Why do you want to participate?

My aspiration to participate in the International Youth Freedom Conference stems from an academic and professional trajectory dedicated to understanding freedom through cultural preservation, cross-border dialogue, and institutional action. As a Global Arts, Culture, and Politics student at the University of Amsterdam, I've systematically explored how cultural narratives both enable and restrict fundamental freedoms - a thematic throughline evident in my research on Anduo weaving techniques preservation, Hanfu cultural symbolism, and barriers to Chinese cultural diplomacy through Association Mugua in France. This conference's focus on creating the Treaty of Middelburg directly aligns with my demonstrated commitment to transforming theoretical understandings of freedom into actionable frameworks for intercultural cooperation.

What does freedom mean to you?

To me, freedom constitutes the infrastructure for authentic cultural exchange - a dynamic process requiring both institutional safeguards and individual agency. This conviction crystallized during my ethnographic research at a Dutch international market, where I documented how food traditions serve as vehicles for migrant communities to assert cultural identity while negotiating assimilation pressures. The tension between preservation and adaptation I observed mirrors broader global challenges in maintaining cultural freedoms amidst homogenizing forces. My work as Cultural Exchange Ambassador at UvA further reinforced this perspective, particularly when co-designing the 2024 EDI Festival to create inclusive spaces for minority cultural expressions within academic institutions.

What are the biggest challenges?

Young people today face paradoxical challenges in exercising cultural freedoms within increasingly polarized digital landscapes. While social media enables unprecedented cultural dissemination, my content creation work at CCD-NL revealed how algorithmic curation often reduces complex traditions to aestheticized fragments. This digital reductionism - evident when promoting Chinese tea culture to Dutch audiences - risks creating cultural mirages that satisfy surface-level curiosity without fostering substantive understanding. Simultaneously, geopolitical tensions weaponize cultural narratives, as observed in my Sciences Po research on European identity politics. The resulting dichotomy forces young cultural practitioners to navigate between oversimplification and ideological co-option. My qualifications to address these challenges are grounded in multidisciplinary practice. Coordinating embassy visits with SIB Amsterdam's UN Student Association honed my skills in facilitating intercultural dialogue among policymakers. Leading peace-building initiatives at IYCPF taught me to mediate competing narratives in contentious spaces. As NAHSS instructor teaching Dutch students about Chinese philosophy through Hanfu design principles, I developed pedagogical techniques for making abstract freedom concepts culturally tangible. These experiences culminate in a unique ability to translate between academic theories, policy frameworks, and grassroots cultural realities. The conference's emphasis on creating enduring freedom frameworks particularly resonates with my Big History analysis of Hanfu's evolution. By examining how this garment survived dynastic collapses and cultural revolutions through adaptive reinvention, I identified key principles for sustainable cultural freedom: institutional memory preservation coupled with progressive reinterpretation. This historical perspective could enrich the Treaty of Middelburg by ensuring proposed solutions balance preservation with necessary evolution. Participating in this conference would enable me to synthesize my academic research, professional experiences, and technical skills into actionable contributions for global freedom advocacy. As someone who has operated at the intersection of cultural institutions (CCD-NL), diplomatic channels (Bolivian Embassy), and digital innovation (cloud exhibitions), I offer pragmatic insights into implementing theoretical freedom frameworks. Moreover, my current role mentoring UvA students from diverse backgrounds has refined my ability to foster inclusive dialogues - a crucial skill for collaborative document drafting like the Treaty. In conclusion, I approach this opportunity not as a passive observer but as an engaged practitioner prepared to bridge cultural divides through evidence-based strategies. The 80 Years of Freedom Foundation's mission to make freedom "tangible and experiential" directly aligns with my career-long commitment to operationalizing abstract concepts through cultural practice. By contributing my expertise in digital heritage preservation, cross-cultural pedagogy, and institutional-community mediation, I aim to help craft freedom frameworks that are both philosophically robust and practically implementable across cultural contexts.

Do you have a message?

Central to my professional ethos is the belief that technological innovation must serve cultural freedom rather than erode it. This principle guided my development of a cloud exhibition for Anduo weaving techniques - an intangible heritage threatened by modernization. By digitizing these textile narratives without diminishing their cultural essence, the project demonstrated how digital tools can expand access while respecting traditional knowledge systems. Similarly, my award-winning short video on tea culture preservation employed immersive storytelling to bridge generational divides in cultural transmission. These experiences position me to contribute meaningfully to discussions about safeguarding cultural freedoms through 21st-century mediums.