AIT to Hold a Regional Youth Camp Featuring Social Innovation

PR-1532E | Date: 07/23/2015

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) will hold a regional youth camp at National Cheng Kung University from July 24 to 26, 2015. 

The three-day program will bring 50 university students from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau together to discuss innovative solutions to social challenges and other related issues such as social enterprise development, innovation in public spaces, and empowerment.

The camp is part of AIT’s ongoing engagement with youth in Taiwan.  Participants will have the opportunity to interact with AIT officers and a broad range of U.S. government exchange program alumni, including the internationally-awarded author of the book Global Cinderellas, Pei Chia Lan; the founder of the Public Design Lab in Hong Kong, Kin Wai Michael Siu; and the founder of Research Center for Globalizing Cities in Taiwan, Li Ling Huang.

AIT is presenting camp activities in partnership with the Tainan City Government and Ten-Drum Cultural Creative Park to introduce students to Tainan’s historical sites and to the Ten-Drum Director to learn about the social enterprise’s founding.  Students will also participate in volunteer activities in the Yin Tung community.

This is the third year that AIT is holding a summer youth camp.  The camp program is free of charge for selected students.  The first AIT camp was held in 2013 with a focus on arts and culture, and the second in 2014 on environmental protection.  The 2015 camp on volunteerism, creativity & innovation, and social inclusion attracted nearly 400 applicants from more than 70 schools in Taiwan.  "We are excited to meet this year’s campers and to join them in engaging in the local community, while also building connections to the world," says AIT Cultural Affairs Officer Alys Spensley.