Four delegates from European Youth Hostel Associations were invited to join two flagship events in China this summer in the course of the "2011 EU-China Year of Youth" aiming at deepening partnerships between European and Chinese youth. The main objectives of the EU-China Year of Youth are:
- To promote intercultural dialogue and strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between European and Chinese youth;
- To encourage young people to care about and support the development of EU-China relations;
- To achieve extensive and positive impact and help ensure that cooperation between policy makers as well as between youth organizations is sustainable beyond 2011.
Following the Official Opening Ceremony of the EU-China year or Youth in January 2011 in Brussels, four young representatives from EUFED went to China.
Nina Pape and
Lisa Minde, from Germany, were invited to Beijing and Xi’an from 4 to 11 July 2011. Together with young people from all over Europe and China they worked on Youth and Sustainable Development, focusing on green volunteering, green transportation, green consumption, and green creativity.
Ágnes Erdohati, Acting President of the Hungarian Youth Hostel Association, and
Anja Zepic, Secretary of the Slovenian Youth Hostel Association, went to Shenzhen and Guangzhou from 9 to 15 August 2011, where participants were invited to explore the theme 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.
To read Anja and Agnes’ report on the event, click
here