The Nordic National Committees held their Annual General Meeting here at UWC Red Cross Nordic over the weekend of 21st to 23rd November. We hosted representatives from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland and put together a programme which consisted of the November bonfire and Christmas lights, meetings, the Asian Cultural Show, gatherings of Nordic groups, and a reception at the Rektor’s House. We look forward to welcoming them back in 2015.
A group of RCN students led by history teacher Erik Pedersen was granted the privilege to attend the annual Rafto Conference preceding the Rafto Prize 2014 Award Ceremony. Dedicated to the global promotion of human rights, the Rafto Foundation acknowledged the efforts of Russian human rights organisation Agora. Chaired by lawyer Pavel Chikov, Agora now consists of 35 devoted lawyers, who on a daily basis deal with cases connected to the abuse of power by authorities across Russia. Their arguably best-known defendant is Pussy Riot, whose provocative ‘guerrilla’ performances challenged the government of President Putin. However, the Rafto Conference did not only focus on Agora, but also concentrated on the challenges for Russian civil society. Participants explored the restrictions put on freedom of speech and journalists. Olya Kurachyova a queer-activist, journalist and artist shed some light on the struggles of the LGBT community in Russia by revealing her personal stories. When the conference was drawing to a close, presenters shared some more positive thoughts, underscoring that Putin and Moscow are not solely representative of Russia and that human rights ideas are penetrating into society.
The conference was beautifully summed up by Olya Kurachyova’s answer to a question “What would you say to Putin if you had a chance to meet him in person?” Without a second of hesitation, Olya grasped a microphone and firmly proclaimed: “It’s okay to be queer.”
Justina Čižinauskaitė (Lithuania) – RCN 2016
UWC Red Cross Nordic and Sogn Jord og Hagebruksskule have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding.
The two institutions share a common understanding about environmental issues and we are both working towards a sustainable future through education. Recognising the opportunities in supporting each other and working together, we started various joint programmes in 2012. We organised staff visits in both direction and students from SJHS visited RCN on a Global Concerns Environment Day with active workshops and lectures lead by SJHS students. We have also set up an organic food delivery from SJHS this autumn.
After working together on sustainability and healthy lifestyle projects for the past two years, the College’s two management teams decided to give an official foundation to the cooperation with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding in November 2014. Through this agreement, a sustainability project will begin in the spring of 2015 on the RCN Campus with small scale agricultural activity which engages students with local, organic food production. Further to this, we plan teacher and student exchanges and a possible volunteer programme for SJHS graduates at RCN. We also seek possibilities to extend this cooperation and to raise funds for our common projects together.
Medalists of the Baltic Sea Philosophical Essay Event 2014/15, held each year by Baltic countries on the UNESCO World Philosophy Day, were announced yesterday. Students from 16 countries participated in this essay competition with 160 essays submitted with three gold medals awarded for outstanding submissions. The adjudicator of the short listed essays was Ilkka Niiniluoto, former Rektor of the University of Helsinki.
It is a pleasure to announce that Elisabeth Dietz (Norway) and Izman Suhail (Maldives) were awarded two of the gold medals.
In Norway, Elisabeth’s essay will be published here.
Both winning essays can also be read here:
Elisabeth’s Essay
Izman’s Essay
