Evolution of the Global Village Concept
Background
Elements of the Global Village
Moving from the periphery to the core
The third Global Village – Mexico City 2008
The Global Village was initially introduced at the International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand in 2004 as an initiative of the Community Programme Committee. It aimed to provide open space for communities to bring their experiences, skills and knowledge to share with others. The first Global Village was a microcosm of the community response to HIV and AIDS, linking people from all corners of the world, building bridges across geographical divides and helping to create a collective identity. Thanks to effective outreach and media work, it attracted around 25,000 visitors during the week of the conference, with a large proportion of school students.
The AIDS 2006 Global Village in Toronto, Canada, took this concept and expanded on it. It aimed to intensify the involvement of affected and marginalized communities in the Conference.
Elements of the Global Village
Networking Zones – In Bangkok there were 14 Zones; in Toronto this increased to 19. Community groups and coalitions were encouraged to organize together to create spaces identified by population, region or issue. Some programming occurred in these spaces but they were also places to visit, meet others, learn and just hang out.
Booths – In Bangkok, community organization booths were located in the Exhibition area, alongside commercial booths. In Toronto, the NGO Booths were located in the Global Village.
Youth Pavilion – The expansion of the Youth Pavilion mirrored the growth and development of youth participation and activism in the International AIDS Conferences. In Toronto, the Youth Pavilion featured interactive sessions, performances, a lounge, art displays and the Commitments desk that was started at Bangkok.
Marketplace – Stalls run by income generating projects, mostly featuring items made by people living with HIV/AIDS, were a great success in Bangkok. In Toronto this was expanded to include groups from around the world. Some of the Marketplace booths also served as hubs for people to gather.
Sessions – Sessions were expanded in Toronto and were held in two session rooms, the Main Stage, the Youth Pavilion and the Community Dialogue Space. Sessions were interactive and reflected important issues of the day.
Meet the Plenary Speaker sessions – Probably one of the most successful elements of the Bangkok Global Village, these sessions were held again in Toronto. Each day during lunch time, the plenary speakers who had presented in the morning came to the Global Village Main Stage, gave a quick summary of their earlier plenary, and then answered questions from the floor – an opportunity to ask questions that the audience did not have in the actual plenary session. In Toronto, these sessions were dedicated to Peter Busse, an activist from South Africa who had been the moderator for the Meet the Plenary Speakers sessions in Bangkok and who died in January 2006.
Meeting rooms – In Bangkok demand outstripped supply for community space to hold meetings. In Toronto, because additional meeting rooms were made available in the Conference venue, there was less demand for the meeting rooms.
Community Radio –As a result of the Bangkok analysis which did not support the ratio of resources required to run this programme to the impact of the radio, this was not repeated in Toronto.
Virtual Village – This was a new initiative in Toronto. A separate Global Village website contained detailed information about the Global Village programmes as well as floor plans and lists of exhibitors and Networking Zones. Almost all the sessions in the two meeting rooms and the Main Stage were webcast. This allowed for vastly increased participation in the Global Village and was an important element of the Global Village.
Moving from the periphery to the core
During the planning of the XVI International AIDS Conference in Toronto, it became clear that members of the Conference Organizing Committee (COC – now called the Conference Coordinating Committee or CCC) and the three Programme Committees (Scientific, Community and Leadership) viewed the Global Village as an essential core programme, no longer as a new initiative or an “extra”. It was again located in the Conference structure as being under the auspices of the Community Programme Committee and was organized by staff at the Toronto Local Host (set up as an independent non-profit organization with its own community Board of Directors).
The physical location of the AIDS 2006 Global Village was important. It was not only within the Conference venue, but was located at the entrance of the Convention Centre so that delegates had to pass through the Global Village to reach the Registration area. This meant that a large number of delegates had exposure to the Global Village at the very start of the Conference. Many came back – often more than once.
The Global Village concept has been hailed as a great success for a community-run space at International AIDS Conferences. The AIDS 2004 and 2006 organizers aimed to create a space that would maximize engagement, connection and learning. They hoped that if the right kind of space was created, people would take it over as their own and that the momentum would develop organically. And it did.
The strength of the Global Village concept lies in its roots in the community. In both Bangkok and Toronto, those involved in the organizing (both staff and volunteer) understood, and often knew first-hand, grassroots responses to HIV and AIDS, how the epidemic affects marginalized groups, and the day to day experiences of those living with HIV.
The third Global Village – Mexico City 2008
The Global Village remains under the auspices of the Community Programme Committee. The organizing of the Global Village has been integrated into the International AIDS Society staffing and the core budget of the Conference, and over the years continuity and institutional memory ultimately strengthened.
At this point, the details about the elements of the AIDS 2008 Global Village have yet to be developed but the challenge now, in the wake of the burgeoning success of the Global Village, is to ensure its integration into the Conference as a whole and to entrench the recognition of the programme on an equal footing with the other Conference sessions, particularly in the marketing and promotional aspects of the Conference.
For more information about the Global Village at AIDS 2008, see www.aids2008.org and the Global Village page on this site.