International Youth Network

 

Agenda

• Describe roughly how we are envisioning this network's structure and function. (David)

  • Share the survey results

• Discuss next week's networking events with funders/resources

• Discuss how to mobilize around next year's COP14 in Poland (Bjarke)

 

The IYC Vision – Purpose and Benefits

• The IYC is designed for more effective engagement in the international processes to create an institutional memory.

• Applying the logic of synchronized and distributed and coordinated action to a global movement.

• There is a lot of opportunities to gain efficiencies and not duplicate efforts.

• Building the long-term relationships between “the movement” and other groups/individuals/and institutions.

• A place to share resources, knowledge, and skills.

• Engage more youth from a diverse range of countries.

• It must have actionable initiatives.

• It should channel all of the messages from our individual countries into a coherent whole.

• We should strive for a well-branded campaign and a compelling story, and a

• The relevance of the international youth movement outside of the COP/MOP process.

• The messaging and vision must be tweaked for broader reach so that our youth story resonates beyond the traditional countries.

• Push the envelope of what the Internet can do to bring this movement together.

• Aggregate our fund-raising potential.

• The individuals in the 'youth network' will grow older, become more involved in global processes at a higher level, and this youth network can

• Connecting youth to the “adult movement”--setting people up for future involvement, the “IYN alumni network”

• We should create a space for mobilizing and nurturing children's interest and engaging the next generation of youth leaders around the world.

• We must build a structure that is sustainable, and be careful not to hinge the network on a single person or nodes of contact.

• The learning and collaboration that takes place around the COP/MOP must be sped up so we don't spend ¾ of our time getting everyone up to speed and connected.

• When reaching out to other organizations and and projecting our story. We can learn from the lessons of the AYICC that we can play on perceived success and momentum of organizations.

• We must not build a top-down organization based on a small and limited meeting—imposing our ideas on the many organizations working on this stuff on the ground will stagnate our progress.

 

The Survey

• Need to remind people to help get more responses

• Will compile on Monday night

 

Mapping Out Potential Contacts and Allies

• Get them into the MOP3 Wiki.

 

Process to Build IYN and Timeline

• Goal: identifying process and time-line for the next 12 months

• Synthesizing this years cop/mop

• Creating photo, video, and other media resource

• Setting up a steering committee?

  • 5-10 people to make sure process is moving forward

• Another meeting for people

  • America Speaks and Vision21?

  • Hong Kong Youth Summit – Next July around the G8

• Make a push to talk to the different youth-oriented players involved in international processes who have a corporate/institutional memory.

• If our idea is good and worthwhile, money will not be an issue.

 

 

Thursday Networking Event

• The kick-off to get partnership organizations excited and willing to help the IYN potential.

• We have flyers printed out—we should distribute them to people who we think should be valuable to the process moving forward.

• Fairly informal, get people psyched about where we're trying to go, etc.

• More formal letters, for delegates etc., have have been made and translated.

• Do we want more focused outreach so we can ensure that the right people are in the room?

  • Amanda and David will do a systematic analysis of the participant list and target the crucial players.

  • Everyone

• What will the presentaion look like?

  • Four sections, 2-minutes each, that communicates our value and our gameplan.

  • We'll break into subgroups for each of the four sections:

1. Past youth-led initiatives

• Beyond Kyoto

• Wherever youth are, there are actions to reduce carbon emissions: Campus Climate Challenge, presidents college/universities climate commitment.

• Australian change in government

1. Potential that we have

• UN has made the case for us: UN.org/youth there is a link to “youth and UN agencies”

• We already have strong domestic/regional networks.

• We can influence high-level discussions by converging around a goal.

• What makes us different than a coalition of international NGOs?

  • We can provide a more enlightened global point of view within our colleges and universities, feeding informed dialog into the institutions that we're from.

  • The freshness of perspective and the moral urgency of our call—we will be around when others won't.

  • We are not just the inheritors of the world, we represent ½ the world.

  • By bringing people into this network and this issue, we are increasing their likelihood of passionate involvement.

  • We're the ones most capable of taking advantage of the new communications technology, we are by definition cutting edge.

• What do we bring to the COP process that no one else can?

  • A creativity that magnifies and amplifies the media coverage around international negotiations.

  • The media attention indicates that the world is thirsty for youth involvement.

  • We're not afraid to be edgy, confrontational, etc.

  • The youth reaction always precedes major societal shifts. Why? The stakes are higher, the lack of tunnel vision and institutional inertia, we are not restrained by our families, mortgages, etc..

1. Plan for the potential

• Fundraising

  • Involving other stakeholders and NGOs to funnel resources to where they are most needed.

• Communications

  • Unified communications

  • Website that is translated, sharing video and pictures.

• Knowledge Sharing

  • Learn from each other

  • Build bridges between governments and youth, institutions and children, and between young people all over the world.

  • Bootcamp/training for the COP

• Coordination

  • Hard to build a movement without something to build it on.

  • A day of action or a big event to coordinate around.

1. What we need

• Resources—leave contacts, let's stay in touch.

• We'll share an expanded proposal for feedback and potential partnerships.

• Not an explicit ask for $$$.

  • We're not making something out of nothing, we just need to accelerate the process of youth movement building.

• This network overlays existing networks.

• Partnership with existing youth program and networks.

• “Come with us on this journey”

   

The Taskforce

Will summarize above points and make the presentation. Meeting on Monday.

 

Discuss how to mobilize around next year's COP14 in Poland (Bjarke)

• There is an organization/network that brings 200+ youth to ???????

 

Discuss Larger Planning

• Need to define what we do, our activities before branding and worrying about website, etc

• A needs assessment could be in order to gauge interest and needs of regional and domestic networks

  - it would be useful to make some assumptions of needs to pose questions and make the

 

• What we need

- Visioning process

- Branding

- Action Component + Poland

- A plan to engage/incorporate youth in the developing world

• Identify people who will move this forward

 

A needs assessment

• A project launch mailing list

• A website?

  • Project components

    • Action

    • Political Activity

    •  

• A Budget

  • generates accountability

  • speeds the process

  • we can make the case that people investing money for developmental activities

• Partnership Developments

• Resources on best practices in youth climate organizing

  • Case Studies/Victories

• If you build it it will come.

• Big Project?

• February 17^th

 

Poland Group – COP14

• How do we have more participants?

• Conference capabilities to create guidelines.

• Set up a steering committee of 20 people or so to manage the organization.

• Set up a ground team to be ready in Poland, get youth together 3+ days before COP starts.

• Fundraising, especially to get developing

• Structure – project management plan

• Everyone (400?) staying in the same hotel, who has $$ to put down at the deposit?

• Have a steering committee to assemble action plan to present before we go.

  • Don't create an exclusionary process, perhaps have 2 national contact points for each region/nation?

• Put together a governance structure and form a more fleshed out proposal before the end of the week? Share this document with the larger group?

• Bring together the notes (from here, Powershift, and elsewhere)

• BIG report back during Friday meeting

• We'll have a big Saturday debrief—and we'll poll people on Monday morning

•  

Point People Coming Out of this Meeting

• Presentation Group: OJ, Ben, Aiden, Ben, Anne

• 12 Month Action Plan 1 Pager: David, Amanda, Richard, Micah, Whit, OJ, Faisal, Midori

• Poland 1 Pager: PJ, Charlotte, Bjarke, Aiden, Micah, Reiko

   

 

Open Questions

• Is the IYN a recognized body under the COP?

• What is the structure of this network?

 

In Attendence

David

Micah

Nathan

OJ

Ellen

Richard

Jon

PJ

Whit

Nick

Robert

Damian

Bjakre

Anne

Mijo

Reiko

Charlotte

Aiden

Ajak

Jamie

Phil

Ben