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The Annual Meeting of the Boards of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank and the Inter-American Investment Corporation opened in Panama with a seminar on youth and social innovation. Organized by IDB Youth and the government of Panama, the event was attended by over 400 participants, including 350 Panamanian youth entrepreneurs selected in a call for proposals managed by the City of Knowledge Foundation.
At the seminar, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno said, “We place our hope in the youth of today to address old problems with new solutions. This is what we expect from youth social innovation.” Moreno highlighted the new strategy of the IDB Youth Program, which promotes youth innovation and creativity.
Four youth social innovators told the seminar audience how they are contributing to the development of their communities. The four were:
Juan David Aristizábal Ospina, founder of Buena Nota, an online platform for social initiatives in Colombia with with more than 50 thousand followers; Carolina Araoz, founder of Jazz Jaus, an initiative in Peru specializing in music outreach and education for social change; Rhona Diaz, founder of Sustainable Technologies Company of Panama, which created a renewable energy alternative for houses that is based on a system for channeling rainwater; and Ernesto Argüello, who founded a social enterprise that builds homes for disadvantaged populations Honduras, Nicaragua, and Colombia.
The seminar was moderated by Claudia Palacios, from CNN en Español. Leaders in the world of social innovation made presentations and held a dialogue with the seminar’s audience. Among them were Tony Wagner, of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center Technology at Harvard University and noted author and lecturer on education and innovation; and Estanislao Bachrach, expert in neurosciences, creativity, and business innovation at Argentina’s Torcuato di Tella University.
Wagner said, “In a world where what you do is more important than what you know, developing countries need to create new educational models for the 21st century that empower youth to be creative, innovative, enterprising, and not mere consumers of information.”
Bachrach said, “Creativity is a skill, an area in the brain that can be developed. It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you study or not, or in what country you were born: Anyone can be creative and use that creativity to innovate for social purposes. It requires volition, desire, and a passion for what you are doing―elements shared by all young people participating in IDB Youth.”
Other panelists representing organizations such as MTV, Dell, the City of Knowledge Foundation, and Ashoka, discussed the role of institutions in fostering innovation and opportunities and developing policies and programs for youth social innovation. Experts presented specific recommendations for promoting innovation that highlighted the importance of risk taking in implementing new ideas and stimulating strategic alliances among public, private, and non-governmental organizations.
The Secretary General of the Ibero-American Youth Organization, Alejo Ramírez, presented the first Ibero-American Youth Survey, which is being carried out with support from the IDB, the Korea Poverty Reduction Fund, and other partners.
The event closed with a presentation by renowned Panamanian artist and Grammy Award winner Danilo Pérez on the role of culture in generating social change. Later, at a concert given by the government of Panama, MTV and IDB Youth awarded Pérez with a Chiuku Prize for his work in helping marginalized communities through music programs.