Young Leaders Visitors Program 2010
The Swedish Institute Young Leaders Visitors Program 2010, phase one, took place in Sweden between May 10 and June 1, 2010. The second phase will take place in the MENA region in November 2010.
Twenty seven candidates from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Tunisia, West Bank-Gaza, Yemen and Sweden were selected as participants in the Young Leaders Visitors Program 2010. Drive, motivation and commitment to social change were decisive factors in the selection procedure.
Design of the Program
Young Leaders Visitors Program 2010 consisted of six modules covering themes such as team building, personal development, leadership training, gender, human rights and social entrepreneurship. For the participants from the Middle East and North Africa, there was also a part of intensive study visits where the participants got hands-on experience with organizations and actors in the opinion making spheres of Sweden today.
Project assignment
During parts of the YLVP 2010 all the participants were divided into smaller teams assigned with a project task related to the areas of the program. The assignment for each project team was to develop an idea and a concept for an innovative information solution through the main support of the social media. The projects task strived to further strengthen the participants in understanding the possibilities of digital and social media and encourage them to explore and create opinion building for social change through digital and social media solutions. The project assignment functioned as a way for the participants to explore group dynamics and leadership to provide personal development and an intercultural perspective.
YLVP MODULES 1-5
Module 1: Teambuilding and opinion leadership
Module 2: Social media
Module 3: Social entrepreneurship
Module 4: Opinion leadership and social media
Module 5: Intensive study visits
Module 6: Young Leaders Network Seminar and closing of the program
Module 1 -Team building and opinion leadership
Working on the social arena, establishing the network and understanding the objectives
Date: 10th and 12th-14th of May
The team building introduces and promotes essential tools a working team needs to reach a greater efficiency.
The YLVP 2010 Ning platform function as a tool for opening up the social arena among the participants to start to develop relations between each other before meeting up in Sweden. The YLVP 2010 Ning also functions as a source providing the participants with the context of the program with the purpose to make participants feel more clear about and aware of the program. The team building aims to open up the social arena even more as well as providing the participants with deeper understanding of the framework they will be within during the program. Furthermore the team building aims to contribute to increased understanding of individual difference and its potential constructive impact on a team.
Module 2 - Social media
Introduction to tools for change and global communication and mobilization
Date: 14th-15th of May
This part of the program focuses on the introducing the participants to the concept social media and social media as an opinion building tool and a tool for mobilizing for social change.
- What does social media and its possibilities mean to opinion building?
- What does it mean to the public?
- Examples of social media for social change and mobilization on a local, regional, national and international level
To get into a more concrete and practical level participants will be introduced to and practice with a number of social media related tools and techniques.
Module 3 - Social entrepreneurship
Hands on experience of running social entrepreneurship projects and how to get started.
Date: 17th-19 of May
This module starts up with participants meeting different actors and social entrepreneurs sharing hands on experiences as well as focus on how to develop and initiate a project.
During this part participants will start to work on ideas related to their project mission. They will work in their small project teams. Participants will get introduced to tools and methods for project and concept development.
Module 4: Opinion leadership and social media
Developing efficient teams and finalizing project mission
Date: 24th-28th of May
Project teams will continue the work of forming and developing their concepts to a final concept to present the last day during this week. Different session on social media will support participants to gain an even greater understanding of social media.
This part will from a group dynamic and leadership point of view focus on interpersonal relations within a group and how it is affecting the level of a group being effective as well as looking into transformational leadership. It will also focus on sorting out the learning concerning personal development and group dynamics in order to work on creating an action plan for personal development.
Module 5: Intensive study visits
Date: 20th -21th of May
Module 6: Young Leaders Network Seminar and closing of the program
Date: 31th of May