The Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC)’s Climate x Pilot held its first Group Discussion on August 13. Dr. Wang Binbin, GAUC Executive Secretary-General, Alice Ho, GAUC Chief Youth Officer, Lin Lu, GAUC Communications Officer, and the GAUC Ambassadors gathered online to reflect on the pilot program so far and exchange expectations for the Climate x Campaign 2022.

As of the holding of the group discussion, the pilot program has held 7 lectures, in which the ambassadors have broadly explored climate governance, climate adaptation and resilience, the synergy between climate change and nature, energy, and finance, and how to improve the leadership of youth in addressing climate change. 
In addition to the lectures, GAUC Ambassadors have also honed skills through hands-on experiences. At the Thematic Forum for Climate Action and Green Development of the World Youth Development Forum (WYDF), two GAUC Ambassadors joined the forum to share their climate actions with an international audience while over 20 ambassadors participated as youth delegates. Ambassadors also saw considerable progress at the ‘Lighten the Polestars’ challenge, an internal campaign the pilot program initiated aiming to inspire them to be more competent in enhancing their voice and visibility. “Communication is a part of the climate governance,” said Dr. Wang when answering questions from the ambassadors. 
The pilot program has the close support of GAUC’s member universities. At the Climate x Finance thematic lecture, Professor Guy Midgley and Ms. Kerry-Anne Grey from Stellenbosch University joined the class and presented an interactive and comprehensive lecture for ambassadors together with Professor Martin Siegert from Imperial College London, as COVID-19 prevented his co-lecturer from the University of Rio de Janeiro from joining.  
After a brief introduction by Dr. Wang on the Climate x Campaign 2022, a breakout session was organized for ambassadors to finalize the search for team members and exchange plans and ideas on the ‘Climate x’ Pilot project work. As a part of the pilot program, the ambassadors have formed over 20 interdisciplinary, cross-culture groups. Each group is going to identify their own interest area among the ‘Climate x’ topics, and then propose solutions, activities, or initiatives to facilitate the progress of climate governance and the success of COP27 Egypt by contributing the climate actions of global youth.
Co-initiated by Sciences Po and Tsinghua University, the ‘Climate x’ Pilot is a joint educational project of GAUC’s 15 member universities and the world’s first youth climate leadership training project that convenes the strength of global leading universities across 6 continents. Composed of interdisciplinary lectures by leading experts and cross-culture group projects, the pilot program aims to provide a systematic curriculum to help the next generation to take the lead in tackling climate change challenges, especially with an interdisciplinary perspective on SDGs.

Reporter: Yu Han Soo
Editor: Jeffrey Tykot

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