Youth in Des Moines, Iowa have more in common with students in Tunisia than they thought. In particular, a passion for social justice. While participating in Youth for Understanding’s (YFU) Virtual Exchange Initiative, a program that digitally connects students in different countries for moderated, in-depth discussion, a group of students in Iowa brought up the Black Lives Matter movement.

Slovenia’s International Centre for Promotion of Enterprises and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia’s Finance Think have been appointed by their Governments to join the Virtual Institute’s global network of 82 academic institutions, expanding Virtual Institute think tank membership to 11 research centres from seven countries.

The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) brought together a diverse group of thinkers, policymakers and practitioners for an October 15 conference that examined the positive impact of online or “virtual” exchanges for students and others around the world and the need to expand their use in an era of tight constraints on spending.

Two weeks ago, students from the Adobe Youth Voices Peapod Academy in Redwood City, California participated in a virtual exchange with AYV & iEARN students in Pakistan. The event, one of the first in a campaign spearheaded by iEARN to connect classrooms around the globe, has had a lasting impact on students in California...

Adobe Youth Voices students had a unique opportunity Thursday night to participate in a pioneering form of citizen diplomacy: a “virtual exchange” between students in California and Pakistan. The AYV Peapod Academy in Redwood City, California connected with AYV & iEARN sites in Karachi & Islamabad...