With international travel banned for another year, how can young Australians continue to navigate shifting diplomatic relationships in the region, create meaningful engagement online, and empower the next generation to establish life-long connections with Asia?

Where 2020 was about survival, in 2021 we are emerging under new rules of engagement; rebuilding, reconnecting, and reimagining the way we work, socialise, and engage internationally. While some uncertainty remains, our new hybrid digital / in-person reality is here to stay – a new context we have no choice but to embrace if we are to thrive in a post-pandemic world.

While digital literacy is on an incline globally with young people leading the charge, Asia literacy is quickly moving in the opposite direction, risking not only future opportunities for deep and personal ties to the region but Australia’s place as a regional economic, trade and security partner in Asia. This decline in Asia competency coupled with fallout from an ongoing global pandemic means we must look to and empower the organisations actively working with counterparts in the region as a blueprint for how to succeed in this new and constantly evolving environment.

At our inaugural forum last year, we explored how Asia-engaged youth are keeping connected through COVID-19. At year two of this global shift, join us on UN International Youth Day as we reconvene young leaders for a half-day forum unpacking how we can work within these parameters to reshape our Asia engagement, “level up” our digital engagement, and foster deep and long-lasting connections to the region.

Watch now for a limited time.

Date: Thursday 12 August 2021, UN International Youth Day
Time: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. AEST

This event is free and open to the public. Registration is essential. For further enquiries contact: [email protected].