Skip to content
Global Shapers Community GenevaConvened by the
Global Shapers Geneva Hub

Global Youth
Tech Assembly

A global youth assembly on emerging tech: listening, acting, and being heard. Starting with AI.

The technologies reshaping how young people work, learn and live are being decided without them. This turns the world's largest youth network into one standing voice on emerging tech, and a hand in what gets built.

See how it works
116 hubs listed · 48 countries & territories

96 hubs confirmed · registration open on a rolling basis · about 8 minutes

8 regions · 116 hubs listed · yours is open

11,000+
young changemakers
450+
city hubs
140+
countries

116 of 450+ city hubs listed, including interest only · 48 countries & territories · all 8 regions represented

The problem

The decisions about our future are being made without us.

AI and emerging tech are reshaping how young people work, learn and live, and almost none are in the rooms where the rules get written, or the projects get funded.

The conversation is owned by a few big technology companies, a few governments, and well-resourced institutions. The people who will live longest with the consequences have the least structured way to be heard, or to act.

The least consulted.

The most affected.

This closes that gap: with voice, and with action.

What it is

Not a roundtable: a network that listens, acts, and is heard.

01

Listen

In the 2026 AI Initiative, hubs collect youth surveys, three kinds of interviews, and local examples of how AI is landing.

02

the centre of gravity

Act

Reps organise into regional assemblies that turn findings into real projects, dialogues and partnerships.

03

Amplify

Once a year it assembles globally, and the shared picture is carried to the rooms where technology is decided.

Research grounds the wider mission: regional action, dialogue and partnerships.

What you get, honestly

A real say, and a real hand in what gets built.

What we strive for

  • Real conversations about how technology, starting with AI, is landing in your city.

  • A seat in your regional assembly and the global one.

  • A hand in a real project, dialogue or partnership.

  • Your perspective published in a youth-authored read we carry to real decision makers.

What we won't pretend

We can't promise a politician acts on it, or guarantee a project in every region each year. We can build a shared evidence base, report its limits, and use it to inform regional action and dialogue.

How it's organised

Two axes, assembled into one global voice.

Geographic

Regional assemblies

Reps group into the eight Global Shapers regions, each led by an elected Regional Lead: they drive the local action.

Cross-cutting

Thematic pods

Three pods deepen the themes and feed the synthesis: Use cases · Contestation · Social Opinion & Trends.

Once a year

The Global Assembly

Regions and pods convene as one body to adopt the shared picture, set priorities, and elect.

8
regional
assemblies

Eight regional assemblies · one global voice

Hubs listed per region, including interest only

The impact engine

Every region delivers something real.

Projects

Channel hubs into the existing Global Shapers grants and Innovation Prize for tech projects tied to a regional priority.

Dialogues

At least one regional dialogue a year putting young people in the room with policymakers, regulators, or industry.

Partnerships

Broker regional partners to carry the work onward: tech firms, civil society, universities.

The ambition is practical regional action, informed by what hubs learn locally. Projects, dialogues and partnerships depend on regional priorities, capacity and partners; the current shared work is the 2026 AI research initiative.

The 2026 AI Initiative

Shared questions:
real local experiences.

How is AI being experienced, discussed, governed and responded to locally, and how well do institutions help young people navigate those changes?

Read the AI Research GuideOpen the youth survey master template

For research participants aged 18–30, separate from hub registration. Regions and hubs can recreate this form in local languages. Regional Leads consolidate raw responses and track each hub’s progress and respondent mix.

50 responses
target per hub, 25 minimum, from local youth aged 18–30 inside and outside Global Shapers
3+ interviews
one youth aged 18–30, one educator or researcher, and one institutional stakeholder with no age limit
Local evidence
observations, examples and interview notes, with English translations alongside originals where needed
Local language
regions and hubs can recreate the survey from the master template; preserve the shared survey questions

The research timeline

  1. 20 Sep–31 Oct 2026

    Fieldwork

    Survey local youth, conduct interviews and gather examples. Regional Leads check progress and whose perspectives may be missing.

  2. 14 Nov 2026

    Submit and check

    Regional Leads consolidate raw survey responses, interview materials and insights for the core research team, checking completeness and each hub’s progress.

  3. 12 Dec 2026

    Pilot one-pager

    The planned first publication brings together early findings. A second one-pager is planned for Q1 2027.

  4. June 2027

    Final report

    The planned final report brings the cross-hub findings together in time for the Annual Summit.

AI in society, grounded in local contexts rather than a representative census. Areas of experience include:

worklearninginformation & truthrights & powereveryday life

You do not need to be a research expert. Use the shared questions in your local language, capture authentic experiences, and keep direct evidence distinct from interpretation and uncertainty. Add 1–3 optional local questions to interviews; discuss any survey additions with coordination first.

Where your voice is carried

Into the rooms where technology is decided.

The impact pathway

A synthesis is only as useful as where it goes. Its reach is built, not assumed: determined by the partnerships established and the content published, with a dedicated advocacy function securing and following up real recipients.

Partnerships established

Regional and global partners broker the work into the convenings where it can land: technology firms, civil society, universities.

Content published

The youth-authored synthesis is shared back to every hub and put in front of real recipients: openly published, clearly labelled as youth perspective.

The read

The State of AI in Society, written by us.

A youth-authored synthesis of surveys, interviews and local examples from participating hubs. It will describe patterns, differences and evidence gaps without claiming to represent all young people.

Fieldwork opens 20 September and feedback closes 31 October 2026. A pilot one-pager is planned for 12 December, a second for Q1 2027, and the final report for June 2027.

2026 AI research: fieldwork

Global Youth Tech Assembly

The State of AI in Society

A youth-authored read · Edition 01

Whose initiative is it

Starting in Geneva, nominate your representative now.

Year 1: bootstrap

A lean Geneva core team gets it off the ground, and helps the first regional assemblies and pods find their feet.

Year 2: you elect

Every role opens to a vote by active reps at the Global Assembly: core team, Regional Leads, Pod Leads.

Lean centre, strong regions, no empire building.

In plain terms

A hub-led, opt-in coalition within the Global Shapers Community. It holds no official authority, issues no official positions, and speaks for no institution. Its outputs are youth perspectives, clearly labelled as such: nothing it publishes binds any institution.

Questions

The honest answers.

Is this only about AI?

No: it's emerging tech, broadly. AI is the Year 1 focus because it's the live issue. Recent issues will be evaluated and topics raised that impact young people most.

What's the time commitment?

For the current AI initiative, each hub aims for 50 youth survey responses, with 25 minimum, and at least three interviews: a young person, an educator or researcher, and an institutional stakeholder. Hubs also gather local examples and submit their materials through Regional Leads. The time needed depends on local outreach and interview arrangements.

Who can join, and who's the rep?

Any hub. One rep, nominated by the Curator, and that can be the Curator. Small or new hubs are welcome; one motivated rep is enough.

What language do we work in?

Collect evidence in the language your participants use. When translation is needed, submit English translations alongside the original material, as set out in the AI Research Guide. Coordinate language support with your Regional Lead.

What do we actually get?

A real say, a global peer network across 140+ countries, interview and synthesis skills, and a path to real stages, plus a regional project, dialogue or partnership your hub helped shape.