

[muhammadabdurrehman-blog]

@pakpureline Meeting with Dr Surrya Ikhtiar, #Head_of_Diet_and_Nutrition_Department_Allied_Hospital_Faisalabad and students of #NutritionAndDietetics, #PunjabYouthInternshipProgram. Planning of #CollaborativeActivities of both organizations. #PioneersAcademyOfNutritionAndDietetics (at Allied Hospital Faisalabad - Unofficial)

[adimasaji]

ISYF 2015

Share Ideas. Build Relationship. Create Momentum. -Leaders’ Quest

A youth movement is the key to the nation development. Maybe that is the motivation of every top-level manager in corporate or government to build a competitive- and professional-generation. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to attend leadership workshops held by ISYF and Leaders' Quest. And within this short article I’ll try to share the values of what I learned during the program.

This is not the first occasion for me to attend the professional forums, but the speciality of this forum was it held by the NPO (non-profit organization), both Leaders' Quest and ISYF. The foremost principle of this organization is to give equality to all global citizens to join the community, and they worked without 'paid'. From here, I can feel how powerful the energy shared by the organizer of this event. Well, Leadership Workshop was co-organized by Leaders' Quest and they became the bridge for ISYF, Daimler Group, and selected delegates to exchange informations and experiences. Daimler Group (DG) is a multinational automotive company. The most familiar product is Mercedes-Benz.

Collaboration between the Leaders' Quest and ISYF are able to invited 10 top executives of DG. The top executive of a global and regional manager. Four managers came from Germany, two more from USA, one from India, one from Japan, and the other two from the EU. They are the ones with the highest-level manager at DG, but their humility is remarkable. We often laugh and joke with crazy, because they are humorous but also sharp thinking. To maintain their privacy, I apologize for not mentioning their names and positions. But do not worry, I will love to mention the names of selected delegates on this program: 1. Prasetio Wilfandi (Chemical Engineering Dept, Bandung Institute of Tech) - Silver Medalist at OSN KIMIA 2011, Manado. - Young Leaders for Indonesia 2. Dimas Kalimasada (Corporate Communication Dept, Tanri Abeng University) - CEO of Titanium Tour and Travel - Delegation of the ASEAN-Korea Youth Square 3. Faiz Ahadina (Tanri Abeng University) - Executive of Titanum Group 4. Fery Sandria Anwar (Alumnus, University of Indonesia) - AFS-YES USA 2009/2010 - Manager of Youth Event AIESEC_UI 5. Akbar Rabbani (Environmental Engineering Dept, Bandung Institute of Tech) - Sponsorship Manager at the International Student Energy Summit 2015 6. Pandu Darwin Wicaksono (Communication Dept, University of Gadjah Mada-) - President of Green Generation Indonesia 7. Ignatius Ivan Hartono (Chemical Engineering Dept, Diponegoro University) – Sobat Bumi Pertamina Scholar 9. Novia Kardiyanti (Public Relations Dept, Padjadjaran University) - Delegation of the Asian Youth Forum, Bangkok - Interns at the Nielson Company 10. Latifa Ayu Lestari (Industrial Engineering-University of Indonesia) - AIESEC_UI 11. Jawahirul Mahbubi (Airlangga University) - Delegation of APEC VOF 2013 - TF Scholar 12. Albert Andre Sujarwo (Universitas Kristen Petra) - Delegation of the Harvard Project for Asian and International Relations - Itern at Ernst & Young Indonesia 13. Antoni Aliarto (University of Indonesia) - Head of Delegation at the Nanyang Technological University Model United Nations 2015 14. Adimas Prasetyaaji (Chemical Engineering Dept.-UGM) - No one (hehe)

The first agenda of this program is an introduction with ice breaking games. The games require each delegate to be paired with a manager. Within two minutes they should ask each other about the topic given by the Leaders' Quest. And after two minutes, the pair had to be changed. Well after doing a rotation twice, introductions session are considered to finish.

If the first session of a lot of laughter between managers and delegates, then in the second session was quite serious. Intense Counseling. In this session, delegates have to share how they handle the organization and other activities during the course. And then managers asking various al-related leadership, they also talked about their experiences in managing their organization. Some of the moral values that I can share here is as follows.

The manager said: "I have staff from different countries and backgrounds. Of course this requires special treatment in their lead. I can not be guided them with a very rigid rules, because the staff comes from different countries. It’ll be different how Germanian or Japanesse works. However I only show how to get to the main goal of a project."

Then, i asked: "So how to to trace the progress of each staff?"

He answered: "By way of intensive communication. By way as I did with you right now. With this way I can see how the state of mind of my staff, how their happiness, etc."

Here I present another moral values in a list, make it easier to you to highlight.

"Have values, it will lead you and your organization." "Allow the approach." "Every single employees have the right to have fun." "Lead by example, not by saying."

Explanation each message above is very complete, and some have already become a common fact. So, we can develop each message in line with the problem we face.

The third agenda is a Q&A session to all boards of DG. Opportunity opened, and delegates are welcome to inquire. So finally I asked. About values.

The last agenda is a photo session followed by lunch at the OASIS Restaurant, Central Jakarta.

In the lunch time, Ms. Yute, head of committee, rolling the question, "Do you know why we choose this Restaurant?" Some have replied, "Because the distance near with PSE St, Miss?" Ms. Yute replied, "So we choose OASIS Restaurant because it was already used to be a meeting of world leaders, such as President of the USA (Bill Clinton), King of Spain (Juan Carlos), Prime Minister of the UK (Margaret Thatcher), and many other world leaders. Well, we want this place to be a witness that you will follow their footsteps to lead any organization / company in the future." She said. "Amen." All delegates replied in a tone of hope.

Well, readers. Believe that there is an ability to be leader within us. And there is no provision similar to each person in the lead. Everyone has a leadership style. And their leadership depends on their environment and their knowledge. Again, a relevant adage from me is "to spread the more benefits, then enrich your knowledge".

And to close this article I tuck the quote from LPDP,

"Keteladanan hari ini dan kepimpinan di hari esok." (Bahasa)

NB: I’ll upload the photos later, once the Leaders’ Quest email me the backup.

Yogyakarta, April 19th 2015 Someone who is still learning from you, Adimas