Conversations Across the Continents

To conclude our Pandemic Era- Youth as Researchers series, we wanted to explore one final creative group - a global perspective (it's as interesting and as complicated as you think!). The Youth as Researchers program has teams conducting research from national, regional, and global perspectives. In today's episode, we hear from a global group's perspective - what a challenge they had! Smriti, from the Global Learning Team, talks about her and her team's experience researching the perception of students and teachers about how COVID-19 impacted access and quality of learning in higher education. Smriti, a PhD candidate from India, and an active member of the Green Governance Initiative, speaks to her team's work regarding challenges across all regions in learning in the time of COVID-19. She also offers a ray of hope from her team's work in outlining recommendations for governments, universities, and local communities to consider when rebuilding the learning foundation for today's youth in higher education. 

Curious about Smriti's work? check out:
Green Governance Initiative: a youth-based non-partisan policy research think-tank that works with key stakeholders to ensure the effective implementation of the “United Nations' 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development along with India 2030” (https://ggiindia.in/)

In this next episode, we travel to South America with a focus lens on the country of Brazil. We are joined by Vivi, PhD in applied linguistics, research, author, and jack of all trades, along with Raphaela, a PhD candidate in public health and n university professor. The Brazilian team focuses on their country's youth engaged in social reality: perceptions and creative strategies in times of pandemic. In this episode, we hear about the team's own creative process, overcoming personal and group challenges, and ways to collectively help elevate Brazilian youth's voices. Like most of our Youth Researcher teams, these youth do not shy from the real conversations of challenges youth in their country experience, yet they provide an element of active hope in speaking about action steps toward a life beyond the pandemic. A wonderful session to feel inspired about the real issues and real steps to resolve youth challenges in Brazil.

Expanding into the Pacific, this team explored topics of youth well-being from the Asia-Pacific. Apabrita is finishing her final year in university and holds an interest in post-colonial literature. More specifically, she’s interested in how societies and cultures function, which led her to this project to explore these areas and how they were impacted by the pandemic. Her group addressed the challenges associated with access to mental health services and the perceived barriers that the youth of the Asia Pacific area faced in accessing mental health care systems that exist in their respective countries. This team's findings include university students being concerned about negative stigmas and the financial burden of accessing mental health services. Listen in to hear her groups’ recommendations to these challenges!

Dans le cadre du programme Jeunes en tant que Chercheurs (YAR), des équipes mènent des recherches dans une perspective nationale, régionale et mondiale. Dans cet épisode qui présente une équipe régionale, Zola, un médecin de formation tchadien qui poursuit actuellement une maîtrise en nutrition, nous rejoint pour parler de l'equipe d'Afrique Centrale. Il partage un peu de la recherche de cette équipe sur la situation des entreprises des jeunes de l’Afrique Centrale pendant la COVID-19. Si vous voulez écouter un orateur passionné qui donne une merveilleuse base contextuelle à ses propos, cet épisode avec Zola est fait pour vous.

Traveling to the Eastern Hemisphere, we're joined by Max, the Ugandan team lead, representing the Southern and Eastern Africa team. Max describes the challenges and triumphs of education during COVID-19 in this part of the continent. He speaks to eradicating poverty through education; however, the COVID-19 pandemic complicates all the educational systems that were in place. Furthermore, the pandemic impacts the capacity to address the UNSDGs. Max shares his lived experiences, those of his teammates, and their fight to address poverty and other issues augmented by the pandemic. Listen in if you're looking to expand your knowledge and feel inspired by the bold actions of today's African youth. 

This slightly longer session is filled with spirit and explores the South Asia experience. This team's research is centered around volunteerism and its relationship with the COVID-19 pandemic. The episode is brimming with passion and a cross-sectional approach where our diverse researchers' lived experiences coincide with their research work on volunteerism. One aspect we found uniquely prominent within this team is the diversity of backgrounds team members hail from: Shivangi- a project manager working to empower women through volunteerism; Ari- a Woman Deliver young leader and literacy ambassador; Dr. Ali- working in a diagnostics lab on COVID-19 in the public sector; and Vriti- a research scholar who’s conducted work in tribal communities. Listen in to better understand volunteers in this region and to perhaps extrapolate ways you can improve volunteerism -- in the time of COVID-19 -- in your own region. 

Headed to the fifth most populated country in the world, in this episode of Conversations Across the Continents, we are joined by a Youth as Researcher group from Pakistan. Counter to some of the other groups, the members of this remarkable team represent one country, opposed to a regional perspective. Today, we hear from Sana, a teacher at an all women's school. Sana speaks with clarity about online Learning in the time of COVID-19. Her research explores university students’ perspectives in Pakistan. She finds herself connecting her findings back to her lived experience as a teacher with her students throughout the episode. Curious about how her lived experiences match with research in her country? This is the episode for you!

In this episode, we’re exploring the dry climate and rich diversity found in the Arab States. This incredible team of young leaders explored digital and civic action among youth in the COVID-19 era. In their discussion, the team describes the power that comes from young people who are allowed to set the research agenda on youth-taking action and how they came to understand more about their peers. Listen in to hear team lead Ghida and her colleagues describe their work and recommendations in a world where Arab States youth are no longer the world’s underdogs.

Including guest host Ella Anderson, from the Youth as Researchers steering committee and European Team coordinator, this episode explores the program in North America. Jakarta- in her second year of law school at the University of Alberta, Melissa- a public servant working in the Canadian federal government in Toronto, and Jai- a student at the University of Toronto studying political science and international relations share the North American team's research on the gendered impact of Covid-19 among youth in Canada and the US. This session really shines a light on the power of team dynamics that resulted from this initiative, so if you're looking to hear about how youth researchers connected during this time, take a listen!

Trois membres d'une des équipes haïtiennes du YAR, Nishina, qui vient d'obtenir un diplôme en éducation et est enseignante ; Anderson, qui a une licence en psychologie, travaille comme psychosociale dans un hôpital universitaire et aussi continue à étudier la psychologie ; et Marline, une etudiante en droit et aussi une assistante administrative, se joignent à nous pour une discussion sur l'usage des réseaux sociaux et bien-être psychosocial des jeunes en Haïti à l'ère de la COVID-19. Contrairement à certains des autres équipes, les membres de cette remarquable équipe représentent un pays, par opposition à une perspective régionale. Écoutez pour en savoir plus sur le bien-être psychosocial des jeunes Haïtiens pendant la pandémie de COVID-19.

Diving into West Africa, we had the opportunity to speak with a Nigerian national team. Three representative members of the Nigerian team were all researchers by trade, and able to expand and learn so much form one another and the project. Stephanie is pursuing a graduate degree in history; Falemara is in forestry science, currently pursuing a PhD and was a UNESCO 2020 Young Scientist awardee; and Portia is studying law and human rights. The team took this year long opportunity to explore the Assessment of Learning Opportunities among Youth in Nigeria during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Take a listen to hear more about Nigerian youth and their experiences with learning during the pandemic. 

Starting our series off, we're headed to Europe! Assia, who works for a foundation at her university in Ireland on fundraising for access scholarships, shares her experience participating on the European Youth team. She tells us about her team's research on emotional wellbeing and social media usage during COVID-19. Assia and her team have also created their own website and an Instagram page featuring the findings of their team and helpful recommendations for young people! View them in the links below:

https://www.instagram.com/europeanyouth.yar/?hl=en 

https://anchor.fm/european-youth/