The pilot camp for Swedish young leaders with a focus on dialogue around antisemitism and islamophobia took place last week and we had the pleasure of taking part in discussions around using social entrepreneurship as one of the solutions to the world’s biggest issues.

US non-profit Seeds of Peace, our partner on the GATHER Fellowship, has been developing the next generation of global leaders for 25 years, instilling them with the skills and relationships needed to bring about the social, political, and economic changes essential to peace. Ung Dialog (Young Dialogue) is an initiative inspired by the work of Seeds of Peace with a group of passionate Swedes working to set up a similar camp in Sweden. Last week saw the result of this work as a first camp was held at Ekskäret in the Stockholm archipelago.

Dialogue for listening, understanding and finding solutions

13 youngsters between the ages of 18 and 25 with different backgrounds from across Sweden gathered for a few days on the sunny island to meet, talk, debate, listen, and learn. The training was carried out by Seeds of Peace staff who had travelled from Israel, and visitors such as politicians Anna Kinberg Batra and Pär Nuder shared experiences and thoughts over the course of the camp. On Saturday, our Communications Lead Tove Nordström joined Pegah Afsharian, co-founder of Kompis Sverige, and Anna-Lena Bohm, entrepreneur and vice chair of Confederation of Swedish Enterprise, for an interactive panel discussion around how to use business, social entrepreneurship and non-profit initiatives to solve issues in our society.

The discussion was guided by questions from the youngsters, with a focus around responsible business, employment, integration and the means young people have to start their own companies and initiatives to solve the problems they see around them. A fantastic group of engaged youngsters, combined with the beautiful setting at Ekskäret in the sunshine, made for a great afternoon filled with inspiration and hope for the future.

Photo credit: Tove Nordström