2017 Interdependent Summits + Prague Adolescent Summit
In preparation for the 2017 Montessori Congress in Prague, MISP, in collaboration with NAMTA and MMUN, held seven interrelated International Montessori Adolescent Summits. The summits corresponded to the seven active agents of Montessori’s Interdependency Chart. The selected themes are relevant to current events and intense ecological crises, which the students are addressing in their hometowns.
The summits were implemented in seven cities around the world. The summits could be implemented around the world in a united theme because the web of life organization ties all summits together with regard to connecting interdependency. No summit stands alone because the web is interactive, converging on nature’s unity of life on earth, which is fundamental to Montessori’s view of modern science. The organically unified results of the summits were presented in Prague with interfacing and integrated results.
Web-Interdependent Summits
At each of the summits, students created a call to action based on their research, interviews, and experiences. These call to actions are called manifestos. We use the word “manifesto” to mean that which you know to be true at your core and the steps you are going to take to make your beliefs a reality. You can read each summit’s manifesto below along with a consolidated manifesto which was presented at the International Montessori Congress in Prague, Czech Republic in July.
The general topics for the summits were:
1. Air: Cagayan de Oro, Philippines
2. Land: Chihuahua, Mexico
3. Plants: Houston, Texas, USA
4. Humans: Dundas, Ontario, Canada/Humans: Vienna, Austria
5. Water: Brittany, France
6. Energy: Huntsburg, Ohio, USA
7. Animals: Children’s Eternal Rainforest, Costa Rica
Web Organization of the Summits
The International Montessori Adolescent Summits bring together youth from Montessori schools around the world to tackle one current global issue at a time and to build on the universal Montessori skills that are necessary to act locally and globally. At each summit, adolescents apply these skills, acquired in their Montessori experience, to global realities:
• an ability to identify the significant components of a problem,
• a capacity to focus and concentrate on an issue,
• an ability to ask essential questions about a problem,
• a habit of conscious conversation in a problem-solving capacity,
• a desire to engage in dialogue that builds trust and innovation, and
• a hope to construct bridges across local, national, and international sectors.
Prague Adolescent Summit
The momentum generated during these seven summits was magnified when summit participants worked with experts at the Prague Montessori Summit. Here they converged with students from five continents gathered at the International Montessori Congress in Prague, Czech Republic to develop local project to address global environmental and social issues. It was the first time adolescents have been truly integrated into a Congress; a giant step towards peacemaking within the Montessori adolescent community.
Be sure to check our Facebook page for photos from the Prague Adolescent Summit.
Past Summits:
2015: Water Summit, Washington, D.C.