NEWS

ICU Students Participated in the Athens Democracy Forum 2024

Update: November 8, 2024

Riko Okubo, a fourth-year student of ICU College of Liberal Arts participated in the Athens Democracy Forum 2024, held from October 1st to 3rd, 2024 in the vibrant city of Athens, Greece. This prestigious event is sponsored by the non-profit Democracy and Culture Foundation in association with The New York Times. It aims to explore strategies for safeguarding and perpetuating democratic principles and fundamental freedoms while addressing the prevailing ideological and political divisions that have gripped the global stage.

The central theme of this year's forum was exploring the question "What is truth?" at a time when AI, conspiracy theorists and unscrupulous politicians are aligned to undermine fact, science, honesty, and respectful debate.

Involvement of ICU students was facilitated through the Global Liberal Arts Alliance (GLAA), which invite university students from 30 partner universities worldwide since 2016. This year 22 university students were invited, of which one student represented ICU. They stayed at Athene for a week to prepare and reflect. In the forum, students actively involved in dialogue with multidisciplinary group of participants with fresh new perspectives as youths.

Comments from Riko Okubo:
I am honored to have served as a Youth delegate at the Athens Democracy Forum. My interest in applying for this forum began two years ago when I saw a senior student participate and thought it looked fascinating. Now, with graduation approaching, I wanted to gain insight into global discussions on "democracy"--not just in Japan and the U.S. but worldwide--and explore how these insights might connect to my future career.

At the forum, we discussed a wide range of pressing issues, from ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe to long-term challenges like climate change, the rise of AI, and the recent trend of populist politics. These topics often had no single, clear answer, and there were tense moments as speakers on the same panels held differing views. Through it all, we focused on identifying common threads in these complex issues, using "democracy" as a lens to think about what we need for a better future.

One of the highlights for me was meeting 21 other liberal arts students from all over the world, even if it was for a short time. Getting to know them and learning about their lives made distant global issues feel much closer and more personal. On the flight back, I found myself reflecting on how this expanded perspective might contribute to a broader sense of global peace.

The biggest lesson I took away was that, while changing large systems is tough, it's essential to speak up and take small actions, starting with what's around us.

I'm looking forward to growing the seeds of ideas I gathered in Athens and seeing where they lead.

Lastly, I noticed that there were many students, speakers, and topics from the U.S. and EU at the forum, and I felt it's important to increase the presence of Japan and Asia as well. I hope ICU students will continue to join in the years ahead!

Thank you to ICU and my professors for this amazing opportunity.