We are thrilled to host this initiative, which will seed the collaborations and nurture the expertise needed to bring together and improve our societies.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Stephen Toope

Shaping Horizons is the first international summit and action programme to be held on this topic, providing 150 young leaders from academia, policy and industry with an opportunity to engage with senior world leaders and ignite change. It will take place at the University's Sidgwick Site on September 9-13.

The Summit is being organised by more than 50 young people from the University of Cambridge, including several from the Department of Engineering, ranging from PhD students to postdocs and alumni. 

The action programme is designed to promote long-term sustainability and impact and will continue during and after the Summit. Teams of Future Leaders will be paired with Cambridge experts in order to discuss, develop and deliver local scale solutions for the challenges faced by their respective cities. These include: 

• The fourth industrial revolution – AI, Big Data and automation; Cybersecurity and privacy; Emerging technologies and their regulation; Circular economies and 'smart cities’
• Social challenges – Diversity and inclusion; Future of education: innovation and STEM; Future of labour and universal income; Evidence-based policy
• Humans and nature – Mitigation and adaptation to Climate Change; Biodiversity; Biomedical innovation; The future of healthcare
• Our shared future – Beyond traditional diplomacy; Migration; Internationalisation of education; Entrepreneurship and leadership.

Engineering PhD candidate Elisabeth Gill, who is part of the organising committee, said: “The Summit will discuss solutions to the most pressing bilateral challenges while breaking geographical, disciplinary and generational barriers. The Summit is designed to incubate youth-led initiatives to drive long-term bottom-up change. Our participants will implement these initiatives locally upon their return, guided by mentors primarily from the Cambridge academic community. Additionally, the Summit discussions shall be captured in the form of evidence-based reports that will be presented to government. We have a high profile line-up of speakers confirmed including entrepreneurs, ambassadors, Members of Parliament and world-leading academics.”

Professor Stephen Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, said: “Finding solutions to the biggest challenges faced by our societies requires that we work across the borders of nations and disciplines. It also requires that we create spaces for younger voices – the leaders of tomorrow. Shaping Horizons 2019 is built upon these essential notions. It has a real chance of igniting change by uniting top representatives and young leaders from the UK and Latin America. We are thrilled to host this initiative, which will seed the collaborations and nurture the expertise needed to bring together and improve our societies.” 

Details on how to support this non-profit initiative are available here.