Community Guide
1. Creating spaces for and with youth
This means creating a space for young people and with young people to do this work. The IB was built on this same philosophy and pioneering spirit.
Whether you are in a school or any other community group or organisation, we invite you to consider creating your own Festival of Hope in a way that reflects the challenges, questions and passions that the young people in your community care about.
We ask that you stay true to the values of hope, community and action that are the basis of this framework and work in partnership with your young people to create a space for them and with them.
"This is for you." [...] "This is not a confrontation. And it is not a generational showdown. It is an invitation to join."
2. Exploring Hope
Through our research and listening to youth voices we learned young people are deeply concerned about the state of the world, and actively trying to balance the challenges of their everyday lives with their desire to drive societal change.*
Youth are feeling less in control of their lives than at any point in recent history.
The concept of “Hope” is both powerful and divisive. It is fundamentally human, transcending language and culture. The way that hope has been showing up for us in the Festival of Hope so far is as a verb, it is something you do rather than feel. In the face of such monumental challenges, hope is something that we must build together through collective action.
"So much of the climate education and education around planetary problems is demoralising, scary and tragic…It isn’t one where you believe it will all work out. It is one where you are committed to doing what can be done in your circle of influence, with full integrity and full commitment to learning. Taking responsibility even though things will be very difficult."
3. What is the Festival of Hope?
What is the World Asking of Us?
In live, in-person and virtual spaces, we have brought together diverse voices and experiences; hosting interviews, workshops, and opportunities for action.
This spirit of collective inquiry was strongly felt at our first live event in Chicago Public Schools in November. Young dynamic leaders from very diverse backgrounds and starting points shared their insights with each other, prompting deep thinking about pressing questions of mental health, privilege and the confidence to overcome barriers and tell your own story.
From Chicago, we went to UWC Atlantic College in Wales and, with a brief stop in Adelaide for the IB Global Conference, to Pathways School, New Delhi and Dhirubai Ambani, Mumbai.
In addition to the various live gatherings, young people from IB schools across the globe have been engaging in vital dialogues online with indigenous leaders, cutting-edge scientists and artists and designers committed to systems change. You can see these videos on the Festival of Hope YouTube channel.
Through our Festival of Hope journey, common themes have emerged of deep interest that were shared and repeated by young people around the world. These include:
- Identity & diversity
- Fairness & inclusion
- The role of AI & technology
- Personal & planetary wellbeing
What are the themes and issues that are coming up for young people in your community?
How can you create spaces for young people to discuss and explore together and as part of an intergenerational community where all voices matter?
4. How to host a Festival of Hope
The Festival of Hope is more than an event. Not just a performance, an assembly, or a panel discussion, it is an invitation to put youth and their voices at the centre around the issues they care about most. It can be a celebration of new ideas, innovations and expressions of creativity. This inspiration should also, and most importantly, lead to action. Whether this is during the event (such as, a challenge, competition, fundraiser, exhibition or discussions or prototyping of ideas in a workshop) or after the event, with follow-up gatherings and projects.
What do you need to get started?
Young people will play a key role in Festival of Hope planning:
- Teams of young leaders should support the planning.
- Youth should be hosts of various dialogues and interviews
- Asking vital questions and engaging as audience members
- Sharing hope and taking action through social media, hackathon and grant challenges
You should select a venue that enables discussion and collaboration. Festival of Hope’s can take place in one room, on a campus, rooms within a building or in an outdoor space that invites engagement from your community.
Your venue should also be an active space where you can have visuals, ideas and exhibits that illustrate the ideas and discussions taking place and bring your Festival of Hope to life
Festival of Hope’s are intended to be inclusive of an entire community. This can be within your school, within your city or your entire country. Collaboration is at the heart. We have hosted Festivals as large as 100+ schools coming together in one country and as simple as a handful of students from a particular part of your school and community.
The intention is to be as responsive to the young people’s ideas as possible around how your Festival should be centred.
Festival of Hope’s thrive when we come together. If it is not possible for young people in your community to be together in person a virtual event can also be planned as long as it maintains the principles detailed in “Running your own Festival of Hope”.
The IB has developed a set of resources for you to use as you plan your own Festival of Hope. You can find these here.
We want to hear from you! If you are planning a Festival of Hope and want to ask questions on how to plan your own Festival of Hope, request additional support information or collaborate on sharing news about your Festival of Hope you can connect with us in a few different ways:
- Share your Festival of Hope videos, photographs and stories by tagging #festivalofhope on all social media. Your updates will be featured on the hope page of hope.ibo.org
- You can upload Festival of Hope videos to this drive. We will select certain videos to be featured on the Community Celebrations page of our Festival of Hope YouTube channel.
- Collaborate on social media with us!
You can also find us on:
- Insta: @festivalofhopeib
- TikTok: @festivalofhopeib
- YouTube: Festival of Hope
5. Festivals of Hope in Action
Explore and find inspiration in the various Festival of Hope events held across our global community.
*You can always share your own Festival of Hope video to be added to this list!
6. FAQs: Learn more!
As you can see from the examples in section 5, there are many ways to host and run a Festival of Hope. It can be a community gathering, a day of events, a speaker series or even a fundraiser. Visit the inspiration section or our YouTube Channel to learn more.
No. Any school or community can host a Festival of Hope. We ask you to adhere to the Festival of Hope and IB branding guidelines.
Yes! We have had several groups of schools and IB Associations work together to host a country or city level Festival of Hope. If you need guidance on how to start we are happy to support.
Yes! Student groups are encouraged to collaborate with their community to create a Festival of Hope.
No, the IB does not need to provide you with permission but we do ask that you follow our guidelines for use of the Festival of Hope brand and events. Those details can be found throughout this guide.
Yes! Festival of Hope can be held as a virtual event or in person. We have found however, that connecting in person when possible creates stronger moments and opens up more spaces for understanding.
Festival of Hope can be supported in any language. Our website can be translated in up to 10 languages. The IB’s three main languages are English, Spanish and French and our branding resources are translated into those three languages.
Please contact support@ibo.org with further questions about Festival of Hope.