Guided by Experts, Students Prepare for Global Virtual Roundtables

Register now to attend the event!

The IVECA Summer Camp is halfway to completion this weekend. After starting on July 5th, students have two weeks to complete their innovative projects to present at the Global Virtual Roundtable (GVR) Event. The GVR Event will take place on Friday July 16th led by expert moderators and feature presentations by panelists who are leaders in their fields.

The GVRs will cover two topics. The Course 1 GVR topic is “Promoting Scientific and Technological Soft Power of Water” led by moderator and founder of IVECA, Dr. Eunhee Jung. The panel will feature experts such as Dr. Hesham Elnakib, Ambassador Extraordinary of Egypt, and Dr. Alex Kotsakis, fellow scientist in NASA. The Course 2 GVR topic is “Scientific and Programmatic Innovation to Tackle Climate Change and Air Pollution” led by moderators Dr. Robert Swap, Associate Division Director for Mission Planning in the Earth Sciences at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, and Dr. Mariel Friberg, NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow. The GVR panelists include entrepreneurs, scholars, and scientists who contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). (The complete list of panelists can be found on the event brochure.)

Student projects are being developed in collaboration with IVECA student teams from around the world and the expert IVECA Summer Camp instructors. Student team projects for Course 1 will explore scientific and technological soft powers of their own nations. Projects will focus on solutions to water scarcity and quality in their own country that can be applied throughout the world. In Course 2, students will be addressing problems in the air quality of their nations and suggesting solutions for air quality issues and climate change in their countries that help to achieve the UN SDGs. (Read more about the themes of the IVECA Global Virtual Roundtables in the concept note of our brochure.)

IVECA’s Spring Semester Celebrated Global Connections

The IVECA Spring Semester 2021 concluded with Live Classes from elementary and secondary schools in five different countries. Teachers and students from across the world joined together to celebrate their hard work, projects, and cultures in a virtual meeting. Those Live Classes marked the accomplishments achieved through combined efforts of the partner schools. Teachers led the combined classes collaboratively and confidently, while students presented their projects with passion and pride. Finally, the schools expressed their sentiments of the meaningful experiences shared throughout the semester.

12 student teams from high schools in Argentina and in Korea participated in a Climate Crisis Speech Contest. Teams from each school competed with each other to deliver the most inspiring speech to their partner school. After conducting research of real-life climate crises in their countries, students reflected on how government policies and private enterprise affect climate change. Although students found many differences between their countries’ environments, they all felt inspired to speak out to protect natural resources and prevent further environmental damage, aspiring to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Furthering the UN SDG agenda, high school students from Guatemala, China, Korea, and the United States dealt with topics related to recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Students from each country examined the impact of the pandemic on their communities, focusing on which areas need improvement. Students and teachers both expressed their accomplishments through completing the course, emphasizing how much they had learned about their own communities during the process. Students felt joined together as a global community sharing a common goal.

Also, because of COVID, travel has been restricted between many countries. To address this distance between countries, elementary and middle school students from Korea and Argentina gave each other virtual tours of their countries and cultures. Students from both schools shared the importance of their local architecture and famous cuisine. With this project, students were able to reflect on the similarities and differences between their countries and have insight into the lives of their partners from across the world.

One student shared during her semester reflection, “This exchange has taught me that the world has no limits. What I mean is that my perspective has grown and now I know that sharing with others around the world is a privilege.” The IVECA Live Class brings students together in a meaningful way, to learn about each other, and in the process reflect about themselves, their culture, and their own communities.

#IVECA #interculturalcompetence #GlobalCitizenship #21stCenturyEducation #SDGs #Interculturalexchange

IVECA to Host Global Roundtable Event

The Global Virtual Roundtable (GVR) Event hosted by IVECA International Virtual Schooling will take place on July 16. The GVR will be attended by a panel of experts and international students teams presenting on innovative solutions to addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs.)

Four GVRs will be held, demonstrating a variety of approaches to achieving the UN SDGs and featuring student teams from Guatemala, Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, Papua New Guinea, Tunisia, and the United States. Four GVRs will be organized by two themes, and each theme will be discussed through two GVRs that will have different student presenter teams. The themes are:

• GVR1: Promoting Scientific and Technological Soft Power of Water

  • GVR 1-A: July 16, 2021. 7:30 - 9:00 am, NY time

  • GVR 1-B: July 16, 2021. 9:30 - 11:00 am, NY time

• GVR2: Scientific and Programmatic Innovation to Tackle Climate Change and Air Pollution

  • GVR 2-A: July 16, 2021. 6:00 - 7:30 am, NY time

  • GVR 2-B: July 16, 2021. 8:00 - 9:30 am, NY time

The GVR Event will be taking place via Zoom on July 16 (New York time). Register now to receive your Zoom invitation through your email that will be sent prior to the event day.

• Register at https://tinyurl.com/GVR21

• Program brochure: https://tinyurl.com/GVR-Brochure