Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation

On Monday, October 15, the United States Institute of Peace is hosting the next in a series of Exchanges 2.0 conferences. This month’s event, featuring Her Majesty Queen Noor Al Hussein and Tara Sonenshine, Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, is titled, Exchange 2.0: The Science of Impact, the Imperative of Implementation. As a supplement to these events, USIP has published a Special Report, which makes a compelling four-point case for Exchange 2.0:

• The orientation of U.S. public diplomacy is changing from telling America’s story to direct dialogue in an interconnected world.
• With this shift has come a need to revitalize a core pillar of public diplomacy strategy: international exchanges.
• Although traditional exchange programs have been effective in expanding access to cross-cultural educational opportunities beyond those that study-abroad programs reach, participation remains limited.
• Developing the next generation of Exchange 2.0 initiatives—that is, technology-enabled programs embedded in curricula and with a cross-cultural educational purpose—will improve the number, diversity, and experience of international exchange participants.

The events and report are building upon more than a decade of activity by Connect All Schools consortium partners, as well as momentum generated this summer by the foreign operations Senate Appropriations Committee, which inserted specific Exchange 2.0 language into the next State Department educational and cultural exchanges budget:

We invite all Connect All Schools partners and schools to attend or follow Monday’s event, which will be webcast live beginning at 2:00pm EDT at www.usip.org/webcast. Online viewers will be able to engage panelists and each other through live chat and Twitter discussions (Hashtag: #exchange20)