BRACAU 27 BLOG'S

For the third consecutive year, SI (The Swedish Institute) is organizing its widely acclaimed Young Leaders Visitors Program in Sweden, a program that is facilitated by Hyper Island. Via social media and network building, the YLVP is designed to support young opinion makers from MENA* in their efforts to promote freedom of expression and democratic development in their region. New features in this year’s program are extensive cooperation with the Tällberg Foundation at Rework the World and the presence of participants from Yemen.

In 2008, over 20 people took part in the program, including the world-famous Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas. In 2009, the participants numbered 35 from eight countries, and at this year’s program 28 people from 10 countries will be taking part. The program runs from 10 to 30 May in Stockholm and Karlskrona. Through the Young Leaders Visitors Program, SI is taking on the highly important task of making the blog movement in the Middle East better known to the world.

“A burning issue in the region is the need to give young people a chance to express themselves and to find meaningful work,” says Javeria Rizvi Kabani, the YLVP project leader at SI.

After the program ends, this year’s participants will meet up with participants from previous years and with some 2 000 dignitaries, decision-makers and grassroots activitists for two intensive days at Rework the World in Leksand, central Sweden. The theme of this 5th Global YES Summit is international networks and new green jobs. Thus the aim of developing long-term, productive networks for the YLVP participants looks thoroughly realistic.

For the first time, participants from Yemen will also be attending YLVP 2010. The list includes:

· A 29-year-old woman from Tunisia who on her own initiative has compiled a list of all Internet users in her country who have had their profiles on Facebook blocked by the censors. She has then sent the persons concerned technical solutions enabling them to get round the censorship.

· Ali Fahkry from IndyACT in Lebanon, who is working with environmental issues both in his own country and in the Arab world in a very exciting way, using social media.

· Hana Al-Khamri from Yemen, a journalist and human rights activist whose articles have often been too controversial for newspapers to publish. To get them out, she has used such channels as the Al-Jazeera Talk Blog, a site that is blocked by the Yemeni government from time to time precisely because of the sensitive nature of its content.

· Kacem Jlidi from Tunisia, a project leader from dance4life, which is an international initiative combining dance and social media seeking to give young people a powerful voice to counter the stigmatization and taboos surrounding HIV. This initiative was described as an excellent example by Kofi Annan in 2004.

The Swedish participants in this year’s program are Johanna Wallin, a journalist resident in Palestine, Gabrielle Jönsson, a journalist based in Shanghai and Dhaka, Andreas Hasslert from Ibn Rushd and Marina Ferhatovic from Swedish public service television (SVT).



Follow the YLVP live at www.ylvp.se
Background (in English): http://www.si.se/ylvp_background
The YLVP on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXkOOw6KaY0
Rework the World: http://www.reworktheworld.org/

In May 2009, Hyper Island and the Swedish Institute for a second round of the Young Leaders Visitors Program. Participants from eight Arab countries and Sweden were invited to to learn certain leadership and organizational skills, and how to use social media tools to advance social change.

One of the participants, Mohammad Azraq, has written about his experience at Global Voices Online - click here to find out what he and other participants had to say.

Click here to view a video presentation about the program, featuring Hyper Island's Roger Sjögren and Åsa Silfverberg.

Svenska institutet and Hyper Island's collaboration Young Leaders Visitors Program which focuses on social media as a tool for positive change, is currently taking place at Hyper Island Stockholm.
The program aims to lay the foundations for a long-lasting and mutually rewarding relationship between Sweden, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine by strengthening and connecting influential voices in both regions. We were curious to find out more from one of the course attendees.


Hello Hiba, where are you from?
I am Lebanese but I was born in Ghana, Africa where my parents currently live. I have moved around a lot for both education and work. So I believe that I am a citizen of the world.

What do you do in your home country?
I am a double agent: During the day, I work as a creative director for DDB (based between Dubai and Kuwait). I work in mainstream with both the private and government sector and on CSR programs as part of the pro-bono work we do. While during the night, I strive to become a freer artist by becoming a better human. I am constantly looking for new challenges and new mediums for much needed change.

What is the course you're attending about?
The course is Young Leaders Visitors Program, the Swedish Institute initiative that will provide us with all the tools and processes to shape public opinion using social networking.

Is the course meeting your expectations?
The whole program has been well organized in which diverse areas of leadership and team building, social networking techniques and shared experiences and knowledge are covered. Although it is too early in the program to make a clear conclusion, but it has certainly been a valuable learning experience.

What learning experiences do you think you'll bring back with you once the course is over?
In addition to all the interactive media techniques and communication, one main value I will definitely carry back with me is the realization of the possibility of change.

What expectations did you have before arriving in Sweden?
Born an idealist that sometimes borders on naivety, my expectations are always BIG! I want change- a 'new' revolution that will see change in myself, my country and the world. I've hoped Sweden will help provide the tools of change. To quote John Mayer, I certainly don't want to wait on the world to change.

What surprised you about Hyper Island once you arrived?
The freedom of expression and experimentation that the students are given. It is very refreshing to see and be part of. The students work with the idea of anything is possible is certainly inspiring!

What's culturally different between your home country and Sweden?
Lebanon is a country under-construction. It is a country that has still not found its true identity. I'm not sure if finding an identity is the solution or as Rem Koolhaas said in his book SMLXL it is just a mouse trap. What is certain is that Lebanon is rich with its diversity (multi-cultural and multi-religious) that has coexisted side-by-side throughout history. This small country with its unlimited human potential has shown continuous resilience throughout its long eventful past and has been the yearning of every Lebanese in diaspora.

Thank you Hiba!

More information on the course can be found on Svenska institutet's site.

Young Leaders Visitors Program which focuses on social media as a tool for positive change, is currently taking place at Hyper Island Stockholm.
Course attendees are from Sweden, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Palestine, and are actively working for social development in their respective contexts.

Young Leaders Visitors Program attendees Wael Abbas and Maha Aswad from Egypt and Palestinian Mira Nabulsi have been interviewed by Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter regarding struggles for outspoken blogs and freedom of speech in the Middle East.

Read the interview here:
In Swedish
In English (Google Translate)

Hyper Island recently completed Hyper Island Creative Social Academy, which took place in Karlskrona. We caught up with Hyper Island's Maria Eriksson to find out more on what the 5-day Master Class was about and what the attendees learned.

What was the Hyper Island Creative Social Academy about?
The course started on the 14th of October in Karlskrona, the participants may have expected a soft start - but that's not how we do it at Hyper Island and they were, I think, a little bit shocked after the first two days, it was late evenings and early mornings.
The course focused on digital and interactive development and also about group dynamics and self development.
One of the participants wrote this afterwards, I think it describes it quite well:
"Hyper Island with all of you wonderful guys switched the light on in another room surrounding mine so that I can see the glowing door crack. Now it's up to me to go to that door and open it."

Where were the attendees from?
They were from Denmark, Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Germany, Great Britain and Spain.

From an outsider's perspective, what do you think the attendees learned from each other?
I think they learned everything they learned from each other and themselves. What we do is to give the group tools to learn, there's no one there to tell them what's right and wrong, we're only there to guide them.

Why do you think Hyper Island Master Classes are so appreciated?
We do what we have done for 13 years: A mix of both the "soft stuff" and the "hard stuff", we have the most sought after digital media students in the world, and the feedback we get from the industry is that this is what matters. It's a five day course, but what you take with you from these days goes way beyond this short period of time, it's something you bring with you for life.

Tell me about the Master Class that is taking place in Stockholm right now:
It is an Hyper Island and Svenska Institutets collaboration, Young Leaders Visitors Program, is currently being held in Hyper Island's Stockholm premises. But I believe more information about the course and interviews with attendees will be posted on the blog soon.


For more information on the two Master Classes:
Hyper Island Creative Social Academy
Young Leaders Visitors Program

Thank you Maria!