Why you should join the online CWA conference

You can follow this week's Conference on World Affairs online. Choose from a wide range of topics like climate change, the rise of Africa, objective journalism, music, film, technology, health, or art

Let me start by sharing the spectacular sunset that I am looking at right now from my desk. It was a beautiful Easter weekend in Ottawa, and I hope you all enjoyed this weekend too.

Directly after this weekend starts one of my favorite conferences of the year: the Conference on World Affairs (CWA) in Boulder, Colorado, which will discuss a wide range of topics. It is hard to imagine anyone enjoying reading The Planet who would not like to follow some interesting CWA debates. 

That will this year be easier than ever before in the 73-year history of this conference: all presentations and debates are online. What has not changed is that all events are free and open to the public.

What you need to know for this week

The conference runs from Monday, April 5, through Sunday, April 11, 2021.

All times in the schedules are in MDT since Boulder is now in the Mountain Daylight Time zone. A few examples: 11 am in Boulder is 1 pm in New York, 6 pm in London, 7 pm in most of Europe, 10:30 pm in New Delhi, and 10 am in California.

The opening keynote "Social Consciousness in High Tech: A conversation with Microsoft's Gavriella Schuster' begins Monday, April 5, at 11 am, followed by three more sessions, including a discussion with the President of the University of Colorado Mark Kennedy and former World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick titled "America in the World," and ending with the beloved CWA Jazz Concert at 7 pm MDT.

There are 29 live panels and performances with more than 80 speakers throughout the week; view the complete schedule of events to see the lineup. 

You can watch live at colorado.edu/cwa.

The beautiful campus grounds at CU Boulder

To give an impression: these are a few of this year's diverse themes, debates, and events: 

• Racism in the U.S.

• Africa on the rise

• Objective journalism

• Musical performances

• A film, followed by discussion

• Healthcare

• Technology

• Climate change

• Art

The only picture I could find of me speaking at a meeting in Boulder

On Friday morning is the discussion "What do 'socialism' and 'capitalism' mean today. I will join that debate together with Kathleen Ferrier and Branko Milanovic.

You may have noted that in the short existence of fewer than three weeks of The Planet, the city of Boulder was already mentioned several times in this newsletter. The recent mass shooting that I wrote about will undoubtedly be on everybody's mind, especially for Moms Demand Action Founder Shannon Watts, who will deliver Friday's keynote address and 2 pm. She is the founder of this grassroots movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that protect people from gun violence, and Colorado Congressman Joe Neguse will join her. 

What is CWA?

That was my main question when CWA asked me to participate for the first time in 2018. As a former diplomat and public speaker, I have seen countless conferences worldwide and in all kinds of formats. But when I left my home in Stockholm for the first long journey to Boulder, I still wasn't sure what to expect from such a different format. It turned out to be a unique formula for an inspiring event.

This year's program gives an idea of the wide variety of discussion topics. There are many more sessions in 'normal' (non-pandemic) years, some 200 since there are constantly a handful or more parallel meetings. And that variety in subject automatically leads to a wide variety among the 100 speakers. 

A hike just outside Boulder

The website summarises the CWA week as a 'festival of ideas,' and I believe that is the best description of the event that attracts every year more than 70,000 in cumulative attendance. The conference aims to 'engage, educate, and inspire University of Colorado students, faculty, and staff; the greater Boulder community; and the people of Colorado and the nation to exchange ideas, acquire knowledge, and gain new insights.' 

Looking back at the previous conferences, my most lasting memory is the unique, kind, intelligent, funny, talented, and creative people that I have met. All these people with very different backgrounds form an inspiring community. I have made many friends in the Boulder community, and I made friends at the conferences that were visitors like me and with whom I also stayed in touch.

I look forward to joining again and listening to many other debates and performances, especially the Jazz concert is a favorite for many. 

I hope you will have the chance to join some of the events this year; it is just one click away.

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