World Student Community for Sustainable Development

The WSC-SD today launches its e-book ‘RE:SOLUTIONS – 21 Young Leaders on Climate Change’ during the Copenhagen Climate Summit.This publication showcases a selection of 20 innovative student-led projects on climate change.

From a solar-powered open air cinema, to a sustainable business game or reforestation projects, all initiatives show that students worldwide are taking the lead and providing solutions to tackle climate change.

With this publication, we hope to inspire thought-leaders in business, academia and civil society to acknowledge and support student initiatives that have successfully addressed the issue of climate change.

“This eBook is not only about climate change. It’s about solutions, about students taking the lead.”

Students are not only the leaders for tomorrow – they are especially to be taken seriously today. In this eBook we show that students not only care and talk, they actually take the lead in developing innovations and they reach tangible results, thereby inspiring other people in their local community, or even around the world, to do the same.

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Today we are pleased to announce that the AGS-UTSC is hosting a student-based workshop in the AGS-AM 2010 in Tokyo. The AGS-AM is an annual meeting of the AGS member schools that include Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Chalmers University of Technology and University of Tokyo. The AGS-AM 2010 Student Project is a student-based initiative for motivated and foresighted students in sustainability fields of study from the world community. The theme of the Student Project is “Growing Asian Cities: Structuring Sustainability Problems.” Our activities include lectures, group work, presentation and field trip. We are especially focusing on sustainability problems in the Asian context, as Asia is one of the most important regions for the world’s development in the 21st century.

Please find more detail in our website: http://ags-utsc.org/AM2010-Tokyo/english/index.html

If you are interested and willing to participate in the Student Project, please fill the application form attached and send it to agsam2010application@gmail.com by January 22nd, 2010.

If you have any questions, please email to am2010tokyostudentproject@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to your application!

Yoshimasa Takahashi
The Outreach Director of the AGS-AM 2010 Student Project

The University of Tokyo Energy Club g-Enesis is one of working groups of SUS+. Our activities aim to consider sustainable energy use from international and interdisciplinary view. Sustainable energy use has a critical meaning when we think of sustainable society because current energy use based on fossil fuel not only causes climate change problems but also decreases the reserves of energy sources. We have three main activities to contribute to sustainable energy use: (1)Study Seminars, (2)International Exchanges (e.g. MIT Energy Conference) and (3) Policy Proposals (e.g. eco japan cup 2009).
Here we would like to introduce eco japan cup 2009, which is the contest related to environmental policy and business and hosted by Japanese government and companies. In July 2009, we decided to join the policy contest of eco japan cup 2009 and organized a project team which consisted of two Japanese students and four exchange students. Through the discussions in summer vacation for three months, we made three proposals to submit to the contest: (1)Matching project to spread solar panels in regional areas, (2)Weekend day light saving and (3)Green knowledge broker. As a result, first proposal won the excellent prize in the contest. The proposal aimed to increase the number of solar panels in Japan. It was very up-to-date in Japanese society because the government announced the high reduction target (25% by 2020) while Japan faced a serious depression. Increasing solar panels was expected to overcome both problems at the same time (called Green New Deal Policy). After the announcement of the prize, we attended the awards ceremony and made a presentation in eco products 2009 which is one of the biggest environmental exhibitions in Japan.
Through the participation in eco japan cup 2009, we could show that students from different countries and disciplines can cooperate toward the common goal and make some achievements. Since international and interdisciplinary cooperation is the key factor to realize sustainable society, our experience there seemed to be meaningful. Also, through the contest, we could make new networks with researchers, business persons and policy makers who have the same vision with our club. Making use of this opportunity, we would like to seek for the possibility of collaboration beyond sectors such as the university, company and government.
In next March, four members of our club will join MIT Energy Conference 2010 to get newer information about energy business and technology. We hope that our club can keep expanding our activities and contribute to realize sustainable energy use.

The 1st African Youth Summit on Climate Change is organized by African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC) to serve as an appropriate avenue where African youth can come together and discuss issues relating to various topics on climate change including the role of youth in adaptation and mitigation projects, public awareness and participation, biodiversity and active participation in UNFCCC negotiations. The Summit is open to young people from all over Africa interested and involved in initiatives aimed to tackle climate change and ensure sustainability. It will consist of informative sessions and skills-building workshops on climate change issues ranging from scientific knowledge to effective political advocacy.

This is the online link to apply or use the application form in word.doc format (application package of English, Kenyan and French docs is attached in ZIP format):

http://www.climatechange.ayicc.net/?p=20

The deadline to apply is July 30, 2010. Visit their website for more information.

Universities  all over the world are not doing enough in order to help
society to cope with the challenges posed by climate change. This is one of the findings of the “World Climate Change Survey”, a research initiative aimed at identifying  the general level of awareness of and needs of university students about climate change in university
programmes worldwide. Undertaken by the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany as part of the International Climate Change Information Programme (ICCIP)
the survey was targeted to university students so that first-hand information on current practice  could be gathered and reality-based suggestions could be made to address any identified problems or needs.
The results of the survey are presented as the first chapter of the newly-launched book “Universities and Climate Change” published by Springer.

The survey also points out a number of information and communication needs that exist and that should be met in order to allow a better integration of climate-related issues in the university curriculum across
the world. Details on the survey and the results gathered can be seen at: http://survey.climateonline.net/

18 – 28 August 2010, Frankfurt, Bonn and Berlin, Germany

Apply for a group tour and conference in Germany, the “ESD Forum“, focusing on Global Warming.
Tour and conference will take place in Frankfurt, Bonn and Berlin, including visits of the United Nations and German Parliament, and final presentations at Free University Berlin.
Find more information and apply here, “first come, first selected” until 15 July 2010, at www.iuventum.org.
Please forward this to universities, professors and students.

A project initiated “by youth for youth” to sustainably develop a community through youth employment and delivering skills, information and education to the youth.

Youth in Sustainable Development Project
Workcamp2010, Rivan, Nepal
“Youth in Sustainable Development” is a joint project of USSHA Foundation and IDEM – Identity through Initiative.

Our aim is to enable sustainable development focusing on rural areas of Nepal. This development is lead by the local youth. We work in partnership with them to further their future possibilities and visions in their communities. The Project is organized by a group of young students from Nepal, Germany and Switzerland.

This summer:

1. We will build up a micro hydro-electric power plant (5-8KW) in order to supply the community Resource Centre (CRC) in Rivan with a permanent source of electricity.
2. We want to strengthen the partnership between USSHA Foundation and the IDEM Network and also the Youth in Rivan conducting 3 days networking workshop.
3. We will organize trainings in (i) Biodynamic farming and (ii) Trout Fish farming.
4. We will further equip the center to start computer classes and internet uses to guarantee its full working potential.

• When: Wed, August 25, 2010, 12am – Fri, October 1, 2010, 12am GMT+05:45
• Where: Kathmandu-Rivan-Pokhara, Nepal
• Who: (Guest list has been hidden at organizer’s request)

We seek financial, technical and human resource support for the project. If you are interested we can send you the detailed proposal of the project.

For details of the project visit the following link: http://www.idem-network.org/ (Nepal Network IDEM page)

Workcamp2010-Flyer (PDF)

Participants of the Youth Initiative Program (YIP) in Ytterjärna, Sweden, are holding a space for the growing international community to meet with this inspiring local community in action, this June 15-20. These 5 days of summer celebrations will be all about thinking globally and acting locally. It is hosted at YIP, in the beautiful and natural home of this inspired new form of education, which is effectively providing a platform for the empowerment of youth initiative.

With this area being known for its innovative culture of sustainability and community living, the opportunity is to co-create an event whereby both spheres of community can engage in grounded action through consciously designed and meaningful learning spaces and activities, in celebration of this One Year of Making Sense.

This is a festival of learning, a new form of meeting that allows you to share in the essence of YIP and its network, and really meet your hosts – 38 emerging change-makers who embody a unique quality of youth empowerment. Being immersed in an intensive training of how to make positive social change in the world, they are inspired to share their learning with you, and to open the space of Sense Festival to your dreams and aspirations.

We aim to provide you with a powerful source of connection and celebration this summer.

The PURPOSE of Sense Festival is:

to inspire you towards a new cultural movement, where diversity, wholeness, consciousness and empowerment come alive in community.

The OPPORTUNITY of Sense Festival is:

to connect and engage with you in a collaborative learning environment, providing inspiration and encouragement through collective community action.

text Nathan Daniel Heller
photo Mathias Bolt-Lesniak

Sense Festival opens for registration 1 May. For more info please visit sensefestival.se