On 18 June 2022, SCOLAR Network had regular curatorship meetings with hub curators and vice curators. The theme of this meeting was “Curatorship 2022-2023,” welcoming all new curatorships from Beijing, Kathmandu, Lahore, Kabul, and Nur-Sultan hub.
We began by welcoming new curators and vice curators with a brief introduction and interaction with old and new curatorships. We did a breakout session and made a group of three to four to discuss their past and present experience running a hub and building a volunteering community and their future perspective for the hubs.
Sheharyar Malik, the Founding curator of Lahore hub, shared his experience building a team and their hub. He advised all new leaders to be more involved in international projects such as cross-hub projects and build relationships with other SCOLAR hubs.
Nawid Ahmadi, the Founding Curator of the Kabul hub, shared the number of events they had organized despite pandemics and other ongoing issue in the country due to shared value by the youths of Kabul hub.
Rashie Agrawal, the current curator of Kathmandu hub, added how members of Kathmandu hub have bonded through physical meet-ups and sharing. She also said that member was pleased to run their projects independently in any area at the SCOLAR Kathmandu hub.
Khola Masood, Founding and current curator of Islamabad hub emphasized that physical meet-ups are a great way to connect and bond with teams.
Salman Qureshi, Founding and current curator of Karachi hub, pointed out that enthusiast learners always bring the best everywhere like his team, who works remotely but have been very efficient in their work due to coordination and proper communication.
Botakoz Yelshibek and Olesya Doronina from Shanghai and Novosibirsk Candidate hub shared their ongoing events and team formation process while preparing to become a hub.
Overall, the session was very productive, giving us an individual perspective from each hub that was different yet common. Everybody in SCOLAR is learning as they are moving ahead with each other’s past experiences and suggestions. This is how we, SCOLARs work together to form a community in different SCO regions, which we are really proud of.
Finally, Victoria Khu, President of SCOLAR Network, shared action steps for new curatorship, where she shared the planning for the whole year, hub structure, recruitment process, projects, curatorship & hubs meetings, and cross-hub initiatives. She advised SCOLAR leaders to ask their members, “Why are they at SCOLAR?” when forming a team.
This meeting gave us a broader perspective on community building from our former curators and vice curators, correspondingly welcoming new curatorship to begin their journey as new leaders to impact the youth of their cities.