WEXFO
YOUTH VOICES
Lillehammer, Norway
27-28 May 2024
World Expression Forum and Lillehammer municipality invite all secondary school students in Lillehammer to participate at the exclusive WEXFO Youth Voices. In addition, World Expression Forum invites upper secondary schools in Lillehammer and the surrounding area to a similar program the following day.
Over two days, around 1200 young people will gather at Scandic Hotel Lillehammer. The event is a great opportunity for students to learn about freedom of expression, engage in discussions, and truly express themselves. With its “festival-style character”, WEXFO Youth Voices promises a whole day of excitement, featuring various arenas.
No municipalities in Norway have, to our knowledge, done anything similar before, and Lillehammer is therefore a pioneering municipality when it comes to promoting freedom of expression and youth participation in society. The event will function as an extension of the teaching program ‘Equal Opportunities’, which has been developed by Lillehammer municipality and is used in schools.
According to the annual UNG report made by the analysis agency Opinion, youth engagement in freedom of expression is increasing, and is now in third place among the issues that engage most young people in Norway (31 percent). Among young boys, freedom of expression is now the most important issue (38 percent).
The program for WEXFO Youth Voices is created in collaboration with a group of young people from schools in Lillehammer. The event will address topics such as artificial intelligence, expressions in sports, hate speech, censorship in youth literature, environmental activism, and graffiti.
The event runs parallel to the freedom of expression conference World Expression Forum on May 27-28.
Would your class like to participate in WEXFO Youth Voices? Please send an email to project manager Hilde Fauskerud Hansen to register: hilde@wexfo.no
The event is free for school classes.
Monday 27 May – program
8.45-9.00 Registration
9.00-9.25 Welcome with introductory speeches and musical performance
- Welcome speech by the youth group in WEXFO
- Appeal by Mayor of Lillehammer Hans Olav Sundfør
- Musical performance by Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen
9.25-9.55 Workshop round 1 and discussion on AI in school
9.55-10.10 Performance by young artists from UKM
10.10-10.40 Workshop round 2 and discussion of artistic freedom
10.40-10.55 Performance by young artists from UKM
10.55-11.20 Debate about climate activism and freedom of expression
Featuring musician and activist Hætta Isaksen, activist Penelope Lea and Selma Jørgine Østerbø from WEXFO’s youth group
11.20-12.30 Break with lunch
Get to know other people and activities at the venue.
12.30-13.00 Workshop round 3 and discussion about expressions in sports
13.00-13.15 Performance by young artists from UKM
13.15-13.30 Final appeal - presentation of digital survey "We find this very difficult to talk about!"
Organized by the UN Association and WEXFO.
13.30-13.45 Verditinget at Aulestad comes to WEXFO Youth
13.45-14.00 Music performance with artists from Limpi
14.00 Closing
Tuesday 28 May – program
8.45-9.00 Registration
9.00-9.30 Welcome with introductory speeches and musical performance
- Welcome speech by the youth group in WEXFO
- Appeal by Mayor of Lillehammer Hans Olav Sundfør
- Musical performance by Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen
9.30-10.00 Debate about climate activism
Featuring musician and activist Ella Maria Hætta Isaksen, activist Penelope Lea and Selma Jørgine Østerbø from WEXFO’s youth group.
10.00-10.10 Appeal to the youth by Minister of Culture Lubna Jaffery
10.10-10.40 Workshop round 1 and debate about AI in schools
10.40-10.55 Performance by young artists from UKM
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10.55-12.00 Lunch and workshops
Get to know other people and activities at the venue.
12.00-12.30 Workshop round 2 and panel discussion about artistic freedom
Performance by young artists from UKM
12.30-12.40 Performance by young artists from UKM
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.
12.40-13.20 Workshop round 3 and panel discussion about expressions in sports
13.20-13.30 Performance by young artists from UKM
13.30-13.45 Final appeal - presentation of digital survey "We find this difficult to talk about!"
Organized by UN Association and WEXFO.
13.45-14.00 Musical performance with artists from Limpi
14.00 Closing
WEXFO Youth Voices Collaborators
It is important that everyone listens to the youth, because if you don’t you discourage us from taking part and engaging. Even though we don’t know everything, neither do you.
Snorre Fostervoll, Student and member of WEXFO Youth’s working committe
“World Expression Forum is the most interesting place to be for everyone who is interested in freedom of expression”
Anette Trettebergstuen
Former Minister of Culture and Equality
WEXFO Youth Voices is an event about freedom of expression where youth can learn, discuss and express themselves through workshops, activities, and panel talks.
Youth Voices was arranged for the first time in May 2023.
Lillehammer – our conference city
The World Expression Forum takes place annually in Lillehammer, Norway, in May/June. Norway ranks highly on Freedom of Expression indexes. The town of Lillehammer is a UNESCO City of Literature, an ICORN city of refuge for artists at risk and host of the biggest literature festival in Scandinavia. The city, the region (Innlandet) and the country are committed to supporting freedom of expression around the world.