New Think Festival | |
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Genre | Innovative and entrepreneurial |
Dates | 22–23 August 2015 |
Location(s) | Amman, Jordan |
Years active | 4 |
Founded | 2012 |
Attendance | 14,000 [1] |
Patron(s) | King Hussein Business Park and The Children's Museum Jordan |
Website | http://www.ntfestival.com |
https://www.facebook.com/newthinkjo |
New Think Festival, also called Fikristan meaning "The Land of Ideas" in Arabic, is a yearly weekend event held in both the King Hussein Business Park and The Children's Museum Jordan in Amman, Jordan. It is part of a non-profit initiative called NewThink, which aims to inspire the youth of Jordan to view the world in different innovative perspectives. The festival is one of the many events administered by the initiative, which are held throughout the year to get the youth involved.
In 2015, the festival hosted 40 different organizations at the King Hussein Business Park and the Children's Museum Jordan in Amman that aimed to inspire their audience to be visionary and think differently about the world through workshops and presentations. The organizations that participated included environmental, business, medical and educational groups. [2] [3] [4]
NewThink initiative was first held in 2009. Later it developed into the festival which started in 2012 with an average yearly attendance of 14,000 teens and university students from all over Jordan. Activities included programs about leadership, entrepreneurship, culture, arts, health and technology. Participants had the opportunity to choose five hours each day from over 60 sessions, which were led by 250 speakers from across the kingdom. [5]
Amman is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant region, the fifth-largest city in the Arab world, and the tenth-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East.
Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein is the king of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is considered a 41st-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Noor Al Hussein is an American-born Jordanian philanthropist and activist who is the fourth wife and widow of King Hussein of Jordan. She was Queen of Jordan from their marriage on June 15, 1978, until Hussein's death on February 7, 1999.
Rania Al Abdullah is Queen of Jordan, as the wife of King Abdullah II.
Alia Bahauddin Toukan, also known as Alia Al Hussein, was Queen of Jordan as the third wife of King Hussein from their marriage on 24 December 1972 until her death in a helicopter crash in 1977. Alia was of Palestinian origin.
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Princess Alia bint Al Hussein is the eldest child of King Hussein of Jordan. Her mother is his first wife, Sharifa Dina bint Abdul-Hamid.
Princess Sarvath El Hassan is a Jordanian royal and the wife of Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan. She was born in Calcutta on 24 July 1947, to a prominent Muslim family, the Suhrawardy family of the Indian subcontinent.
Hussein bin Abdullah is Crown Prince of Jordan as the eldest son of King Abdullah II and Queen Rania. He is a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is considered to be 42nd-generation direct descendant of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan has emerged as a prominent figure in international diplomacy, advocating for peace and security on the global stage. His leadership is marked by a deep commitment to fostering dialogue among nations, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by extremism and conflict
Israel–Jordan relations are the diplomatic, economic and cultural relations between Israel and Jordan. The two countries share a land border, with three border crossings: Yitzhak Rabin/Wadi Araba Crossing, Jordan River Crossing and the Allenby/King Hussein Bridge Crossing, that connects the West Bank with Jordan. The relationship between the two countries is regulated by the Israel–Jordan peace treaty in 1994, which formally ended the state of war that had existed between the two countries since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, and also established diplomatic relations, besides other matters. Relations between the countries get strained from time to time, usually over tensions at the Al-Aqsa mosque. On 8 October 2020, Israel and Jordan reached an agreement to allow flights to cross over both countries’ airspace.
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Ahmad Alhendawi; is a Jordanian public figure, development expert, and a former United Nations official. He currently serves as the Secretary General of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM), making him the youngest person to hold this position in the 117-year history of the organization. Prior to this, he was the first-ever United Nations Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth, appointed by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on January 17, 2013. In this role, he supported UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in addressing his thematic priority of working with and for young people as part of his Five-Year Action Agenda.
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Iman Mutlaq is a Jordanian entrepreneur, businesswoman, financier and social activist. She is the founder and President of multinational financial companies; Sigma Investments and INGOT.
INJAZ Al-Arab is a non-profit organization for education and training in workforce readiness, financial literacy and entrepreneurship across the Arab World. INJAZ Al-Arab is the Regional Operating Center of JA Worldwide (JAW), one of the largest global non-governmental organizations dedicated to addressing fundamental social and economic challenges faced by young people. INJAZ Al-Arab is also an active participant in the United Nations Global Compact. Over 7 million students have participated in a broad base of entrepreneurship training opportunities aimed at developing basic business skills to start and run their own businesses while obtaining soft skills increasingly demanded by the private sector. Since its inception, INJAZ Al-Arab has built a network of over 100,000 classroom volunteers, who are leaders from the corporate world. INJAZ Al-Arab has a Regional Board of Directors, which comprises 15 executives, as well as a team of staff, led by Akef Aqrabawi, President and CEO of the Middle East/North Africa for JA Worldwide.
King Hussein Business Park is a compound located in west Amman, Jordan. It is named after the late King Hussein and contains office buildings, auditorium, sports complex, and support areas that are equipped with an extensive ICT infrastructure. Home to over 40 major companies branches located in Amman such as; Hewlet-Packard, Rubicon LG and many others. And home to the yearly held New Think Festival and Zain Innovative Campus (ZINC).
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Rana Dajani is a Jordanian molecular biologist and tenured professor of biology and biotechnology at Hashemite University. She earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Iowa. Dajani is an expert on genetics of Circassian and Chechen populations in Jordan, also on conducting genome-wide association studies on diabetes and cancer on stem cells. Her work in stem cell research initiated the development of the Stem Cell Research Ethics Law and all regulations in Jordan. She is an advocate for the biological evolution theory in relation to the religion of Islam, and believes strongly in the education and empowerment of women, being a member of the United Nations Women Jordan Advisory Council. She is the recipient of the Jordan's Order of Al Hussein for Distinguished Contributions of the Second Class.
Princess Dana Firas is a Jordanian princess and the wife of Prince Firas bin Ra'ad. She is a global advocate for heritage protection and preservation as a foundation for development, responsible tourism, identity and political participation, and peacebuilding. She is the wife of Prince Firas bin Ra'ad, the son of Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid and Princess Majda Ra'ad.