10 Highlights from my time in CHANGSHA & NANJING, China at UNESCO IYF3
Oh man! So about a year ago I went to China for the 3rd UNESCO International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads and it was awesome, so behold, 10 highlights!
CHINA
So I just had to begin by stanning China a little and this is interesting for me because before I went to China, I had little interest in going to China. Jamaica has a significant Chinese population and my university — Loughborough University London, where I did my Masters, was almost 90% Chinese students, so I’d met and made friends with Chinese people before. I’d learned about the country through school but it wasn’t really a real place to me. Which is hilarious to me because the minute the invitation came, I knew I really wanted to go, so even through the tumultuous quest to get my visa (collected it en route to the airport) I never lost enthusiasm. I rode that wave all the way to Changsha, the first city we visited.
Let me tell you… China is beautiful. I know I say that about every county I go to but I literally had my face glued to the window while flying over China. As a geography lover imagine my delight at the karst landscape (limestone formations) and later the meticulous landscaping of the city with flowers and plants in bands of red and shades of green. There was always something to look at; even the highway with it’s dramatic loops, overlooked by clusters of high rises and the hotel we stayed at in Changsha with it’s dramatic pagoda architecture. The organizers ensured we had ample opportunities to learn about the culture through outings and performances but even when they weren’t actively creating these opportunities, it was impossible to be in that space, celebrating culture and heritage without appreciating the beauty of the country.
2. THE ORGANIZERS AND TEAM
I always wonder what goes through the minds of people who decide to host youth forums. As someone who has had to manage television production of 50+ young people, answering their questions, managing their concerns, keeping them informed and on schedule —I imagine doing that for 125 young people from 80+ countries and the thought overwhelms me lol. It must be coming from a place of absolute passion for youth and appreciation for their energy and the vitality they bring to spaces when they’re brought together for a cause; after all, that’s what keeps me going.
So many elements of this forum were well thought out and designed with youth in mind. The sessions, which were a great mix of business and fun, mostly gave youth participants opportunities to speak and share their unique perspectives, and team members were always available if youth delegates had questions or concerns. We were assigned volunteers who taught us so much about China and helped us make the most of the opportunities provided. I personally have to thank Russ (Head of Social and Human Sciences UNESCO Beijing)— and Min (Programme Assistant for Social and Human Sciences UNESCO Beijing) — who personally supported me through everything from before I got to China, to the various speaking engagements I had while there and even since then.
3. THE YOUTH DELEGATES
I met so many young people at this youth forum! Some have become really good, close friends, and many others I follow their journeys on social media and cheer them on as they continue to be amazing and do amazing things. From day one, everybody was kind and willing to open up about their work and share about their cultures and countries. The very first delegate I met spent some of the drive from the airport to the hotel telling me about her country — Boznia Herzegovina and its complex political history. We’d never met before and she didn’t need to tell me this, but spaces like youth forums facilitate a spirit of cultural exchange and an openness that makes the sharing resonate.
She wasn’t the only one either; I knew from the moment I met Hannah that we would be friends, and we are. We were in a closed meeting between members of the Chinese government, high-level UNESCO officials, a few international diplomats and the two of us as youth representatives, and she leaned over to introduce herself and then remarked how amazing it was that in this room where a very important conversation was being had, there were two young Black women. When I look back on the forum, it’s the conversations and experiences like that one that stand out in my mind — moments where the significance of what we were doing and the ways space had been made to ensure our voices were heard, was driven home to me.
4. THE OPENING CEREMONY
Okay, let me admit, I am not a fan of opening and closing ceremonies, launches etc. They always seem overly formal and more concerned with giving powerful people platforms to say “Youth are the future” etc. ad nauseam. But, IYF3 changed my mind a little lol. Yes, there were still a few speeches but they were thankfully short and as a speaker I saw a little of the behind the scenes of the opening ceremony speaker thought process. I was asked to share lessons from my work in media arts and to reflect on the role of youth engagement in achieving the SDGs and I was amazed at the feedback from the youth delegates who truly connected with me, my work and my journey. (read my full remarks below)
But the highlight of all highlights was the “pyrotechnic light show” with fireworks, which we had to press buttons to launch and yes, I was really really excited to push the big white button lol. This part of the amazing opening ceremony charted some of China’s development in stunning musical numbers, and dance while the light show set the stage on the banks of the Xiangjiang River. From ancient Chinese musical instruments to depictions of farming practices, every moment was spectacular. It was a rainy night and it was surprisingly cold but it was breathtaking. I could wax poetic about it or you could watch some of it for yourself!
5. THE OUTINGS
From experiencing ancient pottery making in the Tongguan Kiln Ancient Town and P8 Sustainable Innovation community to the Nanjing library where we looked at scrolls and books that are literally hundreds of years old and made cute prints using traditional stamps and models — the outings displayed the richness of Chinese culture. At the Tongguan Kiln Ancient town we wandered the cobbled stone streets looking at the works of potters including some dating back hundreds of years. The rain and light fog overhead made the entire town feel like it had appeared from a story book. Furthermore seeing such cultural preservation, drove home the point of the forum. There are so many lost art forms around the world, so to see young people - Chinese and international students at local universities performing dragon and lion dancing was really poignant and a powerful reminder that we need to do more to preserve culture and heritage.
6. THE CHANGSHA INITIATIVE
After a long day of outings and sessions a group of delegates sat down with UNESCO officials to bring together the insight from all the conversations and compile a single declaration of youth recommendations. Together we were able to create something that consolidated youth voices in a manner that could be used as a gateway for youth to see their stake in major developments happening across the world, such as the SDGs or the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative and to advocate accordingly.
Take for example one of the recommendations:
“More resources, financial and in-kind, need to be allocated to culture. Young people need to be made aware of these resources and taught how to access them with the support of governmental and academic institutions.”
This isn’t just calling for resources to be allocated to government ministries with responsibility for culture and creativity on a one-off basis, the point is to create long-term perpetual investments in culture. If this becomes a reality, successive classes of young people could graduate with knowledge and appreciation of, and access to culture and heritage practice and conservation.
7. THE SESSIONS
The sessions were perhaps one of my favourite parts. Youth sharing sessions, panel discussions, group discussions — mostly completely open-ended and guided by youth participants and the topics within culture, creativity and heritage that they wanted to discuss. No questions to answer just open dialogue and yet, they were so effective in getting us talking to each other, exchanging ideas, sharing culture, it was amazing. I learned so much from fellow delegates and I was so inspired.
In a sharing session I was leading one delegate Bertha Mleke shared her interest in creating an e-commerce platform linking China to her country Tanzania and other countries in Africa. She was so dedicated to her dream that I just felt moved to respond by reminding her that every innovation we now enjoy was once an idea in someone’s mind and that it’s important that she realizes that she can be a game-changer. There were so many creatives, practicing in the different fields — from Mohamed’s book ‘Somali Sideways’ to Azzam’s crafts and scholars of architecture, heritage preservation and filmmakers and designers, singers and musicians and advocates. I was amazed by their stories and their work every time we spoke.
In another session a few us got to share details about our work and I chose to highlight how Talk Up Radio is built on a foundation of collaboration and how that has positive civic impact beyond the information we share.
8. THE CONNECTIONS
So one morning, all the Caribbean delegates got together for a breakfast meeting. We represented Jamaica, The Bahamas, St. Kitts, Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, The Dominican Republic and Barbados. We spoke about the unique cultures of the region, the Chinese investment in the region and how we as creatives could play a role in the region’s cultural and creative development. In that one meeting we came up with so many ideas and since then we’ve continued to keep tabs on each other. I’ve even interviewed a few of my fellow Caribbean delegates on Talk Up Radio since then.
The forum seems to have been specifically designed for this purpose because it accomplished it so well. There are people I didn’t speak to at all at the conference who’s work I now follow religiously because they are so talented. But the connections didn’t stop with the delegates, at this conference I met Himalchuli Gurung Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Beijing Office and was delighted to connect with her over her experience living and working in Jamaica for several years! If that wasn’t amazing enough, I also met and connected with Mr. Antonia Hugh — Jamaican Ambassador to China!
9. HUANG BING YING
Huang Bing Ying or Kate as she introduced herself to me at the start of the forum, was the volunteer who helped me through the forum while in Changsha. She left such a great impression on me. She was so kind and friendly! I loved learning about China from her and getting to know her, even simple things like the music she likes. When we left for Nanjing she gave me a a bookmark from her university which I still cherish, and I gave her a small Jamaican flag. I’m one of those weird people who deeply appreciate small things, every day kindness and there was so much to appreciate in a stranger who took the time out to answer my millions of questions and helped me get on WeChat.
10. THE PERSONAL GROWTH
So before this forum I’d only been an SDG young leader for about 5 months. I’d just moved to London to do my M.A and in my first international speaking experience had been at UNGA which was fun but so overwhelming. Despite years of civic media and youth experience, there was so much I still felt like I didn’t understand and so much I felt I couldn’t do. This forum challenged me. But like Hannah told me on about Day 3 of the forum — “you never tell yourself no”, so I’m glad that despite my fears and the voice in my head telling me I didn’t have the right personality, or the years of experience or the knowledge required to be valuable , I said yes. When the organizers asked me to speak, I said yes. When they asked me to lead sessions — a hour and a half unstructured, facing a room of 50+ young people, and the possibility of terrifying awkward silences, I said yes. When I was asked for my opinion by people like Marielza Oliveira — Director, UNESCO Cluster Office in Beijing or Ambassador Hugh — I spoke up. And I learned that I can. I know it seems small and ridiculous but every time someone shows faith in me, I learn to have a little more faith in myself and it makes me even more dedicated to do the same for others, to believe in people and to create spaces where they can learn to believe in themselves too.
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So yeah! That was my experience at the 3rd UNESCO International Youth Forum on Creativity and Heritage along the Silk Roads in a nutshell! Special shout outs to Kourosh who gave me a lot to think about in his interview and all the great people I went to dinner and breakfast with on different nights and days, Margo and Danielle who rounded out the Jamaican squad and Eyad — my fellow SDG young leader! Thank you for making this experience amazing and I hope we all meet again very very soon!
REMARKS
Hello everyone, firstly I want to thank my Chinese friends for welcoming me to your beautiful city and your beautiful country, I know I speak for all of the youth delegates when I say we are honoured to be here with you learning about your culture and sharing ours.
My name is Kristeena Monteith, I am a Creative Media Producer, a Chevening scholar doing a Masters in Media and Creative Industries in London and I am one of 17 United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals.
A large part of this week is about sharing culture so let me tell you a little about mine. I come from the birthplace of Reggae music, of the Rastafari religion, of the philosophies of Marcus Garvey, and of some of the best sprinters of the modern era, including the fastest man in the world - Usain Bolt. I'm a proud Jamaican, that's my culture, or as we would say back home “a fi mi culture dat”!
I'm so happy to be here sharing in this experience with you all, recognizing the power of culture in driving inclusive, meaningful sustainable development for all humanity. This, is a belief that is central to everything I do.
I believe in the power of the creative and cultural industries. I have experienced the arts as a space for entertainment, education and social change. Heritage practice as a traditional form of cultural preservation and cultural exchange. And media as an exercise in empathy, in that it asks us to listen to each other, empathise with the struggles of others and celebrate their victories as we do our own triumphs.
These are the values that I bring to my work, specializing in creating media for youth development. At Talk Up Yout, we engage young people in national and international conversations about local and global issues, which helps them to connect the dots between their personal struggles and a greater struggle that all of us are facing. Locally, we've connected young people from all socioeconomic backgrounds with opportunities to speak directly with Ministers of Government on issues regarding National Security, Health, Education and Youth and in so doing, we affirm the right that young people have to be meaningfully included in political conversations at every single level. Some of the ideas generated in these conversations have made it to the national agenda and this encourages young people to get involved.
But we've also spent quite a lot of time engaging young people in conversations about their own passions and interests, career aspirations and goals for themselves, their countries and their regions and in so doing we've been able to recognize that much of the progress that is being made towards the sustainable development goals - in building strong, peaceful communities, protecting the environment, connecting people with information - much of this is happening at the grassroots level, and is being led by young people just like you and I. These are young people who may be musicians, educators, community leaders, dancers, writers and what they've managed to do is to use their passions and expertise to generate solutions to issues that are meaningful to them and their communities and in so doing, they are able to make tangible, visible impact on the lives of people around them.
This idea of putting your passion at the service of bigger goals is what led me to become a United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals. Using my platform and leveraging my youth community back home and around to world to advocate for one of humanity's most ambitious attempts at improving quality of life for every human, everywhere is one the most powerful things I have had the privilege of being able to do.
My 16 fellow SDG young leaders and I are all from different backgrounds from Artificial Intelligence and Marine Biology to Anti Corruption and Education, but we are connected by our dedication to putting our abilities, interests and passions to work, in creating a better future for all people and for the planet. We work together, supporting each other and collaborating on projects that merge and amplify each of our strengths.
Our mission as a group is to engage young people in the realization of the goals. In my case that has primarily meant making the SDG's fun and showing young people that sustainable development doesn’t only need advocates and scientists, coders and politicians - it also needs artists, writers, dreamers, creatives. It needs people who are willing to build friendships and partnerships across the world, working together, trading ideas, sharing solutions and sharing culture. Sustainable development needs you to lean into the things that make you feel like a positive force in the world, to use your talents and creativity to leverage your culture in solving issues that matter to you.
So I look forward to meeting all of you and furthermore, I look forward to working with you, learning about your cultures and sharing mine with you.
Thank you.
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