Global initiative to foster creativity and innovation
BE OPEN has had an opportunity to present its sustainability-focused competition programme at the poster presentation during the Young Energy Researchers Conference and other events of the World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) that took place between February 24 and 27 in Wels, Austria.
BE OPEN is proud to have supported the International Student Energy Summit (SES), the world’s biggest and most diverse youth energy event. From February 18 to 21, 2026, the Summit took place in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of Amazonia, hosted by the Federal University of Amazonas.
BE OPEN will present its sustainability-focused competition programme during the Young Energy Researchers Conference and other events of the World Sustainable Energy Days (WSED) that will start on February 24 in Wels, Austria.
The WSED presents policies, technologies and business models which increase competitiveness and make energy more affordable. The event is a leading annual conference on the energy transition and climate neutrality with participants from more than 60 countries.
The International Student Energy Summit (SES), the world’s biggest and most diverse youth energy event, starts today in Manaus, Brazil, in the heart of Amazonia, hosted by the Federal University of Amazonas in collaboration with Student Energy.
BE OPEN is proud to be a partner in this internationally significant event. BE OPEN and SES are united by the ambition to harness the power of youth-led change to impact communities worldwide. The event brings together young changemakers from across the globe to accelerate the just transition, and creates space for young leaders, industry experts, government officials, policymakers, and private sector representatives to share knowledge and collaborate on solutions to the critical energy issues affecting by vulnerable communities worldwide.
BE OPEN continues to run BE OPEN Regional Art for the fourth year in 2026. The regional competition for emerging artists aims to support those whose art best represents their regional, cultural and ethnic identities, for the third year now. For the purpose, the BE OPEN expert community selects those artists who best represent the artistic tradition of a certain region to feature in the BE OPEN Art gallery and offer them greater visibility.
Aiming to showcase young talents, every month for the past six years, BE OPEN Art has been inviting art enthusiasts to choose the best artist among those 20 exhibited in the gallery. The artist whose works gains the majority of votes throughout the year becomes the Artist of the Year.
The regional competition for emerging artists BE OPEN Regional Art, developed by Elena Baturina’s humanitarian think-tank BE OPEN, is proud to announce the winners for the Western Africa region. October to December became the months of celebration of young artists from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha.
From December 8 to 12, BE OPEN attended the 7th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) held by the UN Environment Programme in Nairobi, Kenya. The foundation took that opportunity to reward and celebrate the winners of the Designing Futures 2050 competition finalized earlier this year.
UNEA is the world’s highest decision-making body on the environment, and it is critical for addressing the shared environmental threats. The Assembly brings together ministers, intergovernmental organizations, multilateral environmental agreements, the broader UN system, civil society groups, scientists, activists and the private sector to shape global environmental policy.
In November 2021, the UNESCO General Conference unanimously adopted 2 December as “World Futures Day” (WFD). Over the years, key milestones recognizing the importance of anticipatory decision-making have been met, such as the Secretary General’s Our Common Agenda, the adoption of the Pact for the Future along with the Global Digital Compact and the Declaration on Future Generations.
