A world of tomorrow: a festival of ideas

If you tell your child today to imagine a world with no smartphones, laptops, internet accessibility, PlayStation/X-Box, Skype/FaceTime, tablets, Twitter/Facebook/Instagram/Snapchat, etc, he/she will just look at you incredulously and laugh it off. But we all know that there was once a time when we did not have these things and still managed to survive. Back in those days, our problems were also quite different. Though our children today may have access to advanced technology and many new avenues of learning, there are several things that they need to learn in order to protect themselves in a world that is changing with every passing second.

Today, multiple problems afflict all cultures and societies. While some of our problems like poverty, disease, unemployment are faced by several other countries across the globe as well, some of our problems are unique to this country. Some countries in the world have been hit by terrorism but Pakistan is one of its worst victims. Terrorists have not even spared educational institutions in Pakistan and as a result, schools, colleges and universities across the country have had to take high security measures. 

In order to understand the problems of a changing world, Beaconhouse has arranged a ‘festival of ideas’ – A World of Tomorrow: Seeking Inspiration and Equilibrium in a New Age – to explore the contours of a yet-unknown future. The five key dimensions of ‘A World of Tomorrow’, to be held on November 4-6 in Lahore, are: a digital future; an inclusive future; a balanced future; an expressive future and a safer future.

The conference seeks to examine the rapidly growing influence of geopolitics and global security, digital technologies, media, art and culture, environment and the changing needs of society on the shape of schools in the 21st century both locally and internationally. These broad ‘drivers’ of learning will be addressed through keynote talk, panel discussions, debates, hackathons, interactive workshops, foreign film festival and science exhibition. There will be over 150 speakers in 65 thought-provoking sessions: all sessions are free to the public (the main venue is Royal Palm while there are three satellite venues).

Some highlights of the event: Keynote speech on the role of the performing arts in shaping society by Fawad Khan, actor; Hina Rabbani Khar in conversation with F S Aijazuddin; Jugnu Mohsin moderating a session on the future of Pakistan with Ahsan Iqbal and others; Fahd Husain moderating a session on the US elections with Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, Hasan Askari Rizvi and others; presentation by world-famous photographer Jimmy Nelson on ‘The World’s Vanishing People’; a session with the Pakistan women’s football team; a panel discussion on sports with the new Sindh sports minister and Moin Khan, Kiran Khan, Hajra Khan; a session on art and popular culture in a New Age with Mohsin Hamid, Sheema Kirmani, Tapu Javeri and Tina Sani; a panel discussion on who controls global media and global thinking; a debate on whether or not the curriculum should be standardised; a debate on the newly passed Cybercrime Bill.

More information is available on the conference website:

www.schooloftomorrow.beaconhouse.net.