International Student Essay and Video Contest

OUR MISSION

To honour and remember, to learn from our past, to educate and inform future generations and to bring a heightened level of reasoning to the discussion of what achieves lasting peace, security, and prosperity in the digital age.

The International Forum for Peace, Security & Prosperity (IFPSP) is designed as an annual, international event to bring together high school students and officer cadets of military colleges and is supported by academics, military professionals, and peace officers, along with members of the public, policy makers, and business and community leaders, to explore how peace takes hold, who makes it happen, and what conditions enable peaceful societies to flourish.

THE STUDENT COMPETITION

English – Download the Contest Rules Here

French – Téléchargez le règlement du concours ici

Italian – Scarica il regolamento del concorso qui

Who is it for?

The competition is open to students who are currently enrolled in Grades 10 – 12, or equivalent, from all NATO / EU member countries, along with any other country that has a Liberal Constitutional Democracy as its form of government.

Essay Topics / Video

“Learning from the Past, Navigating the Present, and Building Resilient and Ethical Futures in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”

Essay Topics

Topic 1: Learning from Yesterday: Strengthening Personal Resilience through Character Strengths and Emotional Intelligence

Topic 2: Youth as Future Leaders: Navigating Today to Shape Ethical and Resilient Communities in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Topic 3: Global Bridges: Using Historical Lessons to Build Cooperative, Ethical Futures with AI

Video Topics

Topic 1: Past as Prologue: Stories of Character, Emotion, and Innovation

Topic 2: Designing Tomorrow: Youth Visions for Resilient and Ethical Futures with AI

Contest Dates

The Student Contest will be launched forthwith. The deadline for essay and video submissions is Friday March 6th, 2026, at 23:59 hours EST.

No submission will be considered if received after this date and time. Finalists will be announced on or before March 18, 2026. Winners will be announced during the Forum in Palermo, which is being held from March 22 – 25, 2026.

Contest Requirements

Language of Submission

1. Initial version of the essays or videos can be produced in English, French or Italian. Specifically for the essay, it can also be written in the participant’s native language, provided that an approved translated copy in English, French or Italian accompanies the presentation.
2. Videos may be submitted in the mother tongue of the entrant, however every video submission produced in any other language than English must have English sub-titles included.

Submission Length

1. The word count of the essay should be between 750 and 1,500, not including cover page, illustrations / photos, annexes, and bibliography. Texts must be saved as MSWord files and as PDF documents for submission.
2. Videos must be no less than two (2) minutes and no longer than three (3) minutes in length. Videos must be sent in MP4 format.

Selection Protocol

There is a three (3) stage selection protocol in place to ultimately determine the winners of the contest. It is as follows:

• Stage 1: Students produce the essay or video in accordance with the contest rules and criteria. The school authority will select up to a total of three (3) submissions for consideration by the IFPSP juries. This total includes the sum of essays and videos. Submissions must be received with the accompanying affidavits, in the proper format by the deadline date.
• Stage 2: All Italian language submissions will be evaluated by the Italian Jury to select the initial group to be considered as finalists. All other submissions will be initially evaluated by the International Jury in the same manner.
• Stage 3: The Italian and International Juries will jointly evaluate the selected essays and videos from Stage 2 and will determine the 3 finalists for each category of essay and video. The finalists’ names will be announced not later than Friday, March 7, 2025, to allow the selected finalists and their respective school authorities to prepare the required video and Power Point. The Collective Jury’s decision as to ranking of First, Second, and Third Place will be announced during the course of the Forum

N.B.: Based on previous Forum’s experience, there will not be time allotted for in-person or on-line thank-you’ s by either the winning students or their teachers or other school authorities.

Submission Criteria

1. Essays or videos must NOT have been published or considered for publication or have already been transmitted.
2. Students must write the essay or produce the video themselves, without outside help.
3. Each student can only submit one essay or video. Students cannot compete simultaneously in both categories.
4. Students can participate individually or in groups. If a group submission is chosen as a finalist, no more than 3 representatives must be selected for the presentation or to win the prize.

Essays must be accompanied by a cover and a signed affidavit from the School Director / Principal / Headmaster /n Superintendent based on the examples enclosed in annex to this document. Videos must also have a signed affidavit along with a similar cover page at the beginning of the video.

Other provisions

• All submissions of an entry and/or participation to the High School Student Contest shall be presented by the participant’s high school authorised personnel; no submission delivered directly by a student participant will be accepted by the IFPSP.
• All submission of an entry and/or participation in the organisation of the competition/jury implies acceptance of the conditions of the competition by the High School authority on behalf of the participant
• The results of the competition may not be appealed. The jury’s decisions will be final.
• The PSP Forum will keep all Power Point decks and videos submitted to it by the participating schools.
• The PSP Forum will retain the copyright for the winning submissions and may publish them.
• The PSP Forum may amend the timeline for essay and video submissions and the selection process.
• The PSP Forum bears no responsibility in the event of the competition being modified or cancelled.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:

Steve Gregory
Phone: 514-919-5858
Email: Steve@isaix.com www.psp-forum.org

John Hannan
Phone: 514-945-5810
Email: johnmacehannan@outlook.com