Middle and high school students and their teachers from India, Korea, and Malaysia reflected on their achievements following their Global Virtual Roundtable (GVR) Event. Thankful for their experiences, the IVECA Summer Camp students shared a connection that was a memorable and unique learning opportunity. One teacher from Malaysia shared that her “students enjoyed the process so much and we can assure that the knowledge will be cascaded among other students who have yet to undertake a similar journey.”
The IVECA GVR Event was held on July 29 through collaboration with the Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education East Asia Global Education Institute (IEGI). The GVR was opened by Dr. Choongyeol Yoo, President of IEGI, and attended by distinguished guests from Korea such as Dr. Sunghoon Doh, the Superintendent of Incheon Metropolitan City Office of Education, and Mr. Jihoon Lim, Chairman of Education Council in the Parliament of Incheon. The GVR also had an expert panel of speakers, including His Excellency Dr. Hesham Elnakib, Ambassador Extraordinary of Egypt, as keynote speaker, Dr. Eunhee Jung, President, IVECA International Virtual Schooling, as moderator, and panelists Dr. James Ryan, Superintendent & CEO at PNW BOCES in New York and Dr. Alexander Kotsakis, Atmospheric Scientist at NASA in Washington D.C.
The student teams cooperated throughout the camp on their meaningful projects, promoting the soft powers of their countries to serve humanity. The soft power from each nation was branded and promoted to help other countries, as well as their own nation, achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Students’ projects included national animation companies promoting peace (SDG 16), drama and movie industry raising awareness of gender equality (SDG 5), traditional cuisine contributing to good health and well-being (SDG 3), and an international commodity delivery system demonstrating innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9).
During the GVR, three experts shared their own experiences and observations encompassing the topic of “Promoting Soft Power for Humanity.” H.E. Dr. Elnakib summarized the spirit behind the summer course, that “soft power is the voice of peace, is the voice of humanity, is the voice of prosperity.” Dr. Ryan described the importance of creating school environments where students “engage with others through project-based, problem-solving group activities for empathy building and global citizenship” such as the IVECA Summer Camp. A scientist, Dr. Kotsakis explained how his work and collaboration at NASA contribute to humanity as soft power, “the conclusions that we draw from [the] research ultimately can better humanity by helping inform citizens and the general public.” The experts emphasized that diplomats, policymakers, educators, scientists, and students can all participate in promoting the soft power of their nations and contribute to making a more sustainable and harmonious world.
The closing celebration of the GVR Event welcomed a special guest singer, Mr. Moojin Lee, to entertain the audience and represent one of the soft powers of Korea with his K-pop performance. Students also shared cultural representations of their countries through song and dance performances from India, Korea, and Malaysia.
The IVECA Global Virtual Summer Camp and GVR event served as an unforgettable experience for many students, one student from Korea sharing that, “I will never forget the time when I could communicate with my friends and teachers from various countries and prepare various presentations together.” The Summer Camp course encouraged global collaboration and teamwork among the country’s team members and also between partners from different countries. The course shared a common goal of improving humanity through soft power, with one student reflecting that, “everyone will strive at their best so together we create a wonderful [place] to live.” The IVECA Global Virtual Roundtable was an exceptional event celebrating global partnerships and friendships.
