齊聚全球五大洲、26國青年的國際盛會「2019全球青年趨勢論壇」11月5日至11日在臺灣熱鬧展開，已連續辦理7年的全球青年趨勢論壇，今年與會國家及青年數再創新高，包括來自馬來西亞、不丹、汶萊、加拿大、德國、瓜地馬拉、印尼、愛爾蘭、以色列、日本、肯亞、韓國、澳大利亞、尼泊爾、紐西蘭、巴拉圭、菲律賓、波蘭、俄羅斯、斯洛伐克、瑞典、泰國、英國、美國、越南的逾百位青年都共襄盛舉，其中馬來西亞代表團係由Raub Youth Culture & Arts Center推薦來自The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus、National University of Malaysia、Universiti Putra Malaysia及Northern University Malaysia等校的4位青年(Shuo-Ze Mah, Ai Lee Hoon, Kah Yee Yap, Zhen Da Lee)都對於此次訪臺交流表示滿載而歸。
本次論壇聚焦三大議題「教育創新」、「地方創生」、「智慧生活」，並帶領馬來西亞代表團青年走訪臺南、彰化、新竹及桃園等地，首先參觀地方創生案例─土溝農村美術館，打破美術館既定印象的土溝農村美術館，讓馬來西亞青年們第一站就大飽眼福、流連忘返，而後參訪入圍天下「教育創新100」的奇美博物館，還有富含蚵農文化的彰化芳苑青年壯遊點，並製作個人獨一無二的蚵殼藝術，接著又來到結合東方人文及生態的道禾實驗教育學校，以及智慧生活代表─祥儀機器人夢工廠，運用簡易傳動機械DIY實作機器人，豐富多元的行程讓馬來西亞青年們深入瞭解臺灣的地方生態、文化古蹟、科技創新，更讓馬來西亞與其他25國青年在參訪期間都激盪出繽紛火花和跨國情誼。
「2019全球青年趨勢論壇」壓軸好戲則是11月9日至10日登場的論壇會議，由中華民國陳副總統建仁博士開幕並勉勵在場青年以「能為社會貢獻什麼？」為初衷，盡情發揮創意、擴散青年影響力。論壇邀請入選美國《外交政策》（Foreign Policy）期刊「2019全球百大思想家（Global thinkers）」的行政院唐鳳政務委員擔任專題座談主持人，與來自肯亞的智慧環保能源公司Brightgreen創辦人Chebet Lesan、日本社會企業RidiLover創辦人安部敏樹先生以及臺灣顧問企劃公司Plan b共同創辦人游適任先生等3位與談人，進行專題座談會，透過他們豐富的實務經驗，提供各國青年結合論壇三大議題，實踐聯合國永續發展目標(SDGs)的成功典範。
在議題分組討論部分，馬來西亞代表團針對智慧生活議題，藉由案例分析及不同角度探討當前國家面臨的問題，並提出行動方案，隨著馬來西亞人口的增加，城市的壅塞、汙染及資源浪費成為現在馬國青年必須正視的問題，他們提出在交通規劃時就利用ICT(資訊與通信科技，Information and Communication Technology)及IoT(物聯網，Internet of Things)的概念創造智慧城市，一步步改善城市交通問題讓居住環境越來越美好。出色的方案內容，更讓馬來西亞代表團在論壇第二日的行動方案票選活動中，獲得智慧生活議題的最高票。
各國青年們在經歷了會議兩日的腦力激盪，所迸發出的智慧火花和創意交流都相當令人驚喜，為了讓國際青年增進彼此情誼，在活動的尾聲「文化之夜」，馬來西亞代表團青年更使出渾身解數，帶來精彩萬分的馬來西亞民族舞蹈演出，讓人宛如置身在臺版世界博覽會，歡騰的樂聲與輕快的腳步，讓全場為之沸騰，在座的所有貴賓、青年無不跟著起舞。
當今全球化趨勢下，各國青年在公共參與、國際交流方面的互動也變得越來越頻繁。本屆論壇與交流並未結束而是開始，國際議題有賴青年長久關注，並透過思考、溝通、執行，為未來全球的正向改變共同努力。中華民國教育部亦將持續積極促進青年跨國交流，透過推動海外志工、壯遊體驗學習、國際會議及研習交流等多元管道，提供青年更多國際參與的機會，灑下國際情誼的種子，並培養青年國際視野及強化國際事務知能與行動力。
2019 Global Youth Trends Forum - Malaysian Youths in Taiwan!
Youths from 26 Countries Talk about the Future
With global youths from 26 countries across five continents gathering together, the 2019 Global Youth Trends Forum was held in Taiwan from November 5 to 11. This international event has been held for seven consecutive years so far. This year, the numbers of participating countries and young people both hit a new high. Several hundreds of young people from Australia, Bhutan, Brunei, Canada, Germany, Guatemala, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Kenya, South Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, New Zealand, Paraguay, the Philippines, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam came to participate in the event. Among them, the Malaysia delegation formed by four students from The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus, National University of Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Northern University Malaysia which are recommended by Raub Youth Culture & Arts Center—Shuo-Ze Mah, Ai Lee Hoon, Kah Yee Yap, Zhen Da Lee, all expressed full satisfaction for this exchange visit to Taiwan and they would return to Malaysia with fruitful results.
This year’s forum focused on three topics: Educational Creativity, Regional Revitalization, and Smart Living. The Malaysia delegation was led to visit Tainan, Changhua, Hsinchu, Taoyuan and other places. The first spot was a case of Regional Revitalization—Togo Rural Village Art Museum, a non-traditional museum that wowed the Malaysian youths in the very beginning. Then, they visited some other brilliant spots, including Chimei Museum, which was on Parenting Magazine’s Thinking BIG of Learning Top 100 list in 2018, Youth Travel Spot in Fangyuan Township of Changhua County to experience the oyster culture and the unique oyster shell art, Natural Way Experimental Educational Elementary School that combines oriental humanities and ecology, and Sha Yang Ye Robot Wonderland (Pavilion of Future), the representative of Smart Living, to DIY a robot with simple mechanical transmission devices. Through the rich and diversified activity arrangement, these Malaysian young people obtained a further understanding of the local ecology, cultural heritage, scientific and technological innovation of Taiwan, and they also sparked ideas and gained cross-border friendships during the visit.
The highlight of the 2019 Global Youth Trends Forum was the forum conference on November 9 to 10. Vice President Chen Chien-jen made the opening ceremony speech, encouraging the young people present to give full play to their creativity and exert their influence with the original intention of “what we can contribute to society.” Audrey Tang, Minister without Portfolio of Executive Yuan, who was selected as one of the Top 100 Global Thinkers in 2019 by American Foreign Policy Magazine, was invited to serve as the panel host. In the panel discussion, Ms. Tang and three other guests, Chebet Lesan, founder of Kenyan smart-energy company Brightgreen Renewable Energy in, Toshiki Abe, founder and CEO of Japanese social enterprise Ridilover, and Justin Yu, co-founder of Taiwanese consulting company Plan b, shared their rich practical experiences, serving as successful models for the global youths present on how to integrate the forum’s three topics to practice the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of SDGs.
For the group discussion, the Malaysia delegation focused on the topic of Smart Living. They used case studies to explore the current problems faced by the country from different perspectives, and proposed an action plan. With the increasing population in Malaysia, major cities has started to face pain points such as congestion, pollution and inefficient deployment or urban services. They offered to integrate the ideas of ICT (Information and Communication Technology) and IoT (Internet of Things) to approach to urban management and improve the quality of life step by step. The outstanding action plan made the Malaysia Delegation won the championship in the issue of Smart Living in the second day of forum.
After two days of brainstorming, these young people from all over the world had contributed to the sparks of wisdom and creative exchanges. At the end of the forum, the Cultural Night was held to enhance the friendship between these global youths. The Malaysia Delegation made every effort to present outstanding traditional Malaysian dance performance, bringing a World Expo vibe to the audience. With their joyful music and brisk steps, all the distinguished guests and participating young people could not resist but to feel excited and tap along.
In today’s globalization trend, global youths have interacted more frequently in public participation and international exchange. This year’s forum is not the end but the beginning. International issues depend on young people’s long-term attention. They can only be improved and solved by global youths through continuous thinking, communication, and implementation with a common intention of bringing a positive change to the world. The Ministry of Education of Taiwan government also will continue to actively promote the cross-border exchange of young people. Through diversified channels such as overseas volunteer services, international experiential learning, international conferences, and exchange and study, Taiwanese youth are provided with more opportunities to participate in the international community, sow seeds of international friendship, cultivate an international vision, and strengthen the knowledge and action in international affairs.
Feel like to jointly build an ideal blueprint for our generations with young people from all over the world? If you want to know the most updated information of the Global Youth Trends Forum and international exchanges, you must not miss next year’s Global Youth Trends Forum! For more information regarding the event, please visit the official website of Youth Development Administration of the Ministry of Education (http://www.yda.gov.tw) and the Global Youth Trends Forum (https://iyouth.youthhub.tw/2019ypp/tw/index/index.html).