Youth innovators explore global governance solutions

The 2023 Rong Chang Cup Youth Innovation Competition on Global Governance, also known as YICGG 2023, concluded on Sunday in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture, located in China's Yunnan province.

Co-hosted by Fudan University, Dali University and Shanghai Rong Chang Public Welfare Foundation, the competition featured 64 contestants from 29 countries in the finals, which ran from July 12 to 16.

Under the theme "biodiversity breeds prosperity," finalists participated in various sessions including talks, discussions, debates, field work, and presentations to propose solutions for urgent issues in biodiversity conservation.

At the closing ceremony, the "YICGG2023 We Youth Common Agenda - Global Biodiversity: Youth Involvement and Initiatives" was unveiled. The agenda calls for joint efforts from global youth to embrace biodiversity, raise ecological consciousness and integrate biodiversity conservation into daily life.

"Biodiversity is a major issue underpinning the future of ecological civilization and humanity," said Su Changhe, dean of School of International Relations and Public Affairs at Fudan University, at the closing ceremony. "This year's YICGG is full of vision, actions, passion, innovation, individual perspectives and consensus."

"The youth are the designers and practitioners of future global governance. The future and hope of global governance rests upon your shoulders," Su added.

Judges: youth play vital role in global governance and biodiversity conservation

Apart from the contestants, the competition also gathered 11 esteemed judges to help the participants optimize their proposals in the finals.

Keiichi Ogawa, a judge and a professor at Kobe University, recognized the advantages youth bring to global governance, and encouraged them to grow more and think more comprehensively to make a practical difference.

"The youth are good at doing researches, and have more flexible mindsets, so their ideas can be really innovative, and can provide much reference to policy makers such as governments, organizations and industry experts," said Ogawa.

A five-time judge of the competition, Veronica Rebreanu, is a senior lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Babes-Bolyai University in Romania. She has been monitoring the youth's performance across several past editions and regards the YICGG as "fruitful".

"The youngsters were raised up with the concepts of environmental responsibilities such as recovering, recycling, reusing things and protecting the planet. So their subconscious is already prepared to come up with some solutions. And through working together with other teams from across the world, participants can learn experience from other regions," she said.

"It was really wonderful to hear how the youth see the problem in different perspectives and propose solutions in a way that only youth can do," commented Binayak Malla, assistant professor of School of Management at Nepal's Kathmandu University.

Malla pointed out the important link he saw between the youth and technology. "The youth are trying to use technology for the betterment of not just humanity, but also the living means all around the world. This is a strong message, when we are talking about the technology being evil."

Youths: YICGG a fantastic platform for cross-border communication and cultural exchange

A proposal, titled "Daliversity - A Pokemon app that connects us with nature", was awarded the Most Valuable Project at the closing ceremony.

Targeting issues such as the lack of data on biodiversity dynamics, public awareness and youth participation, the proposal suggested a gamification solution - a Pokemon-like app - on preserving biodiversity. The winning team, which consisted of seven members from China, Greece, Hungary, Laos, Morocco and Nepal, explained that such an app can be interesting and appealing due to its low costs and wide potential for involvement.

"Actually, the idea (of the app) was inspired by the judges during previous discussion sessions," said Wijdane Jeddou, a Moroccan student from Shanghai University, and member of the team.

"People remember stories much more than the names where they come from. We also try to make it more children-friendly. It will be easier for generations like the youth to also teach the children, which means it will be better for the long term," Jeddou added.

Xue Zhe, a Chinese PhD student in Zoology at the University of Cambridge, was part of the group that received the Most Innovative Team honor. In the preliminary round, he proposed an environmental DNA solution, and a DNA sequencing solution for biodiversity conservation.

"The DNA-related technologies are actually quite common in research and labs though, it is still seldom applied in practical use, especially in governance'" said Xue. "So I think communication on such information is crucial. In this digital era, the fewer barriers, the better."

Yao Bingran, a student from Fudan University who won the Ignite Talk Queen award this year, said: "As youth, we are energetic, young and creative. We come from different countries with different majors. We learn about the problems and success of the biodiversity governance in different regions. Then we get together here to seek new ideas to make our contribution."

Walker Darke is a British PhD candidate at Fudan University in the School of International Relations and Public Affairs. He is also a consultant at the United Nations, where he drafts energy policy.

As lead author of the United Nations Roadmap to Carbon Neutrality by 2050 for Europe, North America and Central Asia, he has been recognized in the prestigious Forbes 30 Under 30 list for his work on Social Impact.

"Half the world's population is under 30, and their voices need to be heard when we talk about policy making and the future of our planet, particularly biodiversity," said Darke. "I think young people have amazing ideas, and they need to be on a bigger platform."

For participants from around the world, the competition means much more than a contest. In addition to insights from diverse regions, it also provided the platform for cultural exchanges.

Cucu Alexandru-Bogdan, a Romanian student from Babes-Bolyai University, said it took him almost three days to travel from his hometown to Dali. "But I feel totally worthy of it, as the city is so beautiful. And it is wonderful to meet new friends from all over the world with the same goal," he said.

Takudzwa Duncan Maluwa, a Zimbabwean student from the Beijing International Studies University, is a two-time participant of the competition.

"My favorite part of the competition is the culture night, where a lot of people shared their cultures. I am from a different country and a different continent, but we just feel like together. We were likely joyful in this unity, and it really touches my heart," said Maluwa.

Wang Xin contributed to the story in Dali.