90 aspirational young people from 45 countries have gathered in the UK to focus on changing the world.
The group will spend a week, 1-5 July, focusing on the role of young people in shaping the future of their communities. The young leaders will participate in our ‘90 Youth Voices for the Future’ events, spending time in London before splitting into groups and travelling to all four corners of the UK. This is part of a programme of activity to mark the 90th anniversary of the British Council, the UK’s international organisation for education and cultural relations.
Among the participants, Viet Nam has three representatives who have participated in our Youth Connect programme in recent years.
- Phan Ky Trung is currently working as a senior researcher at the Research Institute for Climate Change (DRAGON-Mekong), Can Tho University. Being a Chevening alumnus 2019/20, he is taking leading roles in the Y-CoRe Viet Nam, Rivers of Life, Youth Community Resilience to Climate Change in the Mekong Delta (Y-CoRe), and Climate Skills projects funded by the British Embassy and the British Council, from 2020 to the present.
- Nguyen Tran Mai Chi was one of the first two Vietnamese selected to join student journalists and reporters from across the globe with our Future News Worldwide project, in 2019 in London. In 2021, as a youth leader in our ‘Rivers of Life’ initiative, her project ‘Death of the River’ helped to raise awareness of climate change for young people in the Mekong River Delta. Mai Chi has also had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable discussion with COP26 President Alok Sharma about the role of youth in climate change.
- Tran Nguyen Hoang Long is a final year student at Can Tho University, and a young leader in the field of climate change in many of our projects, including ‘Rivers of Life’ and ‘Youth Community Resilience to Climate Change in the Mekong Delta’, from 2020 until now. As an aspiring environmental researcher, Long has had the opportunity to implement two pieces of research, ‘Salty’ and ‘Green View’, to enhance the capacity and awareness of young people in the Mekong River Delta towards the impact of climate change.
‘We are proud to have three Vietnamese young leaders joining one of the global special events marking our 90th anniversary’. Ms Donna McGowan, Director Viet Nam, British Council added ‘The British Council’s commitment is to equip the next generation with the skills they need to understand, mitigate, and adapt to climate change in Viet Nam, particularly in the Mekong Delta, through our Youth Connect programme. Climate change is a truly global challenge that reveals how interconnected we are, and that requires all of us to come together to address its consequences. The British Council can make a real difference by bringing diverse groups of young leaders together globally, including three brilliant Vietnamese young leaders, to share, to learn, to collaborate for action in contributing to Viet Nam’s ambitions for sustainable socio-economic growth and development.’
After the first stop in London, Trung, Chi and Long travel to Cardiff, the capital of Wales where they will take part in learning activities, study visits, discussions, and shared experiences. They will join other participants including young activists, journalists and content creators, artists, technology experts, researchers, and entrepreneurs who have been involved in our programmes around the world. The groups focus on building inclusive communities and spaces, using digital technology for good, and introducing green spaces to cities. The young people will hear from policy makers and youth organisations from across the UK, while experiencing an alternative history tour of the city they visit.
On their final day, the group of 90 reconvene online to share experiences, before traveling home to put their experiences into practice in their own communities.
The initiative is organised in the framework of Youth Connect, a British Council global programme that supports young people and future leaders to reach outside of formal educations system by sharing skills and providing platforms for them to come together with peers from the UK, their own communities, and internationally.
Kate Ewart-Biggs OBE, Deputy Chief Executive, British Council said: ‘90 Youth Voices is a fantastic opportunity for 90 aspirational young people from around the world to gather together and focus on the positive changes that they can make in the world and their own communities. Not only that, it is important that we learn from these young activists, journalists, creators and entrepreneurs, break down barriers, and come together to act positively on the big global challenges that affect all of our lives.’