Building Back Together: Social Recovery Post-Pandemic
Over the course of the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has touched the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the world. However, the pandemic and efforts to mitigate its spread has had an outsized impact on certain already vulnerable and marginalized groups, exacerbating and deepening existing social inequalities. Throughout the course of the pandemic, a great deal of attention has naturally been given to public health concerns; however, as the world slowly emerges from COVID-19’s shadows, neglecting the social impacts of the crisis risks extends its negative effects. This session will explore and analyse efforts relating to social recovery from a youth perspective.
Scrolling Down the Hatred: Is a Peaceful Social Media Possible
Multi-ethnic societies have become increasingly common around the world, particularly in metropolitan centres. This has also magnified the challenges with regards to the coexistence between different races, religions, and languages. Existing political, economic and legal mechanisms mediating these differences sometimes fail to ensure social cohesion due to various forms of discrimination such as xenophobia and Islamophobia, causing tensions to, at times, reach dangerous levels. Social media is one of the major areas where such discriminatory rhetoric has become increasingly mainstream through hateful and biased content against individuals, groups or communities. Beyond the existing policy-making processes, in what ways can we develop tools against hate crimes? Can social media, which can work to fuel social hatred, also serve as a shield against hate crimes? As it pertains to hateful rhetoric, What’s NEXT for social media?
The Everchanging World: How to be Successful, Relevant and Healthy
The world is changing faster than ever. Digitalisation continues at a torrid pace as new business models and forms of communication develop. New generations born into this accelerated tech world face increased pressures on the path to becoming ‘successful’, as peer competition at school, work, and life in general becomes more fierce. This makes it even harder to achieve a work and life balance, ultimately leading to burnout and psychological breakdowns. How can we maintain happiness and success together in this competitive world? How can we be a part of this forever-changing world while remaining relevant, healthy and successful?