Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance Review of Past Year Activities

Transcription

1 Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance Review of Past Year Activities School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University

2 Foreword On the 14 th of July 2007, the inaugural Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance came to a successful close at Fudan University s Guanghua Towers. Of the 23 participating teams coming from 13 different countries, the team from Hamburg University outshone the rest and walked away with the title of the most creative team. All 82 participants were then regrouped into nine different teams. The F team comprising of participants from India, Italy, China, The Philippines, America and Korea eventually won the most valuable proposal. The announcement of the competition results coupled with the well wishes of the experts and feelings built up by all participants heightened the atmosphere of the closing ceremony. Back in October 2006, these were all just part of the imagination of a group of youths who had the idea of bringing the world together, and the fruits of a brainstorming session between teachers and students. Long Yongtu, Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, Dean of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs, was extremely praiseful and supportive of the idea of organizing such a global competition. He first helped to contact the United Nations Development Program to discuss the details of co-organizing the competition. Next, he also helped to contact and garner full support from Volvo Group China. Under the encouragement and support of the Dean, the organizing committee of the competition, guided by teachers from Fudan University s School of International Relations and Public Affairs, took a series of actions to prepare for the competition. These included the set up of the competition website, the formulation of the competition rules and schedule, as well as the contacting of participants from different countries. On 22 nd January 2007, the opening ceremony of the Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance was launched in Fudan University Guanghua Towers. UNDP Resident Representative in China, Head of UN Human Development Khalid Malik; Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, Dean of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs Long Yongtu and Fudan University

3 Principal Wang Shenghong attended the welcome ceremony. The competition theme for that year was Global Governance and A Harmonious World. From that point, the competition started a brand new chapter. Upon learning of the competition, participants continually started to register via the internet and telephone. Plans for the first phase of the competition started to kick off - experts from various regions were invited to join the judging panel; recruitment for volunteers began; students from different faculties in and out of Fudan University joined in the preparations for the competition. Volvo Group China held its first press release and donation ceremony to YICGG at Fudan University on the 4 th of July. The competition s focus on global issues, especially those on climate and environmental problems received widespread concern from society. On the basis of the various preparations in place, the inaugural YICGG marked its opening at Fudan University..

4 Competition Slogan Our World, A Shared Responsibility I m In! Competition Objectives To pay close attention to global public affairs To stimulate youths innovation To evoke global civic awareness To create a harmonious home shared by all human beings

5 The Competition Stage The arrival of the Japanese participants at 12.30am on 11 July marked the end of registration of the participations. Each participant received a handbook, a T-shirt and a hat. In the morning of the second day, all of them would wear the same shirt and attend the competition welcome ceremony at Fudan University s Center of American Studies. The second phase of the competition would take place in the form of exhibition and commentary. At the welcome ceremony, Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs General Party Branch Secretary Mdm Shen Lanfang and Vice Director of Fudan University Center of American Studies Mr Shen Dingli announced the start of the competition by introducing the competition flag. The flag was made from recycled materials such as old bicycle tires, magazines, newspapers and plastic bottles, symbolizing the organizing committee s awareness and responsibility towards Global Governance. After a round of simple introduction, each team marked their home country on a world map using a sticker of the competition flag. In the morning of the 11 th of July, the second round of the competition was held after the welcome ceremony. The lobby of the Center of American Studies was decorated into an exhibition hall, displaying contents of the reports submitted by the participating teams during the first round. Each team would convey their thoughts and ideas through their exhibitions. All teams would have to listen to other teams presentations and rate each other. At the end, the judging panel would decide on The Most Creative

6 Team based on the results combined from the first and second rounds, with each round taking up forty and sixty percent of the total marks respectively. From the afternoon of 11 th of July till the afternoon of 12 th of July, the participants started a new round of discussion and interaction based on the arrangements of the World Teams and discussion rooms as announced by the organizing committee the day before. They made use of the school s internet resources and help from the volunteers. Participants from different countries and education backgrounds came together to do a report and speech based on their discussion outcomes. When help was required, they could approach any of the volunteers for assistance in printing, photocopying and information sources. Refreshments were available at the lobby for participants to take a break. In a more relaxing environment, they could interact with their teammates and more importantly, participants from other teams. All teams submitted their new reports before 6pm on the 12 th of July and started to prepare for the question and answer session for the second day in the evening. On the 13 th of July, judges coming from different fields of expertise, including economics and finance, managerial science, environmental studies, law and international relations, listened to the presentations of the nine World Teams. In this round, the judges would decide on 70% of the total marks for each team. Each team were given a scoring sheet to peer rate the other teams to make up the remaining 30% of the total score. After the presentation, the judges started a discussion behind closed doors regarding the participating teams performance. The organizing committee prepared a cultural night and night tour around the Huangpu River. Whilst sight- seeing on the boat, the participants put up performances in their own traditional ethnic costumes, fostering a closer bonding between each other.

7 The closing ceremony on the 14 th of July was the highlight of the entire competition. UNDP Resident Representative in China, Head of UN Human Development Khalid Malik; Secretary-General of the Boao Forum for Asia, Dean of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs Long Yongtu, Fudan University Principal Wang Shenghong, and Volvo Group China s Vice President of Communications and Branding Mdm Jiang Lan attended the closing ceremony, giving their ending speeches and comments. All participants came in formal wear. After collecting the group photograph and certificate of participation at the registration counter, they walked across the red carpet, leaving their signature on the world map. Each team once again took the stage and did a showcase, this time in the identity of a World Team, singing songs in teams to express their feelings. The winning teams gave thank-you speeches when receiving their awards. Dean Long Yongtu accredited the winning teams works and gave his well wishes to all youths present. Lastly, the organizing committee and all volunteers sang Hand in Hand on stage, bringing to life the spirit of the competition slogan Our World, A Shared Responsibility. They also expressed their warmest gratitutde towards all who had supported the event in one way or another. Earlier in the afternoon, the organizing committee organized a tour to Yuyuan to reward the participants. The participants deepened their understanding about China and Shanghai by visiting the Chinese Street, Jiangnan Silk Museum, tasting Chinese food and watching Chinese street performance. The competition spanning across four days had come to an end. Everyone involved in the event, be it the participants, judges or the organizing committee, walked away with new insights, experiences and friends.

8 Past Activities YICGG Past Year Venues, Themes Time Venue Theme 2007 Fudan University Shanghai, China 2008 Rome Tor Vergata University Italy, Turin 2009 Ilia Chavchavadze State University Tbilisi, Georgia 2010 Fudan University Human Security in the Age of Globalization Global Governance: Growth and Innovation 2020 Global Governance and Innovation 2020: the Challenge for One Economy, One Environment, One Finance, One Security, Many Cultures Glocalization Shanghai,China

9 General Agenda Phase Content Outcome First Phase Creative Proposal Design Second Phase Creative Proposal Exhibition and Q&A Participants pick a theme regarding global public affairs related to the competition and design a global governance proposal with creativity and foresight. The competition committee will confirm the participating teams of the second round based on the opinions of the experts. Participating teams arrive in Shanghai for the competition. Each team uses an exhibition space of 3-4 square metres to showcase their work. Proposals with topics belonging to the same fields will be exhibited in the same area. Most Creative Proposed Solution Third Phase World Team On- The-Spot Competition The organizing committee will regroup all participants into World Teams by drawing lots randomly. They will also announce the allocated topic based on the competition theme. The World Team would have a discussion centered round the topic in a specific time limit. Thereafter, they would have to produce a report about a proposed solution with creativity, feasibility and maximum effectiveness. Most Valuable Proposed Solution Fourth Phase World Café All teams engage in a discussion centered on the most valuable proposal. Participants will be seated in groups of 5, each headed by a judge from the judging panel. The teams will take turns to move around the tables after one hour of discussion. At the end of the discussion, a most workable proposal will be formulated and submitted to the relevant department of the United Nations. Eventual Proposal

10 YICGG 2008 Review -- Youth Olympic Academic Symposium Outlook 2020 Global Development From the 18 th to 26 th of August 2008, the 2 nd Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance (YICGG 2008), which earned its title as the Youth Olympic Academic Symposium, was held in Rome, Italy. Having successfully created and organized the competition in 2007, Fudan University worked with Rome Tor Vergata University, Turin School of economics and Political Science and two other organizations for the competition that year. The theme for 2008 was set as Outlook of 2020: Global Growth and Innovation. The second YICGG attracted over a hundred youth post-graduates from 27 universities coming from over 20 countries. Close to 30 experts and professors from many countries also delivered speeches and held a seminar to discuss various global issues at the event.

11 After 9 days of intense competition, the team representing Fudan University comprising of 4 students from Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs and School of Management walked away with the first prize. Their report East Asia s Lifelong Model Community 2020 Outlook : Objectives, Framework and Operations was published on the June 2006 issue of Europe s leading academic journal, Transition Study Review. The Youth Olympic Academic Symposium as a learning platform for youths around the world The second YICGG was divided into 2 segments. In the first segment, the competition committee first released 12 topics. All participating teams had to choose one topic and submit a thesis, research report or creative design. The committee would then eliminate these entries and decide on the teams which would be able to enter the second round of the competition. The teams selected would form 12 World Teams. In Rome, all World Teams would have to combine their individual reports into a team report. The judging panel would select the teams to walk away with the respective awards of the competition based on the combined score of the first and second segments. Because of how YICGG puts a heavy emphasis on global connectivity, innovation and competitiveness, it is known by participants as a Youth Olympic Academic Symposium. Indeed, the competition has provided a platform for youths coming from all around the world to interact and learn from one another.

12 First, the competition provided students with an opportunity to interact and foster better understanding with each other through cooperation. The World Teams resulted in international cooperation, which taught the students the importance of dissolving misunderstandings and learning from each other. Second, students could also express their opinions about various global issues at the competition. As an annual competition, YICGG drew the attention of the international society to a group of dedicated youths who expressed their thoughts on different global problems. Similar to the first year, all award-winning reports would be submitted to the United Nations Developing Program and published on The Transition Study Review. Fudan University Shines In this year s competition, 7 teams from China made it into the second round of the competition. This became a highlight of the event. After intense competition, the Future Depend on Us team representing Fudan University eventually walked away with the first prize with their report East Asia s Lifelong Model Community 2020 Outlook : Objectives, Framework and Operations. After intensive research on lifelong learning and the challenges faced by East Asia, Fudan University s representing team designed a framework to boost East Asia s lifelong learning and trans-regional cooperation and governance in the EALLC2020 Proposal. The team perceives lifelong learning as not just a means of survival, but also a basic need of mankind which is soon to become a fundamental value of human society. Encouraging lifelong learning is no longer a task to be completed by countries; it is an international challenge.

13 The core idea of their design is to set up an East Asia Lifelong Learning Community Organization, formed by East Asia s leading schools, multi-national cooperations and social organizations. This organization would work with the existent framework, designing and coordinating education projects customized to the different learning needs of different regions. In this way, the organization would provide lifelong learning services to various education institutions and companies in countries within East Asia.

14 In the process of working together as World Teams, the Fudan team worked closely with partners from Italy and Thailand on a comparative study about the current situation and future developments of lifelong learning in East Asia and Europe. The team produced a report. In the end, the judges decided to award Fudan University with the first prize for their outstanding performance in both segments of the competition. Assistant Professors Gu Limei and Jiang Changjian of Fudan University each delivered themed lectures at the competition. Assistant President of Fudan University, executive vice-dean of School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Professor Sang Yuchen honoured the closing ceremony, presenting the winning teams their awards.

15 Fudan University Participates in 3 rd YICGG organized by Ilia Chavchavadze State University University of Georgia The third Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance (YICGG) was successfully held at the Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Georgia from the 12 th to 19 th of July teams from China, Italy, Armenia, India, Poland, Georgia and other countries participated in the competition. Fudan University s team was headed by Mr Chen Yugang from the School of International Relations and Public Affairs. The team comprised of 5 graduate students from The School of International Relations and Public Affairs, the School of Foreign Languages and School of Law. YICGG was first created and organized by Fudan University s School of International Relations and Public Affairs in It aims to raise civic awareness among students from all over the world by encouraging them to follow global affairs closely as well as igniting the creativity among them to create a harmonious home for all human kind. The competition seeks proposed solutions to solve global governance issues from education institutions around the world. It is currently the first youth innovation competition in the world that combines creativity and academics on a large-scale international event spanning across different fields of expertise aimed at achieving a breakthrough from traditional theories. The competition requires participants to register in groups. There are no specific requirements on the forms which the proposed solutions must take, except that it must be creative and constructive with definite foresight. China s Fudan University in Shanghai and the University of Rome Tor Vergata were the organizers of the competition in the first two years. This is the third year running that YICGG is taking place. It will be held in the capital of Gerogia, Tbilisi. As the organizer, Ilia Chavchavadze State University, Georgia had decided on the theme of the competition to be Outlook of 2020 in Global Governance: Challenges faced when A Unified Body of Economics, Environment, Finance and Security Meets Multiculturalism, hoping that the participating students could discuss on the new problems faced by the world in these fields. The welcome ceremony was held in Ilia Chavchavadze State University. Mayor of Tbilisi Gigi Ugulava, Principal of Ilia Chavchavadze State University Gigi Tevzadve, Ilia Chavchavadze State University Professor Ex Georgia Minister of Education

16 Gia Nodia, University of Tor Vergata Professor Giorgia Dominese and other academia and local officials attended the ceremony and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony Before the ceremony The speech given by Gigi Ugulava After the official launch of the competition, the participating teams gave a presentation on the basis of their proposals submitted before the competition. Their speeches were centered on various topics regarding education, finance, culture, environmental protection and security. Megi from Georgia pays close attention to the educational reforms in Georgia David from Poland discusses the possibility of regional security organization reforms using theoretical analysis Representatives from Fudan comments on the issue of Child Soldiers

17 Students from Zhengjiang Normal University designed a new model of governance on how to achieve a balance between environmental protection and economic development Amrita from Jawaharla Nehru University, India, raises a proposal of cooperation between strong countries and societies Under the assistance of the organizing committee, teams working on similar topics formed World Teams. Within the World Teams, students from different countries and education backgrounds put their thoughts together through communication and interaction, thereby improving on their original ideas to produce a team report

18 During the meeting, the participating academia introduced to students the latest trends in their respective fields of expertise by giving themed lectures. Professor Cardilli from Italy is introducing law problems related to global governance Professor Dominese from Italy excitedly introduces a book about global governance to students Professor Chen Yugang from Fudan University s School of International Relations and Public Affairs is shares his concerns and ideals about global climate change in his lecture The organizing committee took care to prepare a series of cultural activities within the few days of tight schedule. With a book introducing Georgia, we start our exciting journey These Orthodox Churches and castles witnessed Georgia s history. Today they are still telling tourists the extraordinary stories which happen on this land

19 In the course of travelling, we played our parts as ambassadors for the Shanghai Expo The nightlife of Tbilisi is extremely vibrant! The judging panel made exciting remarks about each World Team s research findings at the closing ceremony. They encouraged the participating students to make the effort to stay in touch via internet tools after the competition while realizing their ideals about global governance. The organizing committee presented every participant with a certificate of participation. Everyone is excited after finally receiving their hard-earned Certificates of Participation!

20 Through this competition, not only did the participating students broaden their horizons and deepen their understandings of global governance, they also made friends with other youths from all over the world and experienced Georgia s unique history and culture. The Fudan University team seized the opportunity to advertise Shanghai Expo and Fudan University, allowing more university students from other countries to know more about China.

21 Review of the 4 th Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance (YICGG 2010) The 4 th YICGG was successfully organized at Fudan University from the 17 th to 21 st of July Nearly 70 university students from 23 universities coming the United States, Germany, Italy, Holland, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Korea, India, China and 8 other countries gathered at Fudan with a common goal of coming up with a most creative proposal to address global governance problems. YICGG was first created and co-organized by Fudan University and the United Nations Development Program in It is the first youth academic innovation competition to be organized by a higher education institute in China. It has earned its title as the Youth Olympic Academic Symposium. After the 2008 and 2009 competitions were held in Rome and Georgia, Fudan University is back to hosting the 4 th YICGG in The theme for this year s competition is Glocalization. This theme is in sync with one of the performances City Planet in the Shanghai Expo. In the future world, Globalization and Localization will become closer concepts. Sometimes, a process of Globalization may also be a process of Globalization moving towards Localization. Cities could become an important melting point of Globalization and Localization. There could be higher possibilities for Glocalization to take place in more places. It could become an important strategy for corporations moving into the global market, a diplomatic measure between countries, or a new model of global governance. On the 18 th of December 2009, the 4 th YICGG Launching Ceremony was held at the auditorium of Fudan University Yifu Building. Long Yongtu, Secretary-General of the Boao

22 Forum for Asia, Dean of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs honoured the ceremony and gave a welcome speech. The recruitment of volunteers for this year s competition started at the ceremony. The guest of honour pinned on the competition badge on the representative of the YICGG competition committee. On the 17 th of July 2010, the official Opening Ceremony was held at Fudan University. Executive vice-dean of School of International Relations and Public Affairs Lin Shangli started the ceremony by giving a welcome speech. Vice Dean of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Prof. Wu Xinbo of the Center of American Studies,who is also the Vice President of the US-Sino Relations Club, Vice President of the Shanghai-American Club, Expert of Consultant Committee of Taiwan Affairs Office of Shanghai Government, researcher of Taiwan Affairs Office of the state council, gave a lecture on Globalization and Global Governance. One of the traditions of the competition is to disperse the students and regroup them into World Teams at random. Considering that the city could become an important meeting point of Globalization and Localization, the topic given to the World Teams to work on this

23 year was Glocalization and City Life. During the course of the competition, the organizers made special arrangements for the participants to visit the Shanghai World Expo. The visit was not just for fun, however - the participants had to look for inspirations for the competition within the premises of the expo, especially from the UBPA Best City Practice case study. A day of visit proved to be a huge inspiration to the participants. Valeria Risgulia from LUISS commented that the Shanghai World Expo was very exciting and eventful. It brought much inspiration and insights to her research. She felt that the future world cities exhibited at the Expo was very worthy of further research and development. Eventually, the team from Beijing Foreign Studies University won the title of the Most Valuable Proposal (MVP) with their research topic of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Project on Conserving Endangered Languages. World Team Number 6, comprising of participants from Fudan University, Tor Vergata University and other universities walked away with the award of the Most Innovative Team (MIT) with their project aimed at establishing a special educational system in social communities with floating populations to address the education problems of the 2 nd generation. Party Secretary of Fudan University School of International Relations and Public Affairs Shen Lanfang presented the MVP and MIT teams with their awards at the closing ceremony. The Vice Head of Fudan University s External Affairs Department Xin Qiang represented the school in giving the closing speech at the ceremony.

24 Exective vice-dean of the School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Professor Lin Shangli commented that as the creator of YICGG, Fudan University s School of International Relations and Public Affairs will continue to organize this signature event in the years to come. By doing so, the school will involve students to help in organizing for the competition, thereby accomplishing one of the school s missions to nurture students with global perspectives.