Young Citizens Conferences YCC

YCC on Climate

The Youth Citizens Conferences on Climate (former Youth Climate Conferences) is the first world event dedicated to visualise the views and concerns of youth on climate change. We are an alliance of young professionals, dedicated to create opportunities for the global youth to have an substantial impact on their own future. 

The activity was coordinated by MILSET and the Danish Youth Association of Science (UNF).

In the end of 2009, world leaders discussed a new treaty to protect our climate at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Copenhagen (COP15).

As the youngsters of this world, and the future of this planet, it is up to you to make sure that your opinions and concerns are taken care of - And we provide you with various opportunities to do so!

From August 2008 to August 2010 various climate related activities for youngsters took place. The activities included a worldwide series of youth conferences and workshops, an online campaign, and various happenings and events organised by our global partners and regrouped 17.000 participants.

Objectives

• Be engaged in the climate debate that concerns our future
• Take part in the debate and discover our own personal responsibilities
• Discuss climate related concerns and express them in unison through various activities
• Prepare a statement to be presented in connection with the official UN Climate Conference in Copenhagen, scheduled for December 2009 as well as the following ones

YCC on Chemestry

The Young Citizens Conferences on Chemestry are dedicated to express the views and concerns of youth regarding their concerns on water usage, accessibility and others by gathering their voices from every part of the globe encouraging them to enter actively the debate.

YCC on Water

The Young Citizens Conferences on Water are dedicated to express the views and concerns of youth regarding their concerns on water usage, accessibility and others by gathering their voices from every part of the globe encouraging them to enter actively the debate.
We are confident that the open-mindedness of young people combined with a scientific approach will yield important contributions. Our primary goals will be reached through a series of activities following a 3 step methodology: "Observations, Causes and Actions".

The topic has been chosen following the decision of UN to defined 2013 as the International Year of Water Cooperation and stressing on the key role of this primary resource in everyone life. 

Objectives

• Set a space where us youth can express our concern on water;
• Be engaged in the debate that concerns our future;
• Discover our own personal responsibilities;
• Express our concerns on water through various activities;
• Present the final result through a statement which can be forwarded to head of states. 

YCC on Farming

The Young Citizens Conferences on Farming are dedicated to express the views and concerns of youth regarding their concerns on farming situation, evolution and others by gathering their voices from every part of the globe encouraging them to enter actively the debate.
We are confident that the open-mindedness of young people combined with a scientific approach will yield important contributions. Our primary goals will be reached through a series of activities following a 3 step methodology: "Observations, Causes and Actions".

The topic has been chosen following the decision of UN to defined 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming and stressing on the key role of this primary resource in everyone life. 

Objectives

• Set a space where us youth can express our concern on farming;
• Be engaged in the debate that concerns our future;
• Discover our own personal responsibilities;
• Express our concerns on farming through various activities;
• Present the final result through a statement which can be forwarded to head of states. 

YCC on Energy

The Young Citizens Conferences on Energy  are dedicated to express the views and concerns of youth regarding their concerns on energy situation, evolution and others by gathering their voices from every part of the globe encouraging them to enter actively the debate.

We are confident that the open-mindedness of young peoplecombined with a scientific approach will yield important contributions. Our primary goals will be reached through a series of activities following a 3 step methodology: “Observations, Causes and Actions”.

The topic has been chosen following the decision of UN to defined 2015 as the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies and stressing on the key role of this primary resource in everyone life.

Objectives

• Set a space where us youth can express our concern on energy;
• Be engaged in the debate that concerns our future;
• Discover our own personal responsibilities;
• Express our concerns on energy through various activities;
• Present the final result through a statement which can be forwarded to head of states. 

The Young Citizens Conferences on Science Learning by MILSET are dedicated to express the views and ideas of youth regarding their concerns on science learning, science education and accessibility, science means of communication and others by gathering their voices from every part of the globe encouraging them to enter actively the debate.

We are confident that the open-mindedness of young people combined with a scientific approach will yield important contributions. Our primary goals will be reached through a series of activities following a 3 step methodology:

• Observations
•  Causes
•  Actions”.

YCC on Artificial Intelligence

Robots and intelligent systems are being introduced everywhere. They work in our factories, play with our children and help run our houses. You no longer need a human assistant to check-in for your flight or to translate your text into another language. Robots can already do many things, but how about tomorrow? In the future, will we find ourselves surrounded by robots doing everything? If so, what will we – humans – do then? 

 

Here are some questions we invite you to think about. There are many more that you can propose for discussion:

• Can robots replace people; can artificial intelligence replace human intelligence? And if so, should we give robots the same rights as humans, or should they always be our obedient servants?
• What human jobs will disappear with the development of artificial intelligence? What jobs will remain and what new jobs will be created?
• Who bears the responsibility for errors in artificial intelligence algorithms that result in harm or death?

Let´s share your ideas with the world!

As a YCC organiser sum-up the results of the discussion and fill in the report form

Make short videos of participants during the activity, and send the best one to ycc@milset.org which will be posted on the MILSET website and MILSET Facebook.

If you are going to send a video please consider the following information:

• The Video Format should be MP4 from 24 to 29fps
• The resolution should be 1080 x 1080 px
• It must be short and include the topic or subtopic, the discussion and the actions to be taken

YCC 2018 - 2019 report

2020 Topic: Inventing a new world

In a hyper-connected planet, the dreaded fear of a pandemic caused by a new hyper contagious virus has been confirmed. COVID-19 confined several billion people for several weeks and shut down the economy. The planet is breathing with difficulty. It’s time to think and possibly… reinvent a new world!

The pandemic has drastically modified our familiar lifestyle. Changes are happening in every sphere of life.  Almost all social institutions - education, employment, health care, family - are now transformed. How can we adapt to these changes? Will they be irreversible or not? Can we somehow influence them?

Here are some questions we invite you to think about:

*there are many more that you can propose for discussion

Globalization: Quarantine created obstacles for the free movement of people, goods, and capital. Will this ultimately lead to a rejection of globalization? Is it right to unite and cooperate in this situation? Or should each country do everything possible to provide for its own needs? Should all countries help each other to deal with the pandemic and overcome its aftermath?

Digital lifestyle: We are now mainly confined to our homes. Work and education, participation in conferences and fairs, visits to cultural events are all going on online. Shops and restaurants have switched to delivery mode. Will, we ultimately return to the lifestyle we were used to? Which spheres would benefit from staying in an online format, and which would not? What could be the risks of this new way of life?

Role of science and medicine: Thanks to the efforts of doctors and scientists, we hope to contain the pandemic. Which tasks should be addressed by science to cope with the virus, and to prevent similar situations in the future? Do we have enough reliable information from scientists and doctors about the virus now? Will governments and societies treat scientists with the same respect and listen to their advice equally attentively after the pandemic?

Environment: Today we may say that, on the one hand, the pandemic has led to a certain positive environmental impact. We have stopped flying and reduced our use of vehicles. Most industries stopped for a while and we have reduced consumption. All the major events of 2020 have been cancelled. These changes have definitely decreased the pressure on the environment. On the other hand, when the pause ends the economy will restart and focus will shift to the economic impact. Will we abandon green technologies and renewable energy to accelerate the economic recovery? How can we avoid the environmental problems that might come after the pandemic? What is the role of the green economy in the post-pandemic world?

Space: Because of the pandemic, many space programs have been cancelled or postponed. Indeed, we now have so many problems on Earth, does it make sense to continue investing in space exploration? Do we still have a future in space? Or could new space expedition and space related discoveries bring new technologies that might help us to improve our current situation?

2021 Topic: Our Future in Space

Today more and more people are wondering if we should keep spending so much money exploring space without any real impact on humanity’s future. With the present-day knowledge, we can't comfortably talk about reaching other star systems. 

At the same time, we have so many problems on Earth - climate changes, nuclear weapon and more – that we need to pay attention to and invest resources on scientific research.
It is now known that the space leading states are ready to put less and less funds to space exploration. Does it mean that we have no future in space? Have we reached the

limit of human abilities to make a scientific breakthrough or the limit of human willing to spend money on programs that won’t bring profit?

On the other hand, other grounds are yet to be developed such as space tourism or space technologies development. In this regard, Elon Musk is contributing to the latter by investing his own resources.

Talking about the benefits of space exploration, we are witnessing the growth of interest in science and technology among young people, thanks to the new space expedition and space-related discoveries. We can't ignore that exploration brings new technologies that might help us solve some global or everyday problems.

Here are some questions think about for further proposals:

• Moon, Mars and planets of the solar system: Do you think it is a good idea to colonize them? What would be the positive and negative outcomes of doing so?
• Space Tourism: What are the pros and cons of space tourism development? Will mass space tourism bring new life to the space industry? Could it be the source of environmental problems?
• Space Debris: Do you think that space debris is a serious problem now? Do you think it could become a serious problem in the future? What do you propose to reduce it?
• New Materials: Can new planets become a source of new minerals or source of new elements and materials? And if so, what should be done to reach this goal? Do you think it makes sense to bring resources from outer space, from an economic point of view?
• International collaboration: What are the advantages and disadvantages of international collaboration in space exploration? Could it set guidelines for collaboration on Earth?