Speakers

Dr. Ruut Veenhoven

Dr. Ruut Veenhoven

Emeritus Professor, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Special Professor, North-West University, South Africa
Director, World Database of Happiness
Founding Editor, Journal of Happiness Studies

Dr. Ruut Veenhoven studied sociology; he is accredited in social psychology and social-sexology. Dr. Veenhoven is an Emeritus Professor of ‘social conditions for human happiness’ at Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where he is currently involved in the Erasmus Happiness Economics Research Organization. Dr. Veenhoven is also a special professor at North-West University in South Africa, where he is involved in the Optenia research program. He is the Director of the World Database of Happiness and founding Editor of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Presentation: Greater Happiness for a Greater Number

There is growing support for the idea that we should aim at greater happiness for a greater number of people. Yet there are also qualms about the reality value of that ambition: some doubt that enduring happiness is possible at all in the human condition and others claim that we cannot get any happier than we are now. There is also much skepticism about the possibility of planned promotion of happiness.

These doubts are reviewed and rejected. It is argued that happiness can be furthered by improving the livability of society as well as by strengthening the life-abilities of individuals. One of the options in the latter approach is helping people to make more informed choices by investigating long-term consequences on happiness.

Chris Skellett

Chris Skellett

Life Member, NZ College of Clinical Psychology
Author and Workshop Presenter, Warrington, New Zealand

Chris Skellett is a self- employed Clinical Psychologist, a Fellow and Life member of the NZ College of Clinical Psychology. In 2011 he was a Foundation Executive Coach for the internationally acclaimed Institute for Strategic Leadership. Also that year he began his career as an author and workshop presenter. Mr. Skellett has written two internationally respected personal development books. The key themes which he raises are universal issues, both for individuals and cultures around the World. In 2011, Chris published his first personal development book, the highly acclaimed self-help book ‘When Happiness Is Not Enough – Balancing Pleasure and Achievement in your Life’. He followed this up in 2014 with ‘The Power of the Second Question – Finding Simple Truths for Complex Lives’.

Presentation: Balancing Pleasure and Achievement in your Life

A fulfilling life requires us to strike a considered balance between enjoying pleasure (in the moment) with the satisfaction of achieving meaningful and purposeful goals. As individuals, we all tend towards a life based on pleasure, where we laugh and have fun, or a life based on achievement, where we strive towards meaningful personal goals. At the extremes of this continuum, we see the psychological problems of either stress or depressive stagnation. A healthy life requires a balance. At a cultural level, we define ourselves in a similar way. Some cultures love to celebrate who they are in a colourful way. They are happy, playful and connected through mutual joy. Other cultures find a shared bond in terms of a shared sense of purposeful direction, with a collective vision of what they hope to achieve together. They dig deep to work hard to achieve collective goals. This presentation invites participants to reflect on their own cultures, and to consider how small shifts in perspective can bring huge gains in terms of national cohesion.

Miriam Akhtar

Miriam Akhtar

Positive Psychologist, Positive Psychology Training, UK
Visiting Lecturer, International Faculty for the Executive Masters of Applied Positive Psychology (EMAPP), School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal

Miriam Akhtar’s first career was as an award-winning BBC producer in TV and radio. She then graduated with distinction from the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) at the University of East London and was one of the first positive psychologists to go into practice in Europe. She is one of 100 global experts who contributed to the World Book of Happiness, which has been presented to 200 world leaders.

Miriam works as a practitioner, consultant, trainer and coach with a particular expertise in designing well-being programmes. She developed the Happiness Zones, one of the first programmes for substance-misusing young people, which has been highlighted by the Academy of Social Sciences as an example of best practice in mental well-being. She is currently delivering Positive Ageing & Resilience Training in association with the Gulbenkian Foundation. Miriam has a special interest in mental health and is the author of Positive Psychology for Overcoming Depression, a book of evidence-based self-help tools to recover well-being.

Miriam is a visiting lecturer on the Executive MAPP at the University of Lisbon and in the UK and is a contributor to Erasmus + programmes. She is also a facilitator of the Penn Resilience Programme. She was a Happiness champion in the 2015 European Green Capital, Bristol.

Presentation: Happiness Is Not a Spectator Sport

“Happiness is not a spectator sport” said one of the founding positive psychologists, highlighting the importance of going beyond an intellectual curiosity to take action for happiness. It is the practice of positive psychology interventions that develops the neural pathways that make a habit out of happiness. I will share scientifically-grounded practices that create mental health. These ‘natural anti-depressants’ challenge the perception that therapy and medication are the best way to tackle the 21st century epidemic of depression.

Nkandu Beltz

Nkandu Beltz

Author, International Speaker and Social Pioneer, Australia

Zambian born Nkandu Beltz has a background in Journalism and News Writing. She is passionate about social change and has been a youth advocate since the age of 10. A social change maker, Nkandu works with youth and women in rural and remote areas of Australia, utilises her journalistic skills interviewing leaders that inspire people to take action. She has interviewed the Dalai Lama, former president of Botswana Rre Festus Mogae and Dr. John Demartini. She has garnered some serious accolades: 2011, Australian Youth Representative to the Commonwealth Head of Government Meeting, presenting the summary of the Communiqué to the Foreign Ministers meeting in Perth; 2012, winning the Young Social Pioneer; 2013, the Pinnacle Professional of the Year Award Winner; 2013, Creative Innovation Scholarship Winner; 2014, the Women in Leadership Award Winner; in 2015, African Pioneer of the Year Award Winner. Nkandu has published the following books: ‘I Have The Power- Unlocking your Potential to Change the World’, ‘Fierce and Fabulous-The Feminine Force of Success’, ‘Fierce and Fabulous-Phenomenal Women in Network Marketing’.

Presentation: The Perception of Happiness

We live in a world that has become very materialistic and happiness has been linked to tangibles and consumables. Happiness has been defined by many as being in the state of joy or a mental or emotional wellbeing of pleasant experiences.

We have so many contributing factors that can lead one to have a one sided view of reality and as young leaders we need to recognize that we need a balanced perception of our world. Most people identify happiness based on immediate gratifying hedonism (pleasure), others by long-term virtues (which may vary). But I prefer to use the term fulfillment and meaning. In this context, the percept of Happiness in Leadership and social change is mainly based on the impact that we make in our communities and living a balanced and congruent life. We must acknowledge that choices, chances and circumstances play a major role on our perception of happiness.

Based on the current research on the happiest countries on Earth, Forbes 2015, developed countries top the list. Some factors included are high life expectancy, support of friends and relatives, charitable giving and perceived freedom. Australia ranks number 10 but has one of the highest youth suicide rates in the world.

Bridget Grenville-Cleave

Bridget Grenville-Cleave

Director, Workmad Ltd., London, UK

Bridget Grenville-Cleave qualified with the MSc in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) from the University of East London in 2008. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, and has an MBA from the Open University Business School.

Bridget is a leading practitioner of positive psychology focussing on increasing well-being, resilience and engagment in the business, education and health sectors. She is passionate about developing community by enabling people to discover their potential and play to their strengths. She trains the Bounce Back! Resilience Programme in schools and is visiting lecturer at the University of East London and Anglia Ruskin University, where she specialises in positive psychology interventions.

Her books include 101 Activities for Happiness Workshops (2014), Positive Psychology: A Practical Guide (2012) and The Happiness Equation (2008). She has contributed to Character Strengths Matter: How to Live a Full Life (2015) and Resilience: How to navigate Life’s Curves (2009). Bridget runs the EARN Happiness School in London and co-developed the How’s your Day? smartphone app to track daily happiness levels and learn simple, practical, evidence-based skills to improve mood.

Presentation: Happiness: Other People Matter

Happiness can be understood at three different levels (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000): - the subjective level; - the individual level; - the group level. Since the Positive Psychology movement was founded in the USA in 1998, the emphasis in the developed world has been on the first two, i.e. what makes the individual person happy.

However, following research evidence that income (above a relatively low level) does not lead to significantly greater well-being, national and local governments of many of those same Western countries have concluded that their conventional economic measures (such as GDP) are insufficient on their own to measure society’s progress. As a result they are adopting the view that happiness, with particular emphasis on how we think and feel about our lives, can help create more meaningful and effective public policy and change society for the better.

But how does our individual happiness relate to other people’s? Is happiness-led social policy enough to create a ‘decent society’? Having worked in business for 15 years and the happiness field for over 10, I will explain why I have come back to the view that, to create a decent society, individual happiness and well-being must be bottom-up as well as top-down, and how it is something each and every one of us can contribute to.

Photo Album

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G200 Youth Forum Press Office
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova, G200 Association Founder and President Gives the First Speech
April, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova, G200 Association Founder and President Gives the First Speech
Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova, G200 Association Founder and President welcomes the participants
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Mr. Wolfgang Bauer, Deputy Mayor of Garmisch-Partenkirchen greets Participants
Before the Official Opening Ceremony, Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova and Mr. Chris Skellett, Panellist of the Plenary Session
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Plenary Session Panellists
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness
G200 Participants, go to the Official Opening Ceremony
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Dr. Ruut Veenhoven, Emeritus Professor, Rotterdam University, the Netherlands, presents Greater Happiness for a Greater Number
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Mr. Chris Skellett, presenting Balancing Pleasure and Achievement in your Life
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Ms. Miriam Akhtar, presents ‘Happiness is not a Spectator Sport’
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Ms. Nkandu Beltz, presents ‘The Perception of Happiness’
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Ms. Bridget Grenville-Cleave, Workmad Ltd., London, presents ‘Happiness: Other People Matter’
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Q & A Section
Plenary Session Perceiving Happiness, Q & A Section
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Opening Ceremony, Family Photo
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session I: Security Education. Mr. Asaad Al Asaad, Chair of the Session
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session I: Security Education: A Need? Or A Must?
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session I: Security Education: A Need? Or A Must?
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session I: Security Education: A Need? Or A Must?
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session I: Security Education: A Need? Or A Must?
Three Group Leaders of the Joint Session I: Security Education: Mr. Robert de Wit, Group Leader for Parliamentarian, Shin-Yi Wu, Group Leader for Students and Ms. Elena Alcalde, Group Leader for Academics
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session II: Perceiving Happiness. Ms Bridget Grenville Cleave, Chair of the Session and Dr. Ruut Veenhoven, Group Leader for Professors
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session II: Perceiving Happiness
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session II: Perceiving Happiness
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Joint Session II: Perceiving Happiness
Joint Session II Chair and two Analysts: Mr. Luke Addison and Ms. Valencia Gabriella
Welcome Champagne before the Classical Concert
Welcome Champagne before the Classical Concert, Dr. Ruut Veenhoven and Mr. Wolfgang Bauer
Welcome Champagne before the Classical Concert, Spanish Delegation Surrounded by New Friends
Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova, Founder and President and Ms. Yana Alexandrova, Head of Strategic Committee of the G200 Association before the Classical Concert
Classical Concert, Oleg Weinstein, pianist, soloist, and professor of N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory playing Tchaikovsky
G200 Youth Forum Classical Concert, Ovation from the Audience
G200 Youth Forum Classical Concert
G200 Youth Forum Classical Concert
G200 Youth Forum Classical Concert , Ms. Sedzani Siaga, Master of Ceremonies d
Werdenfelser Salonorchester Jazz Ban
G200 Youth Forum Opening Gala Dinner
Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova, G200 Association Founder and President and Dr. Asaad Al Asaad, Director of Student Activity Administration of Al Yamamah University, present Silver Angel Award to Ms. Sedzani Siaga, Senior Lecturer, University of Pretoria
Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova and Dr. Asaad Al Asaad present Silver Angel Award to Mr. Francesco Vanderjeugd, Parliamentarian, Flemish Parliament, Belgium
Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova presents Silver Angel Award to Dr. Ruut Veenhoven, Emeritus Professor, Rotterdam University, the Netherlands for Impact in Scientific Research of Human Happiness
G200 Youth Forum Opening Gala Dinner
G200 Youth Forum Opening Gala Dinner, International Friends
Happy Birthday Ms. Yana Alexandrova!
G200 Youth Forum Opening Gala Dinner
G200 Youth Forum 2016, Conference Platform
G200 Conference, Round Table I: Economics and Finance, Session I: Investing and Financing
G200 Conference, Round Table II: Law and Human Rights & Round Table IV: Social Affairs and Medicine
G200 Conference, Round Table II: Law and Human Rights& Round Table IV: Social Affairs and Medicine
G200 Conference, Round Table II: Law and Human Rights& Round Table IV: Social Affairs and Medicine
G200 Conference, Round Table III: World Politics and International Relations
G200 Conference, Round Table III: World Politics and International Relations
G200 Conference, Round Table V: Ecology, Environment, and Energy & Round Table VI: Design, Technology and Innovations
G200 Conference, Round Table V: Ecology, Environment, and Energy & Round Table VI: Design, Technology and Innovations
G200 Conference, Round Table V: Ecology, Environment, and Energy & Round Table VI: Design, Technology and Innovations
G200 Conference, Round Table VII: Education and Youth
G200 Conference, Round Table VII: Education and Youth
G200 Conference, Round Table VII: Education and Youth
G200 Conference, Round Table VII: Education and Youth
G200 Conference, Round Table VII: Education and Youth
G200 Youth Summit: Global Health Committee
G200 Youth Summit: Global Health Committee
G200 Youth Summit: Global Health Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Shaping the Labour Market Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Shaping the Labour Market Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Shaping the Labour Market Committee
G200 Youth Summit: ‘From Consumer Society towards Value-based Society’ Committee
G200 Youth Summit: ‘From Consumer Society towards Value-based Society’ Committee
G200 Youth Summit: ‘From Consumer Society towards Value-based Society’ Committee
G200 Youth Summit:New Strategies for Financial Sector and World Economy Committee
G200 Youth Summit:New Strategies for Financial Sector and World Economy Committee
G200 Youth Summit:New Strategies for Financial Sector and World Economy Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Technological Challenges Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Technological Challenges Committee
G200 Youth Summit:Technological Challenges Committee
International Young Parliamentarians` Debate, Mr. Andy Rossel, Secretary General and Chair of the Debates
International Young Parliamentarians` Debate, Mr. Robert Housmans, Parliamentarian, Limburg Parliament, the Netherlands
International Young Parliamentarians` Debate, Mr. Mathieu Traversy, National Assembly of Quebec and Ms. Mariangela Celeste Portaluri, Regional Council of Apulia
International Young Parliamentarians` Debate, Mr. Robert de Wit, Provinciale Staten Groningen and Mr. Johan Nissinen, Swedish Parliament
International Young Parliamentarians` Debate
Parliamentarians` Family Photo
Workshop 2 ‘The Power Within You’ led by Ms. Nkandu Beltz
Workshop 2 – Team Building
Workshop 3 ‘Personal Resilience in Challenging Times’ led by Mr. Chris Skellett
Young Leaders at Workshop 3
Workshop 3 ‘Personal Resilience in Challenging Times’
Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Sedzani Siaga, Moderator
Official Closing Ceremony, “call over” of the participating countries – “Spain Is Here!”
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Mr. Johan Ferreira, Student, University of Pretoria, South Africa - Head of Secretaries of the G200 Youth Summit
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Sarah Tresedder, Student, Michigan State University - Secretary General of the Global Health Committee
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Mr. Kane Versteeg, Student, Griffith University, Australia- Secretary General of the Shaping the Labour Market Committee
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Kathrin Harb, Student, Leiden University, the Netherlands- Secretary General of the ‘From Consumer Society towards Value-based Society’ Committee
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Jamie Crowe, Student, Griffith University, Australia- Secretary Generals of the New Strategies for Financial Sector and World Economy Committee
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Kisha McPherson, Head of Secretaries of the Conference Platform
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Sedzani Siaga, Senior Lecturer, University of Pretoria, South Africa - Secretary General of the Round Table I: Economics and Finance
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Ms. Kiran Afsar, Student, University of Hertfordshire, the UK - Secretary General of the Round Table II: Law and Human Rights
G200 Youth Forum 2015 Official Closing Ceremony, Mr. Jagmeet Singh Bawa, Professor, Punjab Technical University - Secretary General of the Round Table III: World Politics and International Relations
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Mr. Thabang Letlabika, South Africa - Secretary General of the Round Table IV: Social Affairs and Medicine
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Mr. Hiroki Okachi, Bachelor, Student of Hokkaido University, Japan - Secretary General of the Round Table V: Ecology, Environment, and Energy
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Secretary general of the Round Table VI: Design, Technology, and Innovations - Mr. Colin Hamilton , Student at the University of Hertfordshire, UK
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Secretary General of the Round Table VII: Education and Youth Mr. Asaad Al Asaad, Director of Student Activity Center, Al Yamamah University, Saudi Arabia
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony, Secretary General – Mr. Andy Rossel, Parliamentarian, Limburg Parliament, the Netherlands
G200 Youth Forum 2016 Official Closing Ceremony. Some Presents from the G200 Association
President and Founder of the G200 Association Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova – Final Speech
Creating a Picture of the World of Tomorrow
Creating a Picture of the World of Tomorrow
Master Class from Ms. Ksenia Khoruzhnikova
Creating a Picture of the World of Tomorrow, Hidden Talents
Creating a Picture of the World of Tomorrow
Closing Gala Dinner and Bavarian Night
Closing Gala Dinner and Bavarian Night, Participants Wear Bavarian Dresses
Closing Gala Dinner and Bavarian Night, Alphorn Musicians Conduct Master Class
Closing Gala Dinner and Bavarian Night, Alphorn Master Class
Closing Gala Dinner and Bavarian Night, Dr. Hellmut Schmücker and Ms. Claudia Bill Conduct Dancing Master Class for Participants
Closing Gala Dinner, Dancing Master Class for Participants
Closing Gala Dinner, Dancing Master Class for Participants
Closing Gala Dinner, Dancing Master Class for Participants
Closing Gala Dinner ‘Zugspitzmusic’ Music Band
Closing Gala Dinner, Participants
Closing Gala Dinner, Mr. Chris Skellett and Ms. Sedzani Siaga
Closing Gala Dinner, Participants
Good Bye, Dear Participants! See You Next Year!

Video

 

Testimonials

Bongiwe Pricilla Mbinqo-Gigaba
Member of Parliament, South Africa
Bongiwe Pricilla Mbinqo-Gigaba

It’s a great opportunity for young parliamentarians all over the world to meet and share views of how to deal with issues in different places.

As a participant of G20 Youth Forum I’ve got information from others, what views, what people are doing, how best can we practice in our places and how we can improve our society.

It was a good experience and I think for next Forums it will be better to get more countries to share their ideas together.

Jenny Mikakos
Member of Parliament, Australia
Jenny Mikakos

I think the main purpose of the G20 Youth Forum is to bring together students, academics and young parliamentarians around the world to share ideas as to how we can make a better world. It is very important to have an understanding of the views of each social group fora successful policy.

It has been a very successful Forum. I wish to congratulate the organizers. I thought it was very interesting to be able to learn more from my colleagues at the International Young Parliamentarians’ Debate about the respective nations and native societies. We have decided many important questions and we will try to implement them in our countries.

Liv Holm Andersen
Member of Parliament, Denmark
Liv Holm Andersen

I expected to come here, to share a lot of ideas with representatives from parliaments and also from academic institutions. First of all I met some incredible people and second of all most importantly I got a lot of inspiration on my field which is social issues.

In our section we have very interesting papers and point of views. The greatest thing is to notice how really different systems and societies we representing. And at the same time we can agree on so many goals and aims for this world and for our countries to work on together. And that is very incredible, great.

I hope that Denmark will make really priority and send more not only MP but also representatives from local parliaments and more Universities because I think it’s a great opportunity to our young parliamentarians, youth and students to be inspired and to inspire others.

Maria Magdalena Matthys
Member of Parliament, South Africa
Maria Magdalena Matthys

I think it’s a very good cause for young people. In my vision the purpose of G20 Youth Forum is to encourage young people to learn and educate themselves, to unit them. I also think that it’s good opportunity for academics to come and share their experience. And also for young parliamentarians to be an example for the countries, they can encourage more youth, young people to participate in this program.

I talked about professionalism of women in South Africa and I’ve learnt a lot from other countries about agenda issues.

Alvin Botes
Member of the Executive Council, South Africa
Alvin Botes

One of the objective things of G20 Youth Forum is to insure a comprehension of network, to exchange intellectual and societal ideas among current youth leaders, formal youth leaders and those working on the youth agenda across the world.

One of my colleagues on the International Young Parliamentarians’ Debate presented me kangaroo – I’m from South Africa, I was in Russia and received an Australian kangaroo. It’s the exchange of ideas and network. So this little kangaroo symbolizes this.

It’s a good platform for intellectual debate and it should be held annually.

Bing Ren
Professor, Nankai University, China
Bing Ren

According to my understanding, G8 and G20 originally focused on the finances and economic issues. But through out of the years and particularly my personal participation this time I think the issue animation becomes broader than that. It is not only economy and finance, but social issues, environmental issues and arts, history. Very different areas comes together to discuss and make dialogue together.

I hope to involve myself in different kinds of platforms – I can speak out my opinion and suggestions – that makes my exchange here more meaningful.
I work in education, I pay attention to educating young people – so I find a lot of common problems around the world. That makes me inspired with the idea that we should participate in these meetings and thanks to G8 and G20 Alumni Association for inviting me hear.

And the other impressive thing is: I think G20 Youth Forum have made great efforts in organizing many people together and try to collect the ideas and also to make this activities more interesting and alive. That is also good impression for me.

Shinya Hanaoka
Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan
Shinya Hanaoka

When I go back to Japan I would like to inform about G20 Youth Forum other faculty members, also international division of our University. Then I will recommend some students from our faculty to join this Forum over the next two years.

Xinghua Liu
Assistant Professor, Nankai University, China
Xinghua Liu

This is very famous, impressive and huge youth forum, and also well organized. My first impression was that we can meet with different people from other countries. There are different cultures, different national dresses – for me it is good experience to meet new people from all over the world.

G20 Youth Forum is very good instrument for public all over the world in different countries to learn about G20, especially for the young leaders and youth elites in different countries. I think it will play very important role in the media, in the mobilization, press mobilization in different countries.

Hai Tao Huang
Lecturer of Zhou Enlai School of Government, Nankai University, China
Hai Tao Huang

Firstly, it’s very precious experience for me. I can meet people all around the world more than 60 countries. It’s very good opportunity to speak with them and to exchange ideas. And, secondly, communications is not enough – we can understand each other and then we can understand ideas of the whole world; especially I’m very happy to see that the future young leaders they gather together. This may be a good guarantee for the development of the world. They have fresh ideas – and this is very important.

Marçal Avelino Salazar Marques Mendes
Jurist, University of Minho, Portugal
Marçal Avelino Salazar Marques Mendes

The purpose of the Forum is very well constructed. I think it makes us like a prototype of government. It develops a capacity of communicating with people and with some ministers and with the government itself. It’s important for participants that they go home and make there some kind of experiments and be reasonable and capable to understand the solution to each country and for the whole world.

Connell Wise
Founder, Chairman of the Board & Chief Executive, United States Youth Chamber of Commerce, USA
Connell Wise

In my understanding of the main purpose of G20 Youth Forum it is the international cooperation between different countries of the world to basically bring a global understanding how the leaders economic and financial crisis are facing in the world and how to avoid those crisises.

Meaghan Anne Williams
Teaching Assistant, Queen's University, Canada
Meaghan Anne Williams

The networking opportunity is incredible and it’s very encouraging to meet young people from all over the world who are interested to talk in same kinds of issues, answering the same kinds of problems, working together, collaborating. Not just making new friends but hopefully making new peers, colleagues to work in these issues in future.

The conference has been incredible for learning more about what the academic world can do to facilitate change in the real world. Sometimes academia is so theoretical that you lose sight of what is actually going on. But this conference has proved that there are a number of individual academics working to harmonize that view.

Melina Djulancic
J.D. Candidate, University of Manitoba, Canada
Melina Djulancic

It is the nice opportunity to get together with the young people from around the world. For me it’s important that people discussing their ideas. Our group was concentrating on the young entrepreneurships and all important things around this field. Basically entrepreneurship in schools is one of our recommendations and easier access to capital for businesses.

Abraham Johannes Swanepoel
Student, North-West University, South Africa
Abraham Johannes Swanepoel

Thinking that we are the future leaders of tomorrow G20 Youth Forum gives as an opportunity to start to get used to discuss things, used to live in them and exchanging points of view with other people.

I think it is awesome opportunity just to meet other people, get up different points of view from different countries. As I’m from South Africa and we are still developing country to get point of views that is from developed countries. It gives me lot of knowledge that you can take back to your country and try to employ it in your country system.

Aya Fujita
Student, University of Tsukuba, Japan
Aya Fujita

G20 Youth Forum is: A lot of people from international society build a partnership, leadership and friendship.

I got a lot of intellectual involvements, we discussed about health care, child care and women empowerment. Each country has different background and situation; it’s very great to know about what country has the same and which are different.

Fei Yang Qi
MA Student, University of Birmingham, UK
Fei Yang Qi

The main purpose of G20 Youth Forum is young leaders working together and think about how to push the world by the small steps.

I think there are a lot of benefits in participating in G20 Youth Forum, for example team work variety, especially to make others think about your points and change your views in discussions.

Floris Busscher
Student, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Floris Busscher

I think the main purpose at our level – at a Youth Summits and at a Conference, is to bring together young people with ideas, with creativities and with innovations. To bring together, to exchange ideas and maybe together come to enhance ideas to create a synergy between the creativity of young people. Opportunities is to meet always amazing young people which enhance your network in international level and also to be inspired by people from other countries and to increase and enhance your own prospective, how you see things in a multinational way with different cultures and different political system influencing its positions.

The most interesting moment is an Opening Ceremony – lovely discussion between people from all different kinds of fields, from different countries who exchange ideas on education which is of course the kind of thing that applies to all of us. So to see it and try to feel the G20 spirit on the ceremony was the highlight.

Italo Ribeiro Alves
Student, President of the International Business Society, Quinnipiac University, Brazil
Italo Ribeiro Alves

One on my career paths that I have been potentially exploring will be diplomacy. I believe that dialoging with young people from all other the world I can practice my cultural and communicational skills and learn how to debate and understand the social issues.

Lindsay Ann Markle
Student, Purdue University, USA
Lindsay Ann Markle

The purpose of the Forum is to exchange ideas between other countries. It’s such a unique opportunity because everyone here comes with an open mind and it’s really interesting learn about other cultures. It’s really a unique experience – I’m really glad I came here.

I expected to hear different prospectives about government’s role and society and it met my expectations.

Megan Eleri David
Student, Cardiff University, UK
Megan Eleri David

The main purpose of G20 Youth Forum is sort of empowering young people to feel like they can make a change.

I was a moderator on my committee. And I’m very proud of the document which we were working on. I had a team who I’m really excited about. We have three main ideas on our recommendation: one about child care, one about women’s empowerment in work places with an education and one about social security in developing countries.

Stefan Vasilev
Student, Wageningen University, Netherlands
Stefan Vasilev

Definitely the main purpose is to communicate with a lot of people, to exchange ideas with the experts in your field, and also to send a message about our ideas.

Governments always appreciate opinions from young people who are thinking out of the box. I hope they will appreciate our recommendations too.

Victoria Pilbeam
Student, Australian National University
Victoria Pilbeam

I think it’s really great to bring a lot of young people together to talk about important issues. It’s always a good idea. Mostly it's important to meet amazing people who really like to be engaged and are really passionate about different issues.

We looked on the questions: young women’s’ careers and family. We made some pretty concrete recommendations.

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