LAHC Conference

By: S. Cook

On the first day of the conference, the pupil delegates were given an interesting presentation on what innovation is by Alejandro, the co-founder of DIIP, presenting innovative and creative ideas on how to overcome problems in businesses and find solutions as well as approaching inventions, and creations with an open mindset. Giving continuity to this broad topic of innovation, Camilla Ghattas then introduced innovation and how this concept is present in the study of futurology. As a
futurologist, she had many revolutionary insights regarding this subject. 

​"The conference was one of the best experiences I ever had as we were able to acknowledge current problems and issues and were given the opportunity to solve them as a team!" - S. Cook, Lower Sixth 

We then had the option of a ending one of three interest clusters: climate change and global warming, mind opening through body movements or Drawdio, an interactive soldering session that allowed participants to draw musical instruments on normal paper with any pencil and then play them with their finger. We chose to attend the session on climate change. The presentation was extremely interactive as we could follow the powerpoint through our phones and answer questions as well as give our opinions. We also had to provide solutions to current global problems in the news such as the fact that "diabetes is increasing in number due to rising temperatures." 

"Not only was the conference enriching both academically and culturally, but it opened our eyes to how there is room for innovation and inspiration in every aspect of our lives" - V. Fregonesi, Lower Sixth 

Towards the end of the day, we could choose to talk about gender or "building a startup on the sharing economy era". The gender talk was located in the library and we were all seated in a circle exchanging ideas about gender and society. We got to meet a transgender person, a drag queen and a refugee volunteer in order to broaden our perspectives on different self-expressions. 

During the second day of the conference, we went to the DIIP center and had many workshops around futurology and technological advancements. We carried out an investigation where we had to use an example of a technological invention we had seen in either films, TV series or shows and how we could incorporate that invention in real life examples. Would it be possible? What would be the consequences of using advanced technology in our daily lives? These were the sort of questions we thought about and answered throughout the day. The third day was called "probing". We set out in groups and were given the task of creating interactive presentations that would express our innovative ideas on how to improve a city such as a "city hack". The task had very few requirements in order to let us freely express ourselves without limitations or boundaries. 

"It was so exciting to meet so many new people from different countries." - D. Jacobsberg, Lower Sixth 

The last day was called "expression". We all set up our presentations and expressed our ideas to over 70 people. It was one of the best experiences for us as a group as it enabled us to develop skills such as teamwork, creativity, organisation and innovation. The conference as a whole was extremely beneficial to us individually as we were given a chance to interact with other students from different nationalities and cultures broadening our perspectives. 

"What I most liked about the conference was the different perspective I gained on how much effort is inputted into education." J. Paes, Lower Sixth