{"id":19388,"date":"2024-10-20T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-20T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19388"},"modified":"2024-10-20T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T06:00:00","slug":"the-last-word-the-global-mindset-of-kosovos-young-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/?p=19388","title":{"rendered":"The last word: The global mindset of Kosovo&#8217;s young people"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Kosovo\u2019s young people are more than ready to take on the challenges of the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last week I joined the KosICT Festival in Prishtina, organised by STIKK, the Kosovan ICT association. I talked about the talent in Europe\u2019s youngest country\u2014in the 2024 edition of the <a href=\"https:\/\/d11n7da8rpqbjy.cloudfront.net\/emergingeurope\/30984958_1723037112809Future_Of_IT_2024_spreads.pdf\">Future of IT in Emerging Europe<\/a> report, Kosovo was ranked first in the region in the \u2018education\u2019 subcategory for second year in the row.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/analysis\/the-last-word-the-reinvention-of-identity\/\">The reinvention of identity<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/analysis\/why-companies-are-moving-to-the-western-balkans\/\">Why companies are moving to the Western Balkans<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/culture-travel-sport\/kosovo-five-essential-reads\/\">Kosovo: Five essential reads<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Beyond the rankings and numbers, however, what truly matters are the young people behind them.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was stunned when a seven-year-old passionately presented a lift made of paper that moved coins up and down. He spoke excellent English, only occasionally asking his teacher for language support. And I was equally moved by an eight-year-old who showed me a stick for blind people (who\u2014as he explained\u2014might not have a guide dog to can help them walk on the street). Together with his ten-year-old friend, the boy had come up with a solution that used sensors.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And then there was the slightly older ones innovators, who demonstrated excellent soft skills. An 18-year-old came up to me at the opening reception and explained that he is a graphic designer and that together with his friends they had created a digital marketing start-up. And that he was learning to speak with prospective clients.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another was very eager to expand his network and spoke with all almost all of the speakers, despite the fact that\u2014be his own admission\u2014he was not very confident about grabbing a mic and making a comment in public. And when he posed a question to the mayor of Prishtina, he came back and said, \u2018It felt really good.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the business lounge, I had a chance to speak with a young woman who was very proud of her country\u2014a country in which roughly half of the population is below 30, and wanted to make sure everyone knows its story.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And finally, speaking with a young man in his early twenties about personal reinvention and hearing his reflections just after the reinvention workshop that I ran was a real eye opener. His cyber security and dancing passions, and the transitions he has made, were really inspiring.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I must admit I felt proud that all these people are the future of emerging Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Making a difference<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>These young leaders embody the best of what Kosovo has to offer: a hunger for learning, an openness to collaboration, and a deep understanding of how empathy and communication are as crucial to their success as any technical ability. They weren\u2019t just there to absorb knowledge; they were there to connect, network, and make a difference.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Their excitement about the future wasn\u2019t just about tech, new gadgets or programming languages; it was about building a global community, with Prishtina as a hub for collaboration. This outlook is what makes Kosovo such a compelling player on the international stage.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite its size, the country\u2019s youth have a global mindset, recognising that their work can have an impact far beyond their borders.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As I left Prishtina, one thing became clear: Kosovo\u2019s youth are more than ready to take on the challenges of the future. Their confidence, energy, and sense of purpose were palpable at every turn.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Unlike many news and information platforms,&nbsp;<em>Emerging Europe<\/em>&nbsp;is free to read, and always will be.&nbsp;There is no paywall here.&nbsp;We are independent,&nbsp;not affiliated with nor representing any political party or business&nbsp;organisation.&nbsp;We want the very best for emerging Europe, nothing more, nothing less. Your support will help us continue to spread the word about this amazing region.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You can contribute&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. Thank you.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/emergingeurope.krtra.com\/t\/NlQnFuOA2C9c\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/emerging-europe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/copy-of-add-a-heading.png\" alt=\"emerging europe support independent journalism\" class=\"wp-image-50811\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-color is-style-wide\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kosovo\u2019s young people are more than ready to take on the challenges of the future. Last week I joined the KosICT Festival in Prishtina, organised by<span class=\"excerpt-hellip\"> [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[6320,7944,6592,7962,7278,7961,61],"class_list":["post-19388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-featured","tag-kosict-festival","tag-kosovo","tag-kosovo-ict-association","tag-prishtina","tag-stikk","tag-technology-innovation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19388\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/reinvantage-dev.eonserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}