World Food Forum Global School Assembly 2026 – Registration Open for Students and Schools Worldwide

Registration is now open for the World Food Forum Global School Assembly 2026, an international educational gathering designed to give school students a meaningful platform to discuss the future of food, agriculture and sustainable agrifood systems.

The Global School Assembly will take place on Tuesday, 13 October 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. CET at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in Rome, Italy. Schools interested in participating must complete the official registration process by 27 September 2026.

The Assembly will bring students, teachers, educators and school representatives together to exchange experiences, discuss challenges in their local food systems and consider how young people can contribute to the transformation of global agrifood systems.

Key Details of the World Food Forum Global School Assembly 2026

• Name: World Food Forum – Global School Assembly 2026
• Event date: Tuesday, 13 October 2026
• Assembly time: 10:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. CET
• Location: FAO Headquarters, Rome, Italy
• Participation: School-based participation
• Student levels: Primary school, middle school and high school
• Student ages covered by the form: Approximately 5–18 years
• Registration deadline: 27 September 2026
• Travel funding: Participating schools and students must cover their own travel and accommodation expenses
• Contact email: education@world-food-forum.org
• Official registration form: World Food Forum Global School Assembly Registration 2026

The registration form does not specify a closing time on the deadline date. Schools are therefore encouraged to complete the process well before 27 September 2026.

About the World Food Forum Global School Assembly

The World Food Forum Global School Assembly is intended to serve as a dialogue platform where students can share their perspectives on the opportunities and challenges affecting agrifood systems in their local communities.

Agrifood systems encompass the complete journey of food, including its production, processing, transportation, marketing, consumption and disposal. These systems affect food security, nutrition, livelihoods, public health, natural resources, climate change and sustainable development.

Students attending the Assembly will be encouraged to bring experiences from their schools and communities into a wider international conversation. The programme seeks to create an environment where knowledge can be exchanged:

• Between students from different countries and cultural backgrounds
• Between participating schools and educational institutions
• Across different age groups and generations
• Between young people, educators, FAO specialists and participating partners
• Between local experiences and global agrifood priorities

The Assembly is also expected to reinforce FAO’s role in motivating and supporting students to become active contributors to agrifood systems transformation.

What Students Can Expect from the Assembly

The programme is designed to move beyond a conventional classroom discussion. Students will have an opportunity to reflect on food and agricultural challenges affecting their communities while learning how similar issues are experienced in other parts of the world.

The main areas of engagement include:

1. Student-Led Dialogue

Students will be given space to express their views on the challenges and opportunities they observe in their local agrifood systems. Depending on their context, these may include food waste, access to healthy food, environmental sustainability, nutrition, agricultural production, climate change, water management or community awareness.

2. International Knowledge Exchange

The Assembly aims to connect students from different countries and educational backgrounds. This international dimension can help students understand that food-system challenges are global, although their causes and consequences may differ between communities.

3. Intergenerational Learning

The programme is designed to facilitate exchanges not only among students but also across generations. This can create opportunities for young people to learn from educators and specialists while allowing decision-makers and professionals to hear directly from students.

4. Engagement with Agrifood Systems Transformation

Students will explore how education, youth participation, responsible behaviour and practical local action can contribute to fairer, more inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems.

Discovery Station Tour at FAO Headquarters

Participating schools are required to confirm their participation in an approximately two-hour Discovery Station Tour.

The Discovery Station Tour is described as an interactive experience in which students rotate in small groups between educational stations operated by different FAO divisions and partner organizations.

Important features of the tour include:

• Students will be placed in groups of approximately 20 participants.
• Each group will be guided by an FAO chaperone.
• Groups will rotate between several Discovery Stations.
• Each individual station activity will last approximately 20–25 minutes.
• Activities will be designed to be engaging, educational and suitable for students.
• The stations will demonstrate the diverse areas of expertise within FAO and their connection to food and agriculture.
• A scheduled break will be included so that students can eat their packed lunches.

Schools should accordingly plan for the Assembly session and an additional approximately two-hour Discovery Station Tour. The registration form does not provide a separate start or finishing time for the tour, so registered schools should obtain the final schedule from the organizing team.

Important Clarification About In-Person and Online Participation

The Microsoft registration form identifies FAO Headquarters in Rome as the event venue and requires schools to confirm that they will cover their own travel and accommodation expenses. It also requires confirmation of participation in the in-person Discovery Station Tour.

However, the official World Food Forum CultivatED page explains that schools in Italy are invited to attend the Global School Assembly in Rome, while schools outside Italy join online.

International schools should therefore contact education@world-food-forum.org before booking flights or accommodation to confirm whether they should participate online or whether they may register an in-person delegation through this form.

Information Schools Must Provide in the Registration Form

The registration process is completed by a designated school contact person. The form explains that the school contact person is the individual completing and submitting the registration.

Schools should prepare the following information:

School Contact Information

The form requires:

• Full name of the school contact person
• Role of the contact person
• Contact person’s email address
• Name of the school
• Full school address, including street number, city, province and postal code
• Country in which the school is located

The available role options include:

• Head teacher
• Head teacher alternate
• Teacher
• Secretary
• Other authorized role

School Level and Student Age Groups

Schools must indicate whether they are registering as a:

• Primary school
• Middle school
• High school

The form allows schools to select the relevant student year groups and age ranges:

• Year 1: ages 5–6
• Year 2: ages 6–7
• Year 3: ages 7–8
• Year 4: ages 8–9
• Year 5: ages 9–10
• Year 6: ages 10–11
• Year 7: ages 11–12
• Year 8: ages 12–13
• Year 9: ages 13–14
• Year 10: ages 14–15
• Year 11: ages 15–16
• Year 12: ages 16–17
• Year 13: ages 17–18

Schools may select more than one relevant year or age group.

Number of Participants

Applicants must provide:

• Total number of participating school staff and parents
• Total number of participating students

Schools should confirm their proposed delegation before starting the application so that the numbers entered in the form correspond with the names provided in the attendee list.

Mandatory Attendee List

Every school must download the Excel attendee-list template provided inside the registration form.

The school must then:

1. Download a copy of the official Excel file.
2. Complete the file with the names of all participants from the school.
3. Check that the participant names and total numbers are accurate.
4. Upload the completed file to Google Drive.
5. Change its sharing settings so that “Anyone with the link” can access it.
6. Copy the Google Drive sharing link.
7. Paste that link into the relevant field in the Microsoft registration form.

A restricted Google Drive link could prevent the organizing team from accessing the attendee information. Schools should test the link in a private browser window or while signed out of Google before submitting the registration.

The official attendee-list template can be accessed through the link embedded in the Microsoft registration form.

Parental Consent for Photography and Videography

The Assembly requires parental or legal-guardian consent for the photography and videography of participating minor students.

Schools must use the Parental Consent Form provided inside the registration form and complete the following actions:

1. Download a copy of the official Parental Consent Form.
2. Provide the form to the parents or legal guardians of every participating minor.
3. Ensure that every required form is properly completed and signed.
4. Retain all signed copies in the school’s records.
5. Confirm that the signed forms will have been collected by the date of the Global School Assembly.
6. Acknowledge that the World Food Forum Global Youth Action Initiative may request copies of the signed consent forms at any time during the one-year period following the event.

Schools should establish a clear consent-tracking system and keep the signed records securely for at least the period during which the organizers may request them.

The Parental Consent Form is available through the official Microsoft registration form.

Travel, Accommodation and Other Costs

The registration form requires schools to confirm that the school and/or participating students will be responsible for paying their own travel and accommodation expenses for attendance in Rome.

The form does not announce:

• Travel grants
• Accommodation support
• Airfare reimbursement
• Visa sponsorship
• Daily allowances
• Meal allowances
• Financial assistance for accompanying staff or parents

Schools should not assume that FAO or the World Food Forum will reimburse any participation costs.

Before making travel commitments, international schools should confirm:

• Their approved participation format
• Whether their delegation will attend in person or online
• Final attendance confirmation
• Visa requirements for Italy
• Travel dates and accommodation arrangements
• Local transportation in Rome
• Insurance and safeguarding arrangements
• Lunch and refreshment arrangements for students
• Any access requirements at FAO Headquarters

Accessibility and Support for Students

The World Food Forum Global School Assembly explicitly welcomes students with special educational or accessibility needs.

The form describes diversity as an important part of inclusion, dialogue and mutual learning. It states that specific measures will be considered to help provide an accessible, safe and positive experience for participating students.

Schools are invited to report needs such as:

• Reduced mobility
• Visual impairment
• Hearing disability
• Individual support requirements
• Alternative communication tools
• Neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism, ADHD or specific learning disabilities
• Other accessibility or educational support needs

If any participating student requires assistance, the school must provide:

• The number of students requiring support
• A detailed description of the assistance needed
• Confirmation of whether a support assistant or educator will attend
• The full name of the support educator, where applicable
• Details of any tools or aids that the student will bring
• The applicable type of need or disability

Examples of tools and aids mentioned in the form include:

• Wheelchairs
• Canes
• Specific software
• Tablets
• Hearing aids

This information will help the organizing team arrange an appropriate and personalized welcome. The stated objective is to enable every student to participate fully in both the Global School Assembly and the Discovery Station Tour.

Schools should provide clear, practical information without withholding arrangements that may be necessary for student safety or participation.

Data Protection and Privacy

Applicants must accept the FAO Data Protection and Privacy Notice before continuing with the registration.

According to the notice contained in the form, FAO collects and processes personal information to:

• Assess registrations or applications
• Facilitate participation in projects under the WFF Youth Initiative
• Support project and activity implementation
• Communicate effectively with participating schools
• Coordinate collaboration among participants
• Support capacity-development activities
• Contribute to the effective implementation of the initiative

FAO states that personal information will be treated confidentially and will not be shared with persons or organizations outside FAO without specific consent, except where selected and duly authorized partners or service providers support FAO or collaborate with it.

FAO also states that it seeks to ensure that authorized third parties maintain data-protection safeguards comparable to those applied by FAO. Personal data will be retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in the notice and in accordance with FAO rules.

The Microsoft form does not automatically collect a respondent’s name and email address unless these are entered. However, the registration itself requires the school contact person to provide both their name and email address.

Applicants can read the complete FAO Data Protection and Privacy Notice. Questions concerning the processing of personal data may be directed to FAO-Data-Privacy@fao.org.

Final Questions in the Registration Form

Before submitting the form, applicants must indicate how they learned about the Global School Assembly. Available responses include:

• FAO website
• World Food Forum website
• Word of mouth
• A friend or colleague
• Other source

The form also provides an optional field where schools can enter additional notes, requests or special requests for the organizing team.

Schools should use this field to communicate important matters that are not adequately covered elsewhere in the registration, particularly logistical, safeguarding, accessibility or participation-related questions.

How to Complete the Application

Schools can follow these steps:

1. Identify an authorized school contact person.
2. Confirm the proposed number of students, staff and accompanying parents.
3. Determine the participating students’ school years and age ranges.
4. Open the official Microsoft registration form.
5. Read and accept the FAO Data Protection and Privacy Notice.
6. Enter the school and contact-person information.
7. Select the school grade and applicable student age groups.
8. Download and complete the attendee-list Excel file.
9. Upload the completed attendee list to Google Drive.
10. Set access to “Anyone with the link.”
11. Obtain signed parental consent forms for all participating minors.
12. Confirm participation in the Discovery Station Tour.
13. Confirm responsibility for travel and accommodation costs.
14. Provide full details of any accessibility or educational support needs.
15. Add any final notes or special requests.
16. Review all information and submit the registration by 27 September 2026.

Practical Advice for Schools

Before submitting, schools should verify that:

• The contact email address is accurate and regularly monitored.
• The school address includes all requested components.
• Participant numbers agree with the attendee list.
• Every name in the attendee list is correctly spelled.
• The Google Drive file opens without requesting access.
• Parents or legal guardians understand the photography and videography consent requirements.
• Signed consent forms are stored securely.
• Support and accessibility information is complete.
• Travel funding has not been assumed.
• International participation arrangements have been confirmed directly with the organizers.
• A copy or screenshot of the completed registration is retained for school records.

Registration Deadline

The deadline to complete the registration is:

27 September 2026

Schools are strongly advised not to wait until the final day. Preparing the attendee list, obtaining parental consent and confirming accessibility requirements may require coordination among teachers, parents, administrators and students.

Application and Reference Link

Complete the official registration through the Microsoft Cloud form:

Apply for the World Food Forum Global School Assembly 2026

For questions about registration, participation arrangements or the event programme, contact education@world-food-forum.org.

Conclusion

The World Food Forum Global School Assembly 2026 offers schools an opportunity to bring students into an international discussion about food, agriculture, sustainability and the future of agrifood systems.

Through student dialogue, international knowledge exchange, intergenerational engagement and interactive Discovery Stations, the programme seeks to help young people understand global challenges while contributing perspectives from their own schools and communities.

Participation requires careful preparation. Schools must compile an accurate attendee list, obtain consent for participating minors, disclose accessibility requirements, confirm participation in the Discovery Station Tour and understand that travel and accommodation expenses are not covered by the organizers.

Interested schools should begin coordinating their delegations immediately and complete the official registration no later than 27 September 2026.

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