It all started over a beer at a pub. University of Calgary students Brodie Boland and Michael Torrance founded the Tidal Thought Network to engage young people all over the world in G8-scale issues.
"We began to talk about how we could create a tidal wave of thought where young people around the world could discuss ideas, contributing their own perspectives and influencing government decisions that affect our lives every day," said Torrance.
The generation that will take over the political circus in the near future exchanges and discusses their ideas and visions on Internet chat rooms and forums. Torrance and Boland plan to gather these Internet based discussions and debates and publish them in a journal of reports. The pair hopes their reports will provide insight on how young people all over the world are affected by the g8 leaders’ decisions.
Only a month old, the network has grown significantly. While the Internet is the main base of the Tidal Thought Network, local associations will be formed as well.
"These associations will create reports which describe the effect of g8 policies on their region," Torrance explained. "All of these reports will be compiled into a yearly publication which will be presented to the g8 to give them insight into the thoughts, concerns and ideas of young people around the world."
User submissions and support from five continents-with contributions from Kenya, Mexico and Italy-speak to the success of the Tidal Thought Network.
"There really seems to be a deep-seated desire amongst young people to express their thoughts and be involved in the political process," Torrance explained. "While we are often accused of apathy, the truth is that most people just don’t know how to channel their ideas."
Every issue is important in the Tidal Thought forums.
"Whether it’s African students discussing development and the engagement of communities which find themselves on the political periphery, or students in Europe discussing global justice–young people are interested in every important issue affecting humanity today," said Torrance. "There is no issue area that young people are not interested in and that wouldn’t benefit from their contributions."