After two years gap, the 2050 Conference was restarted in Yunqi Town of Hangzhou at which a forum themed The Mission of Young People from Belt and Road Cities in Promoting Innovation in the Post-Pandemic Era was held by the Secretariat of the United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific Committee on the Belt and Road Local Cooperation (BRLC). The forum was attended by a number of remarkable figures including Li Minggang, Chinese Ambassador to Kuwait, Vladimir Norov, Secretary-General of the SCO, Maria Moreni, President of Italy-China Link and Co-president of BRLC, Kyösti Oikarinen, former Political Mayor of the City of Oulu, Hangzhou's sister city in Finland and Co-president of BRLC, Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC, Steffen Woerner, Executive Director of Heidelberg Youth Communication Center and Zhai Mofan, youth representative from China Academy of Art. All of them were delighted to share either online or offline their stories and experiences related to the theme and spoke of their high expectation for young people.

Li Minggang, the Ambassador of China to Kuwait where the headquarters of the Olympic Council of Asia is located was the first speaker who addressed the forum. He told the audience that the year 2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kuwait. In commemoration of the occasion, a tree symbolizing the friendship of youth between two countries was planted by ambassador himself, young diplomats at the Chinese embassy and young people from Kuwait. He also shared a story about how he, whilst working at the Chinese Embassy in the US, spearheaded the effort in creating the embassy's homepage and used it as an example to encourage young people to make bold steps in their own fields. He said he had every confidence that young people, with their ambition and the ability to innovate, will be able to help China achieve the historic leap from a moderately prosperous society in all respects to a fully modernized country.

Vladimir Norov, SCO Secretary-General who finished his visit to Hangzhou only recently noted in his recorded message that there are 1.8 billion young people living in the world today and more than 800 million of them come from the SCO region. “Young people, with their energy, innovation and courageous ideas, are an important pillar of SCO's future development in various aspects of its activities.” On the global scale, many innovations are carried out by young people who have the potential to offer innovative means of solving global issues. In acknowledging the role of the 2050 Conference in fostering innovation, he spoke with confidence that the event will galvanize all parties involved into action to implement promising innovative ideas raised by young generation and work for a close cooperation within the SCO.

Kyösti Oikarinen is the former Political Mayor of the City of Oulu and Co-president of BRLC. He introduced Oulu's experience in supporting the innovation of youth and the measures taken to ensure young people are fully involved in urban planning and decision-making at city level. He added that innovation is never solely about technology. It is of wider relevance in other aspects such as social development, urbanization, sustainable development and climate action. To serve innovation, elementary and middle schools in Oulu have incorporated innovation into their curriculum and opened their innovation platform to companies and organizations. Also included in the innovation campaign is a communication mechanism between students and companies to create opportunities for cooperation.

Maria Moreni, President of Italy-China Link and Co-president of BRLC thanked the BRLC Secretariat for promoting the friendly exchange between China and Italy and delivering rapprochement in other parts of the world. She said that China has a fertile ground for innovation and the purpose of the 2050 Conference is to engage youth in leading innovation and putting their ingenuity to work to solve problems facing the world. As she sees it, the 2050 Conference will enable young people to find those who share the same aspiration and join an innovation community that is open to the whole world.

Zhai Mofan, an outstanding youth representative from China Academy of Art outlined his imagination of online art in the post-pandemic era. From his view as a university student major in painting, art should stand at the crossroad of humanity and science, connecting creativity and technology. As artistic creation has been increasingly shaped by the application of information technology under the influence of Belt and Road Initiative and the globalization of information, the value of humanity should not be neglected. Only this way can we forge a global online art that features a combination of human imagination and fitting technologies.

Dr. Bernadia Irawati Tjandradewi, Secretary General of UCLG ASPAC who was awarded the United Nations Messenger of Peace and Culture, expressed her view on youth and innovation at the forum. She pointed to the fact that the current young generation is confronting challenges tougher than any previous young generation. It is crucial to recognize that young people are not merely consumers of new devices and applications but also “innovators and the agents of change who are paving the way for more innovations to come”. She talked about the responsibility lies with young generation in supporting global agenda and painted her five-zero vision in economic, social and political aspects, namely zero inequalities, zero poverty, zero crimes, violence, disasters and accidents, zero greenhouse gas emissions and pollution and zero intolerance and discrimination. She concluded her presentation by talking directly to young people. She advised them to “dream higher, envision hugely…to be part of the development and the future of the city”.

Steffen Woerner, Executive Director of Heidelberg Youth Communication Center joined the interactive session and explained how he thought of the relationship between youth and innovation. Faced with all the challenges and uncertainties, young generation in the world need to improve their skills and pursue innovative ideas. Cities on the other hand, should render support to open-minded youth and provide them with the space needed to create and innovate.

Zhou Shu, Secretary-General of the BRLC Secretariat and Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Hangzhou Municipal Government delivered a welcome remark. “The global pandemic of COVID-19 made face-to-face conversation a luxury and our reunion today an exhilarating occasion worth celebrating. It has been made clear to us in our response to the pandemic that innovation is of paramount importance in reviving economic activity and getting life back on track. Over the past year, Hangzhou has been through challenging situations like many cities in the world. But the city has, over time, achieved a robust economic recovery and entered a new stage of governance due to the innovative practices of digital technology and smart governance and the tireless efforts of all its citizens, in particular young people. Hangzhou is known as a famous historical and cultural city, a city of innovation and vitality, and a city of ecological civilization. It is also going to be the host city of the 19th Asian Games. Now, Hangzhou is making strides toward a smart and digital city, a livable paradise, and a socialist modernized international metropolis and the 2050 Conference offers an insight into the innovative and youthful rhythm of the city and the enormous potential of young generation in defining the future. She ended her remark with an appeal to all, young or not, to embrace the change and transformation and move forward in parallel with the trend of digital revolution and the advances in science and technology.

The forum was moderated by Du Shigen, Deputy Secretary General of BRLC Secretariat and Deputy Director of Foreign Affairs Office of Hangzhou Municipal Government.

Offline audiences

Group photo of the staff