EU-China Year of Youth 2011

Hostelling International representatives on the flagship events of EU-China Year of Youth
 
2011 was designated as the EU-China Year of Youth at the 12th EU-China summit, held in Nanjing on 30 November 2009, with a view to "further promoting and deepening partnership between Europe and China". The agreed objective is to strengthen people-to-people contacts and cooperation in various fields, especially youth. One of the flagship events of the year was held in Shenzhen and Guangzhou in August, where Hostelling International was also represented by two EU CEO-s from Slovenia and Hungary.

In addition, in line with the 2011 European Year of Volunteering, it is foreseen that voluntary activities comprising young Europeans and Chinese can be promoted through various instruments, including the European Voluntary Service.
To reach these objectives, a variety of activities are taking place, including a series of flagship events to be held throughout the year in Europe and China which will allow youth representatives from both regions to come together to exchange views and knowledge with each other on different themes of common interest, in particular youth and sustainable development and youth participation.

The Year was officially launched with two high-level official opening ceremonies, respectively held in Brussels on 11 January and in Beijing on 23 February.

The third flagship event was held in July in Beijing, Xi’an and was aimed at fostering debate on Youth and Sustainable Development, including a focus on green volunteering, green transportation, green consumption and green creativity.

At the fourth event, held in Shenzhen and Guangzhou between 9-15 August, participants were invited to explore the topic of youth participation, contributing to the debate on topics such as voluntary service, community development and service, new generation and social integration and youth participation in policy-making in China and Europe.

Hostelling International was represented at the fourth event by Anja Zepic, Secretary of the Slovenian Youth Hostel Association and Agnes Erdohati, Acting President of the Hungarian YHA. The event was held concurrently with the 2011 Summer Universiade Youth Festival in Shenzhen, the Olympic games of the world’s university students.

After the plenary session the delegates had the chance to split up into smaller groups to share thoughts and ideas on four different topics:
• Voluntary Service,
• Community Development and Service,
• Welfare Protection of Youngsters,
• Youth Participation in Policy Making.

To enable the EU delegates to take a closer look of the Chinese developments they were given the chance to visit the following companies, industrial areas and community centres:
• the HuaWei Company, the leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider in Shenzhen,
• Chang’an industry district in Dongguan city,
• Hongyuan community in south Dongguan city and
• the second Children's Palace in Guangzhou. 

To allow the participants to achieve a broader appreciation of Chinese society the programme also included some more light-hearted and tourist-oriented elements, such as visits to the Dapeng Fortress, a Mangrove Natural Reserve and the Guangzhou museum. Particular highlights were the sightseeing cruise on the Pearl river at Guangzhou and participation in the World University Student Beach Concert at Dameisha Beach, plus of course the unforgettable Universiade Opening Ceremony – truly the experience of a lifetime!

As Ms. Nevedalova Katarina, the Vice-President of European Youth Forum said in her opening speech in Shenzhen, the aim of these flagship events in China and the EU was to use the experience of common programmes and activities to build a bridge between the young people of each region in order to foster a closer relationship, enabling mutual understanding and serving as a solid foundation for further dialogue, facilitating a sense of partnership in achieving shared goals.

According to Anja and Agnes, the two Hostelling International delegates, the building of this bridge was a great success – “we are looking forward to maintaining the good relationships we have forged with China and the young Chinese people we met, while promoting further activities to enhance and extend the interaction between our two communities”