Youth Hub – the new buzz in Village Square

Meet Youth Hub — a space for India’s urban and rural youth to synergise and bring about positive, long-lasting change.

In India it is the young who are at the forefront of voicing issues, whether it’s about climate change, social inequalities or mental health issues. They want to be front and centre, bringing forth their voices to change the world they have the biggest stake in. 

That is why Village Square is creating the “Youth Hub” program – a space for India’s urban youth to interact with rural youth, to examine issues of those on the margins of society and to hear from thought-leaders to help initiate change for a better India.

What’s unique about the younger generations is they truly believe in the power of the individual to bring this change.

They also have more wealth and more years of formal education than previous generations. From Malala becoming the youngest Nobel Prize laureate to to Earthshot Prize finalist Vinisha Umashankar, the young are engaging global leaders on issues that matter to them and are impacting the world like never before. 

Youth Hub: Channelling the change-makers

According to a recent survey by Deloitte, Millennials and Gen Z are more likely to channel their energies to address inequities and hold themselves, and others, accountable. Various social media platforms see this too and have provided young people platforms to express themselves without the constraints of conventions that dictate who can speak and who is heard.

Can we channelise the ideas and energy of India’s youth to create constructive engagement about – and with – India’s marginalised people?  

Potentially, there are two spaces that young people in urban India can get their information from. The first is in their classrooms and their curriculum. Although the Indian curriculum offers a wide variety of topics to engage with, it is doubtful how much of that actually reaches the classrooms. The other space is online. Even if the number of active rural internet users is growing at 3 times the pace of urban people, we need to take a hard look at whether rural and urban users engage with each other. 

With the existing opportunities to connect, it is imperative to create new spaces that nurture the urban young to champion and support their brothers and sisters in less visible spaces. 

Creating new spaces for India’s young activists with Youth Hub

Village Square is an integrated research and communication platform that specifically caters to young, urban people and helps them build a richer understanding of our villages.

We believe that when we challenge long-standing assumptions and social constructs, we can create new norms and help envision a more just, habitable, world. 

That is why Village Square is bringing together thought leaders, journalists, youth icons, multiple social organisations and development practitioners, spanning across sectors, who are interested and invested on issues that matter to rural India.

We will curate opportunities for young people to nurture their perspective and to introduce them to some of the complexities and nuances of rural India.

Apart from this digital platform, these opportunities include:  

Village Vibe Spaces: A series of curated spaces and exhibitions that capture rural India in a manner that shifts the narrative from one of desolation and destitution to one of possibilities and growth. Recently a photo contest was launched to capture this “village vibe.”

Bharat Youth Dialogues – Be the change: There is a dearth of curated platforms that help expose young urban India to the myriad of issues that affect rural India. The Bharat Dialogues seek to harness the power of intelligent and enthusiastic young minds to the issues of marginalised people. We will create a series of conversations in urban spaces with seasoned practitioners and young influencers, highlighting rural issues and ideas for how the urban youth can engage with them.

Campus Ambassador Programme: A network of current college students anchoring the dialogues and events among their peers at their respective colleges and thereby championing the cause for a better rural India.

Fellowship Programmes: A series of immersive fellowships that bring urban youth closer to villages and provide opportunities to bring visibility to rural issues in a storytelling format including journalism, theatre, photography and arts.

Internship Programme: A structured short-term professional engagement catered towards young people who are interested and invested in rural issues and aspire towards a career in the rural development sector.

Lyndee Prickitt is the director of Village Square.