J8 Global Citizenship Programme expands to engage young people across the world in the burning global issues of our time

Following the success of J8 in 2004-5, the global citizenship programme is expanding internationally, to offer young people across the world the opportunity to discuss key global issues with the G8 leaders themselves.

Russia assumed the presidency of the G8 in January 2006 and the G8 Summit will be taking place in July 2006 in St Petersburg. Through J8, young people will have the opportunity to participate in their own Summit in parallel to the G8 Summit.

J8 will offer young people and teachers in all G8 countries:

• Up-to-date, online teaching material translated into all six core G8 languages.
• Specially-authored resources for both teachers and students.
• The chance for young people in all G8 countries to submit their ideas on how world leaders should tackle global issues
• A democratic online voting process run by the young people themselves, leading to the selection of a national delegation from each G8 country who will meet in St Petersburg in 2006
• A programme that puts young people into the heart of the G8 process.
• Limitless potential to expand the horizons of young people all over the world.

The potential passion and power of J8 in 2005-6
Using additional education material that focuses specifically on the topics prioritized by President Putin for the G8 Summit 2006, groups of students aged 13 to 16 in all G8 countries then have the opportunity to post a G8-style Communiqué onto the website. Individual students who have entered the J8 competition will then have the opportunity to vote for the points they would like to see discussed at the J8 Summit, and, in turn, will select a school to represent them.

The school groups chosen by the competition entrants themselves will assemble in St Petersburg in July 2006, and, alongside the G8 Summit 2006 in the same city, will discuss the topics they have prioritized. As the international representatives develop their own joint J8 Communiqué, President Putin will await receipt of their work to take to all G8 leaders, and young people everywhere will await the outcome of the Summit and the chance to see their original ideas taken to world leaders themselves.


The Impact of the 2004-5 Programme
On an individual basis, J8 gave confidence and a renewed desire to act to the young people who took part. As one teacher who participated noted, “J8 channels students’ liveliness instead of needing it to be suppressed to deliver the programme…..because there were no prescribed methods of investigation and presentation in J8, each student could produce work and participate according to their own ability and talent.” She added: “Participating in the J8 programme has literally changed the perspectives and, in turn, the lives, of the students in school who took part.”

For more information, please visit www.j8summit.com, email information@j8summit.com, or call Caroline Redrup on +44 (0) 20 7479 4226.