Monday, 4th to Monday, 11th July 2011 Beijing & Xi'an - China

EU – China Year of Youth / 4 - 11 July 2011 Beijing & Xian – China ‘EU-China Youth Forum on sustainable development’

The EU-China Year of Youth coincides with the European Year of Volunteering and the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteering. The yearlong program, co-hosted by the European Commission and the All-China Youth Federation, aims to promote intercultural dialogue and strengthen mutual understanding and friendship between European and Chinese youth, as well as encourage young people to care about and support the development of EU-China relations. The EU-China Year of Youth is the start of a series of themed years in EU-China relations. 2012 has been designated as the EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

The programme (see below), full of interesting cultural visits, had as a scope to promote and develop better understanding and appreciation of cross-cultural differences between EU and China youth. The impact of my participation to the programme is best described by Mr. Markus Ederer, Head of EU Delegation in Beijing**:

What difference can the EU-China Year of Youth make to my life?

I think that the best answer to this question is "opening up to each other".

Liang Qichao, (1873-1929) a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and advocate of democracy published his “Ode to Young China” in late Qing Dynasty were it stated:

“The young are the ones who bear the responsibility of building a new young China…When the young are wise, the country will be wise; when the young are rich, the country will be rich; when the young are strong, so will be the country; when the young are independent, the country will be, too; when the young are free, the country will be free; when the young progress, the country will progress; when the young surpass Europe, the country will surpass Europe; when the young dominate the globe, then the country will as well”

Liang Qichao, “Ode to Young China”, 1900.

Liang Qichao saying quoted by Markus Ederer, Head of EU Delegation in Beijing, in his speech at the Opening Ceremony of the EU-China Year of Youth in Beijing**, as: "If the youth are wise, society will be wise; if the youth are rich, society will be rich; if the youth are strong, society will be strong; if the youth are independent, society will be independent; if the youth are free, society will be free; if the youth progress, society will progress."

Let’s try all for that!

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The programme of the 4^th flagship event of EU – China Year of Youth 2011

July 4, Monday – Beijing All Day: European participants arrive in Beijing / 19:00 Welcoming Reception - Address by Ms. Dong Xia, Deputy Secretary-General of All-China Youth Federation & Mr Ioannis Kavvadas, EU Delegation to China & Mongolia

July 5, Tuesday – Beijing 09:00 – 11:00 Visit the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China / Introduction to the CPC and its international work by Mr. Shi Guohui, Assistant to the Director of Bureau VII / 11:00 – 11:30 Q&A / 13:30 Guided tour of the Forbidden City

July 6, Wednesday – Xi’an Departure for Xi’an / 14:00 – 18:00 Group program (Group A: Guided Tour of Xi’an Jiaotong University/ Group B: Guided Tour of the Local Community/ Group C: Guided Tour of Xi’an Wastewater Treatment Plant/ Group D: Guided Tour of Xi’an Qujiang Cultural Industry Zone) / 20:00 Great Tang Sleepless Town

July 7, Thursday 09:30 Yongning Gate (South Gate) of the old city - Ancient Style Welcome Ceremony/ 10:00 Cycling on the gate tower / 12:30 International Horticulture Exposition Garden (http://en.expo2011.cn/)/ 14:00 EU-China Green Proclamation Launching Ceremony

July 8, Friday 09:00 Opening Ceremony of the EU-China Youth Forum for Sustainable Development/ Address by Mr. Chen Zhongni, Vice President of the All-China Youth Federation - Ms. Kristin Schreiber, Head of Unit, External Relations, DG Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, European Commission - Mr. Li Yuqi, President of the Shaanxi Provincial Youth Federation - Luca Scarpiello, Vice President of European Youth Forum - Ms. Wang Meng, Member of the 11^th Committee of ACYF, short track speed skater, Olympic Champion - Moderator: Dong Xia, Deputy Secretary-General of the ACYF / 09:30 -12:00 Keynote Speeches*

Topic 1: Economic Sustainable Development and Youth -Chinese expert: Mr. Jiang Changyun, researcher of the Institute of the Industry-based Economy and High-tech Economy, National Development and Reform Commission, Member of the Expert Committee of the National Sustainable Development Pilot Zone; & -EU expert: Dr. Paul Fleming, Director of Sustainable Development, Professor of Energy Management, De Montfort University

Topic 2: Ecological Sustainable Development and Youth -Chinese Expert: Ms. Li Min, Member of the expert team of the National Mother River Protection Operation, Senior Engineer of the Yellow River Upper Reaches Management Bureau, expert on water and soil conservation & - EU Expert: Dr. Peter Schmuck, Professor and Research Leader, University Göttingen

14:30 – 18:00 Working Groups (Group A: Green Volunteering/ Group B: Green Transportation/ Group C: Green Consumption/ Group D: Green Creativity)

July 9, Saturday 10:00 – 12:00 Plenary meeting / presentation of the results/ 15:00 – 17:00 Terra Cotta Museum/18:30 Farewell Banquet

July 10, Sunday Departure for Beijing/ 16:00 – 18:00 Guided tour of the Great Wall /

July 11, Monday All day: Departures

*Article in Chinese newspaper http://english.cri.cn/7146/2011/07/11/2702s647606.htm

**Message from Markus Ederer, Head of EU Delegation in Beijing - An exciting matchmaking opportunity http://www.2011euchinayouth.eu/news/message-markus-ederer-head-eu-delegation-beijing / published in the newspaper “China Daily”: Markus Ederer ‘A great opportunity for China and EU’ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/thinktank/2011-02/23/content_12061982.htm

More info:

European Commission -> Youth -> Focus on -> 2011 EU-China Year of Youth http://ec.europa.eu/youth/focus/focus1864_en.htm

2011 EU-China Year of Youth official European website www.2011euchinayouth.eu

-Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EU.China.YEARofYOUTH

-Vimeo http://vimeo.com/yoy2011/videos

-Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/yoy2011/

2011中欧青年交流年 EU-China Year of Youth Official Website http://www.2011y.net/

Facebook - EU-China Year of Youth networking group (Open) - https://www.facebook.com/groups/172049682838814/

Thessaloniki European Youth Capital 2014 - Candidate City

info: http://www.thessaloniki2014.eu/

Friday, 28th January 2011 Izmir (TR)

A day to remember...

The boat with Turkey’s flag departed at 08:30 from Chios to Çesme. Passengers were Korean tourists, Greek and Turkish businessmen. I arrived in Çesme after an hour where Seher and Doganay came to pick me up for an Izmir province ride.

From Çesme to Izmir there is an international highway with a big grass lane in the middle and numerous wind mills on the sides producing electric energy. You need something more than an hour to reach Izmir. Searching on the radio you can find Turkish and Greek radio stations and the signal in the mobile phone is constantly changing between GR and TR.

20 km outside Ismir is Menderes district. First stop was Menderes city hall to meet the mayor Ergun Ozgun and supporter of the YiA programme*. He asked several questions and agreed on helping us. When he found out I was coming from Thessaloniki, he told me that he originates from an Ottoman family of Selanik. He keeps in his office a jar with soil that his grandfather brought with him.

We followed the local road, along the seaside, and we passed by Yoncaköy - Klaros, Notion, Maydonoz Koy (parsley village). Just after Maydonoz Koy there is a beautiful wetland that lies between the road and the sea...but between the wetland and the coast series of houses are built.

In Selçuk, in the EFES – Selçuk Belediyesi we were offered a book titled ‘Ephesus in old postcards’ as a gift. They offered us also tea and when they heard I was Greek they mentioned the “twin city” status of Selçuk with Dion in Greece. Some metres away stands the museum of the city where we asked them to provide us with a group free entrance as donors to the program. The responsible officer disappointed us by saying that that is not possible because the museum runs under a private company...

Going up the hill, following a road full of olive trees for around 6 km, lays Şirince village. According to the story Şirince was settled by freed Greek slaves who named the village Çirkince (meaning ugly) to deter others from following them. The village's name was changed to Şirince (meaning pleasant) in 1926. Şirince forms the setting of Greek writer Dido Sotiriou's —a native of Şirince— book 'Farewell Anatolia'.

On the way back, Ali joined us and brought with him the CD of Yasmin Levy to listen to. Yasmin Levy, a ladino - Sephardic music singer, says in her “Una Ora en la Ventana” (One Hour at the Window) song:

Ah! No t'alves ke sos blanka (Ah, don’t brag about yourself that you are white)

Blanka komo el yasmin (White as the jasmine flower)

Ke ay morenikas en el mundo (For there are dark-skinned in the world)

Ke kemaron, ke kemaron (Who have burnt, have burnt)

medio Izmir (Half of Izmir)

After a 2 hour traffic jam on the ring road of Izmir we reached Alsancak and the promenade and joined a lovely youth group. Among them there was Derren, a descent of an Ottoman family who left Mitilini and nowadays lives in Karsiyaka (Kordelio). I was really lucky to be hosted that night by her and drink tea next morning to one of the most beautiful views I ever seen in my life.


* YiA programme “Twice a stranger” is an action 1.1 bilateral youth exchange between Greece and Turkey. “Twice a stranger” (being and feeling different in each period before and after the exchange of population in result of the Lausanne Agreement in 1923) is the title of Bruce Clark’s book. He mentions about the treaty: ‘it was concluded when colonial empires were still intact and the right of powerful nations to dictate the destiny of small and powerless ones was broadly accepted’ that had as a result the: ‘complete division of the geographical and cultural space in which peoples, languages and religions had previously co-existed’. From 28th to 30th of January 2011 the advanced plan visit took place.

All photos @ https://picasaweb.google.com/christinakontaxi/APVTwiceAStrangerIzmirTR#

Yasmin Levy - Una Ora En La Ventana (One Hour at the Window) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSNmVuCwyXk

Bruce Clark - Twice A Stranger: How Mass Expulsion Forged Modern Greece and Turkey http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674032224

ClimateChangeTrain@et3nationalTV

Climate Change Train, a Challenge Europe initiative (2009-2010)

British Council announced last June that 15 young Greeks are invited to become ‘Climate Advocates’ and join the Challenge Europe project. Challenge Europe is a British Council project that brings together ambitious young people who want to make a lasting impact on climate change. It provides a platform to develop innovative and practical solutions to reduce carbon use.

Eleni & Dimitris from Kerkyra, Katerina from Athens and Antigone&me from Thessaloniki started last October to organise the Climate Change Train. Since there is a train connection between Thessaloniki and Istanbul daily with the train (Friendship/Filia/Dostluk Express) we invited the Turkish Climate Advocates for a awareness campaign on climate change with the use of friendly means, trains.

During the year a lot happened, good & bad, and Litsa & Giorgos joined the team. At the 17^th of September a reality check on what we know about climate change was held in the Central Station of Thessaloniki. There were also a board and cards for those who wished to leave a message on climate change. Jumping in the train, we arrived in Istanbul on Saturday 18^th to unite with our Turkish colleagues on Sircesi Train Station. Next stop, Sunday 19^th Haydarpasa Train Station on the Asian part of Istanbul and Monday the 20^th we arrived back to Greece to Alexandroupoli. Nearly 100 children (82 from primary education & 28 from secondary education) arrived at the morning at the Train Station of Alexandroupoli to learn and watch videos on climate change and play a game on ozone. In the afternoon a local radio station honored our initiative coming to the station to make a live broadcasting! On Wednesday, 22^nd, No Car Day the initiative ended with a Green Talks in Olympion theatre of Thessaloniki with invited guests Mr Pyrgidis, professor on transportation at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and Mr Zerefos, president of the International Ozone Commission.

An awesome experience! Thank you all!!!

More info @

CNN TURK – 18/09/2010 http://video.cnnturk.com/2010/haber/9/18/iklim-savunuculari-istanbulda

Turisminesi – 18/09/2010 http://www.turizminsesi.com/haber/iklim-treni-istanbula-geldi-8079.htm

Ppt pres.– 22/09/2010 http://www.scribd.com/doc/38403048/To-Treno-Tis-Klimatikis-Allagis-2009-2010

Pictures – 22/09/2010 http://picasaweb.google.com/christinakontaxi/GreenTalks#

ClimateChangeTrain@et3nationalTV http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-0Wes-uMO0

Sunday, 21st to Friday, 26th February 2010: Hostetin & Brno – Czech Republic

Theme Based Event: Mind your future, mind the climate!

Mind your future; mind the climate brought together Climate Advocates from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Finland, Slovenia, Turkey and Greece for one “climate week”. The programme was based on non-formal education methods and included excursion in Hostetin, British parliamentary debate, communication skills, round tables public event and a media workshop.

In Hostetin we were accommodated in the educational centre - centre Veronica in Hostetin run by the Ecological Institute Veronica. Centre Veronica Hostětín is the first public building in the Czech Republic constructed in a passive standard, i.e. with minimum consumption of energy. In cooperation with the municipality, regional and other partners they have implemented several projects such as the Passive house, Biomass Heating, Solar collectors, Apple Juice Plant, Fruit Drying Kiln, Reed-Bed Sewage, Rural Landscape, and Saving Public Lighting. The Hostetin projects verify ecological technologies in practice and have result in saving more than 1,600 tons of emissions of carbon dioxide yearly.

It certainly worth visiting: http://hostetin.veronica.cz/

Next stop at Brno, Czech’s second largest city. The public round table was the event we were preparing from the start! Climate advocates discussed on communicating climate change to youth, to the public, to the community, to the media, to politicians.

The project was financed by the Youth in Action programme and the British Council.

Special thanks to Alena, Daniela, Bea and Jiri for organizing and implementing a fruitful week on climate change!

More info on our site: http://challengeeurope.britishcouncil.org/