Belize Creative Youth Summit Blends Culture and Innovation  

On Thursday, the National Celebrations Commission hosted its annual Creative Youth Summit. This forum underscored the importance of Belize’s cultural heritage, while inspiring youths to engage in challenges that employ critical thinking skills. This year, the theme focused on the ever-evolving technological landscape, encouraging participants to explore how they can contribute to sustainable development, generate economic opportunities, and enhance cultural understanding through innovation and collaboration. Here’s News Five’s Britney Gordon with the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

How do we blend culture and innovation? That is the big question underscored at the 2024 Creative Youth Summit. Since 2021, the National Celebration Commission has gathered youths from all over the country to share ideas and voice their opinions on the challenges they and their peers are facing in Belize. Minister of Education and Culture, Francis Fonseca tells us that creating spaces for young people to join the conversation is vital for creating solutions to the problems that affect everyone.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education & Culture

“We all felt that we needed to include a space. For our youth to engage in dialogue about your priorities,  right? About your concerns, about your interest. Too often people like me and the CEO too often we’re the ones making decisions and setting the agenda and deciding what will be discussed and what will not be discussed.  And it’s important for us, people like us in leadership positions, to always remember that we need to listen to others. We need to respect the views and opinions of others, especially our young people, especially our young people. We need to hear from you.’

 

The theme: Innovation and Culture, was selected by the participants. The first group sought to answer the question how can we leverage traditional knowledge and cultural practices to drive sustainable development? The presenters highlighted the challenge of connecting with their cultural identity while being heavily influenced by other western media sources.

 

Presenter 1

“We weren’t necessarily taught, we weren’t always taught to Oh, you’re this, you’re that you’re Belizean. That’s what they tell us. We weren’t necessarily taught, okay, you’re part Indian, you’re part Guatemalan, you’re part this, you’re part that, you’re Belizean, right? So with that, we never really got a full explanation of what it is. Of what we are. So that way we were fully influenced by the nor guys. United States we’re influenced by the United States with all the TikTok, the social media. We’re looking at their methods instead of focusing on how we do it here, we’re not looking at our identity. We’re far off. We’re accumulating something that is not ours. We’re not paying attention. We’re not focusing on our identities. So with that, if Belizeans would focus on Belizeans instead of focusing on the United States, that way we can support small businesses, support our community and build the economy with all this.”

 

The second group sought to answer how can emerging technologies be harnessed to preserve and promote our tangible cultural heritage? Their reflection focused on solutions such as bridging the technological gap in rural communities and  preserving culture digitally with more initiatives similar to that of the Belize Music Project.

 

Presenter 2

“A major challenge in the digital divide in Belize, where access to technology and the internet is still limited in some rural areas. Many cultural practices are held in these areas, and without technology access, there risks being forgotten. So solve this. We could focus on providing technological infrastructure and training in these regions. Another solution could be working with cultural organizations to create digital archives of Belizean cultural practices, ensuring that they are documented and preserved for future generations. So we could use digital archiving by having  scanning technologies to preserve cultural artifacts, historical buildings, and heritage sites in digital form to future generations.”

 

The third group answered what new strategies can we develop to engage with Belize’s culture sector? In these presentations, they unscored the theme of providing youths opportunities to engage in and lead the charge in revolutionizing the way others engage in Belize’s rich and diverse culture. The final group tackled the question, what role can online platforms play in promoting cultural diplomacy, exchange, and global understanding? They suggested that creating more cultural campaigns highlighting cultural events, outsiders may be encouraged to participate. Francis concluded by reminding the participants of the impact they have on their own futures and the county’s at large.

 

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education & Culture

“So for me, my young friends, you, our young people represent the hope of Belize, right?  You are the energy, right? You don’t look too energetic right now, but you’re the energy, right? I want to see some more energy out of you today, right? You are the energy; you are the creative.  You are the optimism that our nation needs to grow and develop.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.