On 21 August 2025, UNU will host “Voices Unmuted: Youth Shaping the Future of Internet Governance”, a BIG IDEAS Dialogue with Nadia Tjahja, Co-Coordinator and PhD Fellow of the Digital Governance Cluster at UNU-CRIS. This online event will be held via Zoom webinar at 18:00 JST (UTC+9).
In today’s interconnected world, young people are playing an increasingly vital role in shaping the future of the Internet. Youth bring unique perspectives, firsthand digital experience and bold ideas that can help create a more inclusive, secure and equitable online environment. Their involvement shouldn’t be symbolic; it should be meaningful.
Ms. Nadia Tjahja will join UNU Senior Vice-Rector Prof. Sawako Shirahase to discuss the dynamic role of youth in Internet governance. Drawing from research about the Internet Governance Forum, the European Dialogue on Internet Governance and the Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance, the discussion will highlight strategies for integrating youth voices into global digital policymaking and reflect on actionable recommendations for creating inclusive spaces, supporting long-term youth involvement and fostering leadership in Internet governance. The event will also share information about opportunities where youth can start contributing in these spaces.
About the speaker
Nadia Tjahja is Co-Coordinator and a PhD Fellow of the Digital Governance Cluster at the United Nations University Institute on Comparative Regional Integration Studies (UNU-CRIS), and a PhD researcher at the Centre for Digitalisation, Democracy and Innovation (CD2I) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel working on the Global and Regional Multistakeholder Institutions project, where she is researching meaningful participation in global and regional multi-stakeholder institutions. Since 2021, she has been a member of the EuroDIG Secretariat as the Youth Coordinator of the Youth Dialogue on Internet Governance. She is also a member of the Internet Governance Forum Youth Track Multistakeholder Working Group, the IGF MAG Youth Working Group and the Pool of European Youth Researchers. She is also the Commissioning Editor and European Regional Representative Editor of the journal Policy & Internet. Nadia speaks internationally about Internet governance, multi-stakeholderism and youth participation within digital and policymaking processes, and sits on expert and advisory boards organized by the United Nations, the European Commission and the Council of Europe.