IAFOR invites all delegates at the Korean Conference on Education (KCE2024) and the Korean Conference on Arts & Humanities (KCAH2024) to participate in The Forum, an ongoing discussion-style session held during the conference plenaries. The Forum discussion in Korea will centre on the topic of Global Leadership in a Fragmenting World.
In the face of a fragmenting world that endangers international cooperation, citizens worldwide are experiencing the consequences of the international community’s inability to solve issues connected to global security, climate change, the economy, and recent technological advancements. Ongoing wars have shifted power, re-militarised countries, and weakened global trade. While developing countries are starting to speak up for themselves, climate action frameworks such as the SDGs are failing. The cost to combat climate change is rising; meanwhile, frontier technologies are actively disrupting jobs, society, and security.
International organisations such as the World Economic Forum (WEF) are advocating for a re-evaluation of international cooperation and a subsequent move towards more innovative and inclusive approaches. While the proposed solutions hint towards a new type of multilateral cooperation, the issue of new global leadership required to implement all these ambitious plans and new partnerships is less discussed. Leaders hold power, and not many are eager to relinquish it.
Leaders are found at all levels of sociopolitical organisation, guiding countries through complex international relations, directing the flow of science information, and educating aspiring leaders and citizens within their communities and in one-on-one relationships on an individual level. If new globally oriented approaches, reforms, and plans are required to navigate through turbulent geopolitical times, a new globally oriented leadership must follow.
The Forum in Korea urges delegates to consider ’Global Leadership in a Fragmenting World’, specifically what ‘new’ global leadership looks like in the wake of contemporary crises. Questions posed to participants will include what can your country do to become a global leader? What defines a ‘global’ leader? How can we exercise leadership as students, educators, professionals, and institutional or governmental representatives? How can we prepare young leaders to be global citizens before they can step into the role? Join the conversation and expand upon these topics with us at The Forum.
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