Future Society — A GCI Co-hosted Event in Eye, Amsterdam

Published on 19.10.2019

3NTRY China organised, in partnership with the Groningen Confucius Institute, the City of Amsterdam and the Amsterdam Trade and Innovate Organisation, an international event titled Future Society at the Eye Film Museum, Amsterdam's iconic piece of contemporary architecture, on 19 October from 12:30 to 17:00.

The opening speech by the Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands, Mr Xu Hong, underlined the importance of joining efforts for collective peace and security, promoting international cooperationas well as enhancing mutual understanding and exchanges,which are three key strategies to create a better, open and free societyin the future.

Mr Hong Xu, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands,during his opening speech

In the Keep the Dialogue Going section, Xuefei Knoester Cao, director of the Groningen Confucius Institute and Yufang Guo from Jomec Business & Legal Consulting encouraged people to get to know the ‘real’ China, calling on the power of dialogue without bias or hypocrisy.

Xuefei Knoester Cao, director of the Groningen Confucius Institute, giving her speech

A panel discussion followed on the economic and cultural benefits of the night-time economy. Panellists Lutz Leichsenring from the Berlin Club Commission & Vibe Lab, Rainbow Gao from 3NTRY China, Ramon de Lima, chairman of the Night Mayor Foundation of Amsterdam and Merlijn Poolman, the Night Mayor of Groningen discussed the current situation and development processes of the night-time economy in Germany, the Netherlands and China.The panel discussion then exchanged ideas on how to create a flourishing night-time economy in China.

Panellists discussing the economic and cultural benefits of the night-time economy
(From left to right : Merlijn Poolman, Lutz Leichsenring, Ramon de Lima, Rainbow Gao )

In the next group of speakers, Shurong He from Hello Global shared what his company aims to achieve in the future society. Michiel Roosjen from Creative Lab China (Creative Holland) explained what the organisation has accomplished so far and introduced their new focus for the future. Northern Light director Peter Slavenburg explained the idea behind designing a swing ride on the rooftop of the A’DAM Tower building: to demonstrate that real and tangible experiences are needed in the digital world.

The next discussion centered around the architectural trends and key social values that will shape the city of the future.Panellists Huang Huijing from the Guangzhou Design Institute, Sasha Stolp, director of innovation at the City of Amsterdam, and Ton Venhoeven, principal architect of Venhoeven CS architecture+urbanism described characteristic architectural styles from their respective countries and brain stormedon what future cities could be like in 40 years.

In the last presentation, Professor Basile Zimmermann, senior lecturer at the University of Geneva, talked about the art of DJing in China, after which Anti-General, the winner of the 2018 Tencent competition ‘Rave Now’ explained how he combined different cultural elementsin his music.

Apart from the invigorating talks, the event provided an opportunity for networking and matchmaking between the Chinese design delegation and international companies,and a calligraphy workshop organised by the Groningen Confucius Institute. This created a platform for Dutch and international companies and organisations to seek potential future partners among the Chinese organisations, and for all workshop participants to get a taste of Chinese culture through calligraphy.

Matchmaking session between members of the Chinese design delegation and international companies

GCI teacher Yang Wang,instructor of the calligraphy workshop forparticipants

This successful half-day event,consisting of a China Talks conference, networking, matchmaking and acalligraphy workshop attracted over 150 participants, who exchanged knowledge and inspirational ideas, built new business relationships, and got a taste of Chinese culture during a GCI calligraphy workshop.