The ISFiT Way – The participants

ISFiT is the world’s biggest international student festival with a thematic focus. The theme for next year’s festival is global health, and participants from all over the world will be discussing this in the festival’s 17 workshops. Since the first ISFiT was arranged in 1990, the workshops have been the festival’s core focus. Through the years the themes have varied, but the work methods have remained the same.

Foto: Fotogjengen.samfundet.no

What is a workshop?

A workshop is a small work group consisting of about 25 participants. Through discussion, games and creative methods they share experiences and knowledge. In the workshops, students with different cultural, political and religious backgrounds meet. The workshop is lead by four students from Trondheim. In advance of the workshops these students have gone through relevant courses and planned the session in detail. External initiates are also hired to give the participants wider perspectives on the topics discussed. On a workshop session you, as a participant, can hear “good morning” being said in 20 different languages, discuss important international questions with a Nobel Peace Price winner, and find creative ways to express your opinions. The workshops are a unique meeting place, where friendships are made, and ideas are created.

The participants

The participants in ISFiT’s workshops come from over 100 different countries. 450 of several thousands applicants gets the chance to participate after sending an application, where they write about how they want to use the experiences and knowledge they’ve gained during the festival. ISFiT wants to have people of different ages, different sex and different nationalities. Those who need it will receive travel support, this way we ensure that people from all over the world gets the chance to attend the festival, independent of economic situations. We only require our participants to be students.

Foto: Fotogjengen.samfundet.no

The goal of a workshop

In a workshop, the process is the most important. Even though concrete results are often made during a workshop, the process the participant goes through is the most important result. After two days of workshops the participants have gained new experiences, new perspectives, concrete methods and tools for dialog, and an international network of new friends. The students of today are tomorrow’s leaders. To invite these to ISFiT is to invest in young actors who can change the future. In the Dialogue Groups the participants get the knowledge and experiences that will contribute to positive change for many years. In this way, ISFiT is an investment in the future.