YICMG 2021 contestants seeks solutions to social issues with the help of the Internet.
The Final of Youth Innovation Competition on Lancang-Mekong Region’s Governance and Development (YICMG) 2021 was held online via the “Lancang-Mekong Youth Online” platform from July 7 to July 9. Nearly 200 students from 8 universities in 6 Lancang-Mekong countries participated in the Competition, with 51 contestants from 17 teams entering the final. The theme of this year is “The Internet and Social Life”.
How to make better use of the Internet to improve people’s lives and regional governance? This year, young people from the six countries put forward diversified and innovative solutions to urgent issues in our societies.
“We have been concerned about environmental protection in agricultural production. We have noticed that paper made from straw and bags made from shrimp shells are environment-friendly and cost-efficient, so we are trying to promote such products through the Internet.” Three students from the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam wanted to take advantage of the power of the Internet to create a win-win situation for farmers and the environment, presenting their ideas in detail, from market research to medium and long-term strategies, and to user testing and the prospect of their project.
There were in fact a lot more of such innovative projects demonstrating humanity and social responsibility in the final of YICMG 2021. Three students from Prince Songkha University in Thailand paid close attention to the need of employment in elderly people. Their project, named “Young Old Expertise Exchanger”, is a platform to help elderly people find suitable jobs using the Internet. “I-Refill”, a project by students from the National University of Laos, tackles plastic pollution by creating a bottle for unlimited times of use.
In the three-day final, the contestants elaborated on their designs and execution, and regrouped themselves with students from other countries and universities. In the face-to-face discussion session “Mekong Café”, experts communicated with the participating teams, brainstorming with the contestants and passing on expertise to help improve the projects.
Initiated by students from School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University five years ago, YICMG, aligning itself with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and focusing on the common needs across the region through youth exchanges, has been committed to improving youth innovation and entrepreneurship and inspiring outstanding youth to promote regional sustainable development.
The initiation of YICMG was supported by the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation China Secretariat, China’s Ministry of Education and the governments of Shanghai, Qinghai and Guangxi. Prominent universities in China and five countries along the Mekong River, namely Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam take turns to host the Competiton. This year YICMG 2021 is hosted by Lancang-Mekong Youth Exchange and Cooperation Center, Fudan University, Prince of Songkla University, Shanghai International Cultural Association, the People’s Government of Yushu Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province and Shanghai Kingswel Group Co. Ltd., and organized by School of International Relations and Public Affairs of Fudan University, the Fudan-Guangxi Maritime Silk Road Research Institute and Yushu Kingswel Ltd.
At the closing ceremony, Vice-Chair of Fudan University Council Yin Dongmei made the remark: “On the stage of YICMG, young people of the six countries transcend geographical boundaries, pooling their wisdom, insight and global vision to shoulder the responsibility of regional development, which reflects the profound friendship among the six neighbors, as the saying goes, shared river, shared future.”
With such friendship, universities of the six countries co-established the Lancang-Mekong Youth Exchange and Cooperation Center. The achievements of the Center has been acknowledged by heads of states through The Vientiane Declaration issued at the Third Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting in August 2020. To keep up with the times, the Center launched “Lancang-Mekong Youth Online”, a platform facilitating online learning, online communication and event management to step up youth exchanges among the six countries.
With the curtains closed for this year’s YICMG, the YICMG expert committee announced the theme for the next year, which is “Public Health and Medical Care”, another highly relevant theme of the times. We look forward to seeingmore young students in the Lancang-Mekong River Region put their ideas into practice through the Competition this year.
Source: School of International Relations and Public Affairs
