It’s time to start better engaging young people, according to the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, which is trying out a new strategy to develop the Swedish talent pool — or “resource base.”
Since late 2013, the Sida Partnership Forum has been inviting former interns and young academics who have completed a minor field study — a Sida-financed program that allows Swedish university students to collect material for their graduate thesis by carrying out a field study in a developing country — for a reunion to share knowledge and present opportunities for continuing a career within development.
The reunions are still on a trial basis, but “if we hadn’t invited you, we’d be wasting all the knowledge in this room,” said activity leader Mikael Botnen Diamant to the participants during the last gathering. “You are the resources we want to seize.”