Working together for youth
“I believe in young people. That is why I am here with you today,” said Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mette-Marit at the formal opening of the Empowering Youth conference at Oslo Opera House on 15 May.
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess took active part in both days of the conference. The conference was organised by Partnership for Change, in cooperation with The Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ Foundation.
This year’s conference focused on youth empowerment. How do we unleash the inherent potential in this generation? How do we empower them to help to shape a sustainable and stable future?
The conference brought together Norwegian and international experts and speakers representing the political and business cultural spheres, corporate social responsibility circles, innovators, organisations and the cultural community.
Active role
The Crown Prince and Crown Princess took part in different fora during the conference.
Crown Princess Mette-Marit was the introductory speaker on the first day of the conference, while Crown Prince Haakon introduced and moderated the session “Think big, start young, shape the world”, which featured Jeremy Heimans, among other speakers. Mr Heimans is the co-founder and CEO of Purpose.com, as well as the co-founder of Avaaz.org, an online grassroots movement that has, among other things, successfully pressured many of the world’s major clothing chains to improve the working environment of their garment workers.
On the second day of the conference, the Crown Princess introduced and moderated the session “Seeing the strengths and potential in young individuals”. One of the session’s speakers was Richard Gerver, a world-leading thinker in the field of education and the author of the book Creating Tomorrow’s Schools Today.
Current news
Welcoming the Restauration to the US
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon, along with a couple of thousand attendees, welcomed the sloop Restauration to New York, exactly 200 years after the vessel carrying Norwegian emigrants arrived in the United States. In 1825, they crossed the Atlantic in search of a new and better life. This voyage is regarded as the beginning of organised emigration from Norway.
Met with Governor Walz in Minnesota
Minnesota is one of the states in the United States where a large proportion of the population has Norwegian ancestry. His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon is therefore also visiting this state and its largest metropolitan area, Minneapolis–Saint Paul, during his trip to the United States to mark the 200th anniversary of Norwegian emigration to the US.