This summer, Scotdec joined the Beyond Borders Festival at the beautiful Traquair House – a gathering that brings people together across cultures and perspectives. The international festival is hosted by a Scottish based non-governmental organisation dedicated to breaking down borders between peoples, with the aim of facilitating wider international cultural exchange, dialogue, and reconciliation.
The festival spanned over a late August weekend, with each day filled with talks, panel discussions, debates, a programme of music, film showings, and well-being activities. Central to the festival was the youth programme entitled ‘The Art of Resistance’, reflecting on global and local issues important to young people and empowering them to take action. Scotdec was asked by the festival to facilitate two key workshops at the start of each day for the young people attending the festival – many of whom came from Peebles High School.
Young voices
The first workshop asked the young people to respond to images representing current world issues such as ‘The Climate Emergency’ ‘Freedom of Speech’ and Gender Inequality’ and reflect on which of them felt most important. This activity allowed for the young people to form groups and connect through their chosen world issue. In their groups the young people engaged with an issue tree methodology allowing for a discussion and exploration of their chosen issue, exploring the root causes, effects and possible solutions. These issue trees were then hung and displayed on the nearby apple trees that surrounded the workshop tent. The young people and Scotdec were pleased to see other festival attendees engage with the issue trees throughout the day, with people reading the young people’s responses, echoing the ethos of the festival of creating opportunities for further dialogue.
Campaign for change
The second workshop built on the learning from the previous day and moved towards taking action. Young people engaged in a ‘campaign for change’ task that asked them to reflect on different roles in society and decide on who they feel has the most power to affect change on their chosen issue, moving from least to most effective. Some of the roles included young people in primary and secondary school, the police, and the Scottish First Minister. The workshop series concluded with a reflection on actions to affect change, followed by decisions on which of these actions would be: the easiest to organise, the most fun, and the most impactful. The young people linked their chosen actions to their solutions, empowering them to recognise their role and value in wider festival conversations and in enacting change in the world.
Leading discussion
The opportunity to run these workshops allowed Scotdec to engage in these conversations with the young people at the start of each day and marked a precedent of their ability to navigate, facilitate, and engage in the conversations throughout the rest of the day. Scotdec was delighted to witness this group of young people interview notable public figures (including three former first ministers) in front of a large audience, ask thoughtful and challenging questions, and most interestingly recognise how some of the challenges they faced in their own school Model UN were also challenges that international organisations face.
The Beyond Borders Festival presents not only a brilliant example of young people’s voices being included in wider conversations about global issues but takes it one step further by acknowledging the central role of their voices. This festival showcases a commitment to honouring young people’s perspectives by providing a platform to take the lead in conversations on global issues with self-identified key figures in positions of power to make changes. As an organisation, we felt inspired to spend time with a group of young people exemplifying hope, commitment, and capacity for a more just world.
