UWC schools and colleges must confirm their participation by April 19, 2019 and the project teams should submit their proposals by July 14, 2019. The competition will conclude with a presentation of the three finalists on an paid trip to Armenia from 16-20 October 2019 during Aurora Forum. One winning team will be provided with a grant of $4,000 to further their project’s development, the two other finalist teams will be awarded $500. All teams who submit project proposals for Young Aurora will receive mentorship from experts across the UWC movement and Teach for All Network.
“The organizing partners of Young Aurora share the belief that in times of a global crisis of humanitarian values it’s important to give young people inspirational role models. UWC’s educational model is not just about knowledge, it’s about raising future leaders with strong humanitarian values, leaders who care about their communities and the society at large. Young Aurora gives them an opportunity to put their knowledge, skills and aspirations into action by designing and implementing specific projects with measurable impact. It empowers young people to make a difference and become positive actors in the society at an early age,” said Veronika Zonabend, Chair of the Board of Governors of UWC Dilijan College in Armenia and Co-Founder of Scholae Mundi.
Proposed projects are assessed by a selection panel of esteemed judges including entrepreneurs, philanthropists and world leaders who shortlist projects based on their creativity, sustainability, quality of research, impact, commitment, self-reflection and format.
“The Aurora Humanitarian Project’s mission is to support and showcase student-driven projects, which offer solutions to relevant issues through innovative and sustainable approaches. Nobody should remain indifferent to other people’s suffering, and the spirit of Aurora teaches those young people, the participants, that they can and should do whatever is in their power to lend a helping
hand to those in need. As important as education is in general, this lesson might be the most valuable one,” stated Tom Catena, Chair of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative.
“We are thrilled that once again UWC students around the world will rise to the challenge to create meaningful change through the Aurora Humanitarian Project. Young Aurora is an opportunity for our students to flex their humanitarian muscles, turning their UWC education – and passion – into action. Time and again, through their idealism, selfless leadership and compassion, UWC students participating in this challenge exemplify living the UWC mission,” said Jens Waltermann, Executive Director of UWC International.
In 2018, the winning project was “HOPE,” developed by students from UWC Changshu China. HOPE, founded in 2017, is dedicated to preventing the sexual abuses of children by delivering trainings online and in schools throughout Changshu and the surrounding area, educating children and teachers about how to address and prevent sexual abuse.
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NOTES TO EDITOR
Aurora Humanitarian Initiative
Founded on behalf of the survivors of the Armenian Genocide and in gratitude to their saviors, the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative seeks to empower modern-day saviors to offer life and hope to those in urgent need of basic humanitarian aid anywhere in the world and thus continue the cycle of giving internationally. The Aurora Humanitarian Initiative is Gratitude in Action. It is an eight-year commitment (2015 to 2023, in remembrance of the eight years of the Armenian Genocide 1915-1923) to support people and promote global projects that tackle the needs of the most helpless and destitute and do so at great risk. This is achieved through the Initiative’s various programs: the Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity, the Aurora Dialogues, the Aurora Humanitarian Index, the Gratitude Projects and the 100 LIVES Initiative.
United World Colleges (UWC)
UWC is a global educational movement with the mission to “make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future”. Central to the ethos of UWC is the belief that education can bring together young people from all backgrounds on the basis of their shared humanity, to engage with the possibility of social change through courageous action, personal example and selfless leadership. To achieve this, UWC schools and colleges all over the world deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people, inspiring them to become agents of positive change.
Scholae Mundi
Scholae Mundi is a platform to promote the most advanced approaches in the field of education, which in the long term will catalyze social changes throughout the world. Providing opportunities to youth for the development of the knowledge, skills and the universal moral and ethical values that will guide them throughout their lives. Launching various new educational platforms with partners.
Teach for All
Teach For All is a global network of 49 independent, locally led and funded partner organizations whose stated shared mission is to "expand educational opportunity around the world by increasing and accelerating the impact of social enterprises that are cultivating the leadership necessary for change.“ Each partner aims to recruit and develop diverse graduates and professionals to exert leadership through two-year commitments to teach in their nations' high-need classrooms and lifelong commitments to expand opportunity for children. Teach For All works to accelerate partners' progress and increase their impact by capturing and sharing knowledge, facilitating connections across the network, accessing global resources for the benefit of the whole, and fostering leadership development of staff, teachers, and alumni.
