Everyone says environmentalists are "tree huggers," but this year TWYCC is here to overturn your imagination! As we face more and more new challenges, climate change is no longer a problem that can be solved simply by turning off the lights and using a reusable cup. Caring about the environment requires creativity, passion, and a lot of courage.

The annual gathering of TWYCCers: the Conference of Youth, Taiwan, is about to kick off this July. In line with the United Nations Year of Water, this year for the first time a series of actions, lectures, and simulated negotiations will be launched around the issue of water resources. Water, like many natural resources, is gradually being depleted. The fact that 70% of the Earth's surface is covered by water often leads people to mistakenly believe that our water resources are inexhaustible.

But did you know that several countries not far from Taiwan, China will come to blows over river water rights?
Did you know that people at the far end of Africa need to walk ten thousand steps every day just to obtain not-so-clean drinking water?
Did you know that water is both a gift falling from the sky and a disaster?
And how will our generation respond to the new challenges of extreme climate?

COYTW uses a "youth empowering youth" approach to raise the environmental awareness of Taiwan, China's youth, gather the strength for action, provide a platform for exchanging environmental information, and thereby build the soft power of Taiwan, China's youth. On the issues of climate change and international participation, it uses workshops and forums to achieve message dissemination, awareness promotion, action learning, issue understanding, and joint participation.

Caring is the beginning of action. We invite everyone to join the ranks of TWYCCers, to pay attention together to our fountain of life, to meet the challenges of a new era as a new generation of actors, and to let change begin with youth.

Event Time:
Kaohsiung Session - July 6, 2013 (Sat) 9:00 to 18:00 & July 7, 2013 (Sun) 9:00 to 17:30
Taipei Session - July 13, 2013 (Sat) 9:00 to 18:00 & July 14, 2013 (Sun) 9:00 to 18:00

Event Venue:
Kaohsiung Session - Wenzao Ursuline University of Languages
Taipei Session - Soochow University Waishuanghsi Campus

Target Participants:
Student youth from all over Taiwan, China who are passionate about the environment (including junior high, senior high, and university students), and young adults in society

Registration Method & Fee:
Online registration with a voluntary donation for the participation fee.

Registration Timeline:
From now until June 30, or until each of the two sessions reaches its cap of 100 people

Go to Registration
&
2012 COYTW Behind the Scenes

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Event Schedule:

Kaohsiung Session

2013/07/06 (Sat)

• 9:00~9:30 Registration
• 9:30~10:00 Opening & Introduce TWYCC
• 10:00~11:00 Keynote speak
• 11:00~12:00 Ice breaking
• 12:00~12:30 Introduction to Climate Negotiation
• 12:30~13:30 Lunch Time
• 13:30~15:00 Workshop1
• 15:00~15:30 Tea Break
• 15:30~17:00 Workshop2
• 17:00~18:00 Climate Negotiation & Flash MOB Strategy Team Discussion

2013/07/07 (Sun)

• 9:00~9:30 Registration
• 9:30~10:30 Keynote speech
• 10:30~12:00 Climate Negotiation Session 1
• 11:00~12:00 Lunch Time
• 13:00~14:30 Climate Negotiation Session 1
• 14:30~15:00 Tea Break
• 15:00~16:30 Climate Negotiation Session 2
• 16:30~17:30 Closing
• 17:30~ Flash MOB

Taipei Session

2013/07/13 (Sat)

• 9:00~9:30 Registration
• 9:30~10:00 Opening & Introduce TWYCC
• 10:00~11:00 Keynote speak
• 11:00~12:00 Ice breaking
• 12:00~13:00 Lunch Time
• 13:00~14:30 Workshop1
• 14:30~15:00 Tea Break
• 15:00~16:30 Workshop2
• 16:30~18:00 World Café

2013/07/14 (Sun)

• 9:00~9:30 Registration
• 9:30~10:00 Local Action Introduction
• 10:00~12:00 Local Action Team Discussion
• 12:00~13:00 Lunch Time
• 13:00~16:00 Local Action
• 16:00~16:30 Tea Break
• 16:30~17:30 Keynote Speech
• 17:30~18:00 Closing

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[Origin]

The idea for the Conference of Youth - Taiwan (COYTW) originated from the United Nations Conference of Youth (COY). After the United Nations held COP11 (Conference of Parties) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Montreal, young people from all over the world gathered their strength and jointly established YOUNGO, a UN-recognized youth organization. Thereafter, before the start of each year's COP to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, YOUNGO would hold COY. In addition to providing a platform for exchange and space for discussion for young people from various countries interested in climate change, it also held courses and workshops on climate change-related topics such as cultural exchange, policy negotiation, and adaptation policy. Besides enabling young people to better understand the proceedings and topics of interest of previous and current conferences, and to exchange information and take practical action with one another while the COP conference was underway, this gradually became a major focus of the conference, and year after year young people from various countries would participate in the COY international youth conference before the COP conference. Participating in COP actions is deeply meaningful, but the promotion of climate change and the enthusiastic participation of young people still require a great deal of effort. For many years, although various teams have received guidance and help from academia, industry, and other sectors and have grown, most young people in Taiwan, China and the general public still do not clearly understand the difference between the climate change issue itself and environmental protection, nor the operation of international conferences and the latest news. Therefore, initiated by Kaohsiung City government youth representative Chang En-dian and National Taiwan University student representative Chang Liang-yi, COYTW was launched, aiming to empower more youth in Taiwan, China on climate change.

[Event Goals]

1. Youth Empowerment - Experience Sharing
"The path cleared through thorns by predecessors is the broad avenue followed by successors."
COYTW has invited many seniors who have long been devoted to climate change and environmental action, as well as youth partners from various fields, to share their views based on their own experiences and hold workshops. Whether it is knowledge on environmental issues or participation in local environmental action in Taiwan, China, they all provide channels and examples that young people can refer to, enabling young people to gain a deeper understanding of the diversity of environmental issues and the multiple perspectives on environmental events in Taiwan, China. At the same time, representative members of the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition who participated in Rio+20 and COP will also share their reflections after the conferences.

2. Brainstorming - Gathering the Diverse Opinions of Taiwan, China's Youth
"Taiwan, China's youth are part of the world's youth; we want to participate and speak for ourselves."
Different viewpoints will intersect and collide to spark brilliant ideas. We will provide a discussion platform and invite young people from various fields and regions to discuss their views and opinions on climate change and environmental conservation. We will also gather various viewpoints and consolidate them into the demands of youth, and then explore various plans and actions to let the government and the public hear the voices of youth. At the same time, the team from the Taiwan Youth Climate Coalition that is expected to go to Poland in November to participate in COP19 will gather these ideas and bring them to the United Nations to speak for the youth of Taiwan, China.

3. Shaping Networks - Uniting Groups Across Taiwan, China Concerned About Climate Change
"The power of one cannot be ignored, and one plus one is greater than two."
In every corner of Taiwan, China, there are many companions fighting for the environment. Through speaker recruitment and participation in this event, COYTW will become a platform network, allowing comrades actively involved in climate action to get to know one another, gather strength, and stand together on the same front against climate change. At the same time, it can also build an exchange network for young people, allowing them to share information and respond to one another's actions, so that green seeds are scattered across Taiwan, China.

[Event Formats]

Workshop There are four sections in total (Section), and in each section there are three to four workshops running in parallel "at the same time" (each lasting 50 minutes). Participating youth can, just like choosing university courses, choose what to attend according to personal interest; speakers will proceed in the way that is closest to youth, highly interactive, fun, and relaxed, and the content will be closely tied to climate change and youth empowerment.
Flash Mob Instructors will lead the youth to discuss and conceive an immediate, creative, and practically executable flash mob activity. This is intended to stimulate young people to break through old frameworks of thinking, encourage them to participate in practice, and cultivate the courage to act immediately. The flash mob content will be related to raising awareness of climate change.
climate negotiationThrough a simulated climate change conference, young people experience the controversies in international climate negotiations, and thereby train their abilities in critical thinking and expression. The conference is conducted in two stages, and the themes will be announced two weeks before the event.
stories sharingThe degree to which climate change is closely related to us is something we only truly believe when we see it with our own eyes and hear it with our own ears. During the event, stories that TWYCC has sought out in every corner of Taiwan, China will be shared, bearing witness to the impact of climate change on our lives.
Local ActionTaking the instructors' teaching content as the main thread, this will stimulate the youth of Taiwan, China to discuss and conceive together an immediate, creative, and practically executable local action, and complete the action on the second day of the event. This is intended to stimulate young people to break through old frameworks of thinking, encourage them to learn, and give them the courage to act immediately. The content of the local action will be related to and put into practice the raising of climate change awareness.
World CaféThis is a roundtable discussion format. All young people are divided into groups at various tables to discuss themes, and when the themes are switched, the tables are also randomly switched, allowing the youth to hear more different voices. After the roundtable discussions, the table leaders of each table will lead the youth in group reports, and before the end, the moderator will lead a comprehensive discussion to draw conclusions for the roundtable discussions.