Greece’s Secretary General for Greeks Abroad, John Chrysoulakis, held an online meeting with student leaders of Greek societies at universities across Australia.
The meeting was initiated by Mr Chrysoulakis to organise a global network of young people of the Greek diaspora, and to create fertile ground for initiatives and collaborations between the youth and the Greek government.
Over 20 young student leaders participated in the meeting, including representatives from the National Union of Greek Australian Students Victoria (NUGAS), the Combined University Greek Association (CUGA), Monash University Hellenic Student Society, Melbourne University Greek Association, Swinburne University Hellenic Society, Swinburne University Hellenic Society, La Trobe University Greek Society, Deakin University Greek Society, RMIT University Society for Hellenes, Macquarie University Greek Association, University of Technology Sydney (UTS) Hellenic Society, and the Macquarie University Greek Association (MUGA).
Representatives from the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM), the Greek Australian Society, and the Greek Youth Generator also participated in the meeting.
During the meeting, Mr Chrysoulakis highlighted the significance of Hellenism in Australia and underlined that the Greek diaspora is one of the most active outside of Greece.
Mr Chrysoulakis also referred to the initiatives of the General Secretariat for Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy for the promotion of the Greek language, such as the educational platform for children staellinika.com.
The Greek Secretary General also gave a detailed description of the government’s Study in Greece program, and encouraged students to look into the possibility of voting in the upcoming Greek elections in 2023.
For their part, the student leaders thanked Mr Chrysoulakis for initiating the meeting. They also gave detailed explanations of various actions being undertaken by their respective university societies to promote the Greek culture and language in Australia.
Areas of cooperation between the societies and with the General Secretariat for Hellenism Abroad and Public Diplomacy were also discussed. Particular emphasis was placed on the collaboration possibilities provided by the utilisation of technology.
