European Youth Week, May 2011

European Youth Week 2011 is the perfect stage for one of the flagship events of the Year. A Chinese delegation of 120 people will visit Europe from 17-24 May and be involved in a variety of activities together with young Europeans in different countries and cities. An EU-China Forum on youth entrepreneurship and a conference on multilingualism are scheduled on 19 May in Brussels; a debate on international education, employment, entrepreneurship and leadership is on the agenda of a day in Antwerp, together with a visit to the Port. The Chinese delegates will then set off on visits to seven EU Member States: Austria, Hungary, Malta, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and the UK, where a dense programme of activities has been organised.
http://www.youthweek.eu/

EU-China Forum on Youth Entrepreneurship - 19 May

The EU-China Forum on Youth Entrepreneurship is intended to offer a space to youth representatives from the EU and China to explore and share concrete practices, experiences and challenges around the following topics: entrepreneurship education, promoting the development of entrepreneurial skills and mindsets, facilitating youth entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship. By sharing practices in these areas, the event shall aim at comparing situations, identifying inspiring practices from both sides and encouraging the development of a better understanding of respective realities and challenges for young people in the EU and China.

Agenda of the event

EU-China Multilingualism conference – 18 May

The aim of the conference is to share good examples and concerns in language learning as a basis for mutual understanding among young people and for cooperation between professionals.

In the first part of the day European and Chinese language learning projects are presented.

This session is followed by three workshops:

Language skills and careers in a globalised world: European and Chinese perspectives
New ways of learning languages: the challenges of information and communication technologies in language learnin
Language learning and intercultural dialogue: European and Chinese perspectives.

Confucius said that "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".

The conference will hopefully open the way to a long-standing professional cooperation in language education between the two sides.

“Learn Local, Lead Global”- round table at Antwerp Management School - 18 May

On the 18th of May, the Euro-China Center of Antwerp Management School successfully organized the “Learn Local, Lead Global”-round table in the context of the EU-China Year of Youth. The Chinese youth delegation visiting Europe at the occasion of the European Youth Week joined the round table together with more than 80 students from the Antwerp region and members of the Chinese press.

The aim of the round table was to discuss the importance of international education, employment, entrepreneurship and leadership. A group of distinguished panellists, among whom the governor of Antwerp Cathy Berx and representatives from the Chinese Mission to the EU, the European External Action Service, Huawei, Flanders Blue Square and Antwerp Management School, shared in an informal, lively and often humorous debate their experiences with the audience. All panellists agreed that person-to-person contact and mutual respect are the most important foundations for successful cooperation in the future.

The round table was concluded with a reception at Antwerp Management School where all participants could literally have a taste of Belgian and Asian culture. Antwerp Management School hope this event has helped lay the first stones of new bridges of friendship and cooperation between China and Europe.

Visit to the Port of Antwerp – 18 May

In the morning of 18 May, the Chinese delegates were hosted by the Antwerp Port Authorities for a visit to the Port of Antwerp, Europe's second largest port and the fourth largest in the world.