On December 9, heads and organizers of IG schools participating in the Dynamic Coalition on Schools of Internet Governance met at a roundtable event, “Rising to current challenges facing Schools of IG,” at the Global Internet Governance Forum and discussed the tasks the schools face.
Representatives of 12 internet governance schools from European, African, North American, and Asian-Pacific countries talked about this year’s results and plans for the future. In particular, they discussed the joint project with the IGF Secretariat; spoke about collaboration among schools and linkage among alumni of different schools, fellows and faculty; and also paid attention to plans on updating the documents of IG schools (Schools on Internet Governance - SIG).
Ilona Stadnik, the curator of youth projects at the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ and the head of the Russian Summer School on Internet Governance, presented the results of the 2021 Summer School. In 2021, the Summer School received 127 applications, with 72 percent from young people aged 15 to 22 years. Experts from ICANN, RIPE NCC, Sparrow, Bonch-Bruyevich St. Petersburg State University of Telecommunications, MGIMO University, Leiden University and the Center for Global IT Cooperation were invited to speak at the school.
“The Russian Summer School on Internet Governance was created in 2020, in the middle of the pandemic, and originally was held online. This affected both the school’s schedule and activities. Though the number of participants is still small, it serves as an excellent example of engaging young people in internet governance processes in Russia,” Ilona Stadnik added.
The IGF holds meetings for the organizers of internet governance schools annually. The meetings have three main goals: to do outreach to those interested in internet governance schools; to review the work done during the past year; and to decide on the plans for the next year.
The Summer School is organized by the Coordination Center for TLD .RU/.РФ together with the International Relations Faculty of St. Petersburg University. It is part of the global movement of Schools on Internet Governance (SIG). The school’s main task is to get participants involved in addressing current issues of internet governance and digital cooperation at the global and local level and help them gain the skills necessary to fully participate in international organizations, conferences, and dialogues on these issues.
