History
Nick Pollard, the driving force behind the establishment of the Global Student Forum tells some of its history:
For many years, in schools and colleges across the south of England, I have led conferences which help 15-19 yr old students to develop their critical thinking skills and to apply them to important spiritual and moral issues. I love helping students to develop their ability to think and argue well - especially about the big questions of life.
At each conference I have always noticed a handful of students who are particularly gifted and articulate and who are keen to continue to develop and express their thinking. Clearly they should do this on a bigger stage.
Meanwhile, I have also had the priviledge of leading a team that produced the very popular and successful educational computer game President for a Day, and the related conference called The President for a Day Experience. From these it became clear that one area in which students wanted to think clearly and to argue well was the field of global citizenship.
Today's generation is the first to grow up in a truly globalised world. They deserve the opportunity to help each other to explore the spiritual and moral issues underlying global citizenship. Understandably, they do not want anyone to tell them what to think or how to act, but they do want the opportunity to think together about how they will live in this globalised world. In this, I am delighted to provide whatever help I can.
I found others who shared that vision, and so was born the idea for a National Conference for students in Year 12 of schools across England and Wales. But we wanted this to be more than simply one day in the life of those school student who were fortunate enough to be selected to attend. It is clear that key student thinkers are best served by helping them to become peer-educators, and by enabling them to support each other as they share with others what they have learned. And so the concept of a National Conference turned into plans for a Global Student Forum - not just a once-off conference, but also a network that would inspire and enable those who had attended the conference to go back to their schools and their communities as peer-educators, and that could be replicated in schools across the world.
We launched the Global Student Forum in London in 2005, with the first National Conference scheduled to take place on 4th July. Tickets sold out very quickly and we soon had a large waiting list - so we decided to run it for a second day (5th July) - and those tickets sold out in three days! To find out more about that first conference (and watch a video about it) click here.
In the months that followed this first conference we were constantly encouraged by reports of peer-educator activity carried out by those who had attended (see the downloadable report). So, on the basis of this success, we made plans to continue the Global Student Forum each year in London (serving schools in England and Wales) and to extend it gradually to other countries across the world.
In September 2006 we signed a licence agreement with a charity in Scotland for them to operate Global Student Forum Scotland - and we hope that this is just the beginning of many more such licences across the world.