The Global Engagement Portal is an immersive internet video connection that joins two rooms across the world to provide a sense of spatial continuity, allowing participants to engage with one another naturally. BC's portal is housed in a climate-controlled shipping container at the edge of O'Neill Plaza. Created by Shared_Studios, Portals have been used for educational, cultural and artistic exchanges, conferences, shared meals, and much more.

Each session can accommodate 6–8 participants in the Portal. Multiple sessions can be booked, back-to-back or on different dates. Session times are 50 minutes to allow deeper conversations and full participation. 

Where will our Portal connect?

During the Fall 2023 installation: 

  • Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh 
    [at HAP, a youth-led social enterprise that provides technical and strategic support to humanitarian orgs and donors, located near the Kutupalong Rohingya refugee camp, the world's largest refugee settlement.]
  • Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan
     [Inside the Harsham IDP camp for persons displaced by ISIS attacks on Mosul]
  • Gaza City, Palestine 
    [in the GazaSkyGeeks tech hub/ startup accelerator]
    ** Cancelled because of the war in Gaza **
  • Mexico City, Mexico 
    [outside the CCD digital culture musem]
  • Walkers Savannah, Barbados 
    [at an environmental conservation organization, the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research, Education, and Design]
  • Addis Abbaba, Ethiopia
    [At the Rotary Club, an association of business, professional, and community leaders.] 
  • Kigali, Rwanda  
    [at the Impact Hub public arts/social enterprise]
  • Nakivale, Uganda 
    [at Opportunigee, a refugee-led organization based just outside one of the world's largest refugee settlements]
  • Johannesburg, South Africa
    [At Maker's Valley community arts organization]
  • Bamako, Mali 
    [the innovative Kabakoo Academy, bridging high-tech and indigeneous knowledge]
  • Lagos, Nigeria
    [at the Sustainable Green Enterprise Initiative]

The Student Experience

60+

hours of conversations

Fall 2023

Sponsors & Image Gallery

Thank you to our Fall 2023 sponsors:

  • Morrissey College of Arts & Sciences
  • Carroll School of Management
  • Connell School of Nursing
  • Lynch School of Education and Human Development
  • School of Social Work 
  • Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society
  • International Studies Program
  • Islamic Civilization and Societies Program
  • Undergraduate Government of BC (UGBC)