How Students Can Get Involved in Global Events

From the experience of my students I know that one of the challenges of getting involved in large and exciting local projects is the lack of proper information and communication.

It is not that students do not want to be involved or that municipalities do not need any help. The problem is that unlike big national governments or large international organizations, local governments very often do not have a big budget for public relations or advertising their projects and future plans.

Therefore, it is crucial for students to find proper channels of communication with local authorities, especially in discussing their strategic plans or long-term visions. For example, it took almost two years for the Almaty municipality to prepare its bid for the Winter Olympics, and during this time there were many updates and changes in the bid proposal. This was a huge job involving a multidisciplinary approach and the need for expertise in many areas – from international negotiations and relations to city infrastructure planning and green economy initiatives. Of course, the multi-disciplinary expertise which students and faculty were able provide to make Almaty a veritable “Smart City” able to host the Winter Olympic Games, was simply invaluable. 

The secret of success in being involved in such prestigious global projects at the local level is to offer the right set of skills. It is not like the whole mayor’s office is simply sitting there waiting for students to arrive. These offices have, of course, their own experience in preparing projects and reports and they have their own pool of internal experts.

Therefore, it is important to identify fields and areas where they might need help and expertise, and find the right people to approach for assistance. For example, the strength which my students could offer to the mayor’s office was their ability to create a multi-lingual and multi-disciplinary team able to work on the most challenging issues and study best practices from around the world.

Creative students always find creative ways to be involved in innovative projects. There are several important aspects here. One is to search for opportunities in advance, starting from your very first days at college or university, or even before starting your studies, in order to be in the right place at the right time. Second is to be flexible and search for potential volunteering opportunities around you; even if your city is not involved in any global events or projects, an adjacent city or state very well might. Third is to be very diplomatic in offering your expertise.  And fourth is: create your team, and work as a team.

With all this in place, who knows what dreams may come true?  Perhaps my students will be able to stand at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics Games in Almaty (if it is awarded to that city) – or simply watch the games on TV with proud thoughts that they were part of contributing to make this global event come about.