mycityplus20.com

Dear all,

Thanks for following this blog. This was an efficient way to share our ideas, back in the days. But we now have a website.

We hope you'll enjoy it and find there everything you need to know, in order to start your simul-action!

Enjoy :)
mycityplus20.com

Yours sustainably,
MyCity+20

Action ideas from York+20: Children take over Rio+20!

In (newly renovated sustainable) Joseph Rowntree School, New Earswick, York, UK, a small revolution is taking place. Quite literally. Young students of the school aged between 11-18 are organizing York+20, engaging children in sustainable development by organizing a series of events. 

For MyCity+20 it's particularly exciting to see their innovative action strategy. For this, they are organizing many activities that are very impressive. Apart from debates between young people, local and national MPs (where Adrian Ramsay, the deputy head of the UK Green Party will be present), they are also organizing a flash mob and a self-written environmental musical including music from all over the world. Another interesting idea is the 'dedicated pledge-wall' where invited guests write a pledge about what they will do to improve the environment after the summit. 

Before the event itself they are also running many other sustainable activities including:

-a drop-down day within the school, on the 12th of June, where we invite young people to take part in a range of environmentally friendly activities including making bikes out of old un-used parts, i.e. creating recycled bikes

- conducting some research in the local pond and sending the data off to the Natural Science Museum, - creating recycled clothes for a recycled fashion show

- creating films on saving the planet and putting on plays on the topic of sustainability.

-Sending a video recording of three questions to the Nobel Laureates from the Earth Summit in Rio, and seeing their answers on the 18th of June

During the event to, they will be: 

- Raffling off signed books by popular UK teen writer Cathy Cassidy and sending the proceeds to green charities plus a school project which sponsors two students to go to school in Malawi

- An "edible insects" stand from FERA. 

- Calculating a carbon footprint and literally create a to-scale foot print "shoe" made out of cardboard which needs to be worn by volunteers during the whole event, to show how much impact we actually have on the world! 

Inspired by Severn Suzuki's speech at the Rio conference in 1992, the young students have brainstormed a series of creative, thought provoking action plans that is an inspiring example to everyone. 

MyCity+20 at the White House

This morning, MyCity+20 was invited to the White House for the launch of the "Youth Sustainability Challenge".

Celine (Paris+20) who is currently based in DC and Kate (NY+20) who came from New York were there to represent MyCity+20.

This event was interesting, as it gathered high level representatives from across the Obama administration, including:
- Gary Guzy, Deputy Director and General Counsel, White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Ronan Farrow, Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues
- Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality
- Bob Perciasepe, Deputy Administrator of the US EPA

The speakers talked about the role of youth in moving towards a sustainable future. They insisted on the crucial role youth had to make change happen in their communities.
Ronan Farrow mentioned the recent youth mobilizations around the World (from Santiago, Chile to Northern Africa, to Spain and Greece) and explained that the time is crucial for youth action. "We need to be the change we want to see" he said. Youth is now more connected and innovative than ever before. We need to use this potential to put our issues on the table and to lead the global conversation.

Speakers insisted that since the last Rio confernence, change happened thanks to young people who have stood up and said that something needed to be done. We should continue to do this today.

The panelists also explained what the administration is doing to promote public engagement within colleges (with the EPA On-Campus Ambassador program), communities, and at the global level.
In different countries, thanks to a powerful network of embassies, the US is trying to empower youth throught the creation of youth councils and though direct conversations with young people. You can have a look at the websites of US embassies around the world to find more about this.

Mr. Gary Suzy presented the "Youth Sustainability Challenge". It calls on young people to submit videos online showing how they make a sustainable difference in their communities. They call for innovative, individual or collective videos, presenting sustainability commitments and innitiatives. The best videos will be shown in Rio and their authors will be invited for an event at the White House.

More info can be found here www.whitehouse.gov/sustainability-challenge

Another very important part of this event was the presentation of sustainable initiatives led by US young people. Several campus initiatives were explained by students from George Washington University, Georgetown University, American University, and the University of Virginia. MyCity+20 was able to describe its recent successes, and why we think the movement can really make a difference in Rio+20 and in the lives of young people. MyCity+20 was a very good example of "what can we do to advance sustainability", which was the theme of the discussion, and the audience received it very well. The panel, who seemed already familiar with this initiative, congratulated us and said it was a great project to connect different cities and people all over the world. Kate also talked about the success of NY+20 that was held in NY two weeks ago. You can find more info about this here http://newyorkplus20.wordpress.com/

You will be able to find some pictures very soon on our facebook!

Overall, this event was inspiring for the youth audience, we were able to discuss youth commitment for sustainable development with the US Government directly.
Take part in the Youth Sustainability Challenge and add your voice!
We want to thank again the White House Council on Environmental Quality for inviting us there!

NY+20

We're two weeks away from NY+20. Check out their new website and the event on facebook!

http://newyorkplus20.wordpress.com/
http://www.facebook.com/events/351966654854341/

The only simul-action that will make Rio+20 a success

The following is a guest post by Nicolò Wojewoda, Director of Road to Rio+20, a coalition of organizations weaving together a global youth-led movement towards the Earth Summit 2012.

 ###

There are two clear reasons for young people worldwide to drop all plans in the remaining months until the summer break, and organize a MyCity+20 event.

As other Model UN simulations, it’s a full educational experience by itself. You learn about global issues through preparatory research, you develop writing, public speaking, problem solving, consensus building, conflict resolution, leadership and cooperation skills. It’s fun. And it makes for excellent extra-curricular activity, complementing what you learned in the classroom.

But if that was all there was to it, we wouldn’t be shouting from the rooftops how crucial organizing such an event is for the future of your community (or, for that matter, the world). There are already numerous excellent Model UN events and networks that do wonders for your CV and professional development trajectory.

MyCity+20 is about more than that. The outcome of the simulation is only part of the picture. When you finish your discussions, when you draft your final declaration, and when you take your country delegate hat off, you realize something: the simulation is just the start – action needs to follow.

And here’s where reality comes into play. Despite being touted by the UN Secretary-General as one of the most important conferences in the history of the United Nations, Rio+20 is now flying completely under the radar. Few governments (if any) are making commitments in policy and funding that match the current challenges of an unsustainable world and its multiple multi-faceted crises. Most people around the world don't even know what the summit or its themes are, due to the notable absence of discussions around it in schools, universities, and mainstream media channels (aside from the occasional mention in the environmental column).

There’s an incredible potential for young generations to take on a leadership role and address these issues, in international negotiations, and in communities around the world. Road to Rio+20 is weaving together such a global youth-led movement, with its 90+ organizations and their combined outreach to millions of people on all continents (and yes, even in Antarctica!). Since 2010, we’ve been mobilizing youth to make their voice heard and to take action – pushing world leaders in all sectors to play their role in the development of a more sustainable world, and creating that world ourselves.

MyCity+20 joins the Rio+YOU campaign as the key initiatives that the coalition is supporting in the lead up to the summit. We’re encouraging and empowering young people to organize events, share stories, grow a global online conversation, educate each other, become more entrepreneurial, and become advocates of the future they want.

On April 22, Earth Day, we’ll take the next step in our journey by Mobilizing the Earth towards Rio+20. Our hope is to see MyCity+20 events spread like wildfire all over the world, in quickly growing numbers from that day of mobilization. Our belief is that these events can shift the conversation we’re having in our communities, and build solid plans of action, led by youth, on how to transition those communities towards a sustainable future.

So next time somebody asks you “why another Model UN?”, remind them that yours is not just a simulation, but more of a simul-action. And that when the outcome of the event is finalized, and all roles have been successfully played, that’s when the work really begins.

Why is it relevant to reinforce the role of local authorities?

Katharina Hess and Susanne Salz of ICLEI explain why local authorities need to be included in and empowered to play a greater role in global environmental governance. To find out more about ICLEI’s involvement with Rio+20, visit their website at www.iclei.org/local2012.

--

ICLEI — Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) is an international association of local governments and national and regional local government organizations that have made a commitment to sustainable development.  ICLEI highlights its work with 110 large cities in its membership, 12 of which are mega-cities as well as over 1000 medium-sized and smaller cities and towns in over 70 countries. Amongst others, ICLEI supports cities to become low-carbon, resilient, bio-diverse, resource-efficient, and to green their infrastructure and urban economy and to achieve a healthy & happy community. Its basic premise is that locally designed initiatives can provide an effective and cost-efficient way to achieve local, national, and global sustainability objectives.

ICLEI realizes that summits such as Rio+20 hold great significance in shaping the future we want.  We are currently living beyond the carrying capacity of our planet and in the next 40 years we have to build the same urban capacity which we have built in the past 4000 years.  ICLEI’s vision is to make systemic changes to ensure sustained human life on earth and for Rio+20 to be more than just a declaration – the conference needs to decide upon and present concrete actions!  ICLEI’s submission for the outcome document at Rio+20 therefore calls for a greater role of local authorities in the process, amongst others.

Why cities and local governments you ask?  In 2050, 9 billion people will live on this planet with two-thirds of the population living in urban areas.  Cities will account for 90% of the global economy and between 2005 and 2025, an estimated 200 trillion dollars will be spent globally on fixed urban assets.  This economic growth should be resource-productive, resilient, low-carbon and low-risk urban infrastructure. Moreover, cities will consume 80-90% of the global energy, and will be responsible for just as much greenhouse gas emissions stemming mainly from building heating and cooling, transport and energy production.   It therefore makes sense to include cities, and more particularly local governments, in global environmental governance since they are part of the problem but can also be part of the solution. 

The idea of MyCity+20 to engage citizens at the local level into the global Rio+20 debates is the embodiment of something at the core of ICLEI: "Think global, act local!". Let's work locally for a successful global Rio+20 conference!

Earth Day, April 22

On this Earth Day, let's mobilize ourselves to better the environment and surge ahead sustainably!
Ideas on how to do so and how to add your voice to the global campaign is all available here:
http://www.roadtorioplus20.org/mobilize_the_earth_on_april_22

Don't forget to be quick! It's only 20 days away.

Yours sustainably,
MyCity+20

Want to learn more about Rio+20 ?

Following is a special message from David Woolcombe, president of Peace Child International. This NGO created an educational hub that can help young people, whether they are participating in a Rio+20 simulation or not, to know more about the issues raised at Rio+20.

Dear Friends:
 
Education & Awareness-raising for Rio+20: 
I am delighted to be able to announce today the launch of our Education Hub for Rio+20:
 

http://rioplus20education.info

For the first time, it brings together everything Peace Child has ever published on the Rio Earth Summit Process – - from our  Children’s Edition of Agenda 21:  Rescue Mission : Planet Earth, to our Johannesburg update: Rescue 2002, our Copenhagen briefing:Energy Revolution – to the 6 new Education Booklets on Sustainable Human Development  we have prepared for Rio+20, loosely based on the UN Human Development Reports and the UNEP Green Economy briefing. All these are created by young people for young people – based on the original UN documents, almost all of which are featured on the Background section of the site.

Our goal is to get every school on the planet to teach their students about the crucial issues addressed by Rio+20: the website Home page starts with seven jargon-free slides that summarise some of the Rio+20 issues, linked to posters outlining some solutions. It goes on to propose ideas for Action:
1.    The UNESCO-supported ‘My City+20’ – Model Rio Earth Summit idea;
2.    A DAY OF ACTION AND LEARNING for Rio+20.
3.    A ‘Do it yourself Green Economy Transition Plan’ – for your self – your household – your community – and your Nation.
The site also links to the UN’s Rio+20 sites and its Global Conversation Campaign: The Future We Want. It will, we hope – through the Add section – link to many other great initiatives for action and awareness-raising. Like your’s! Please share your ideas with me, or Simon Howlett, the young webmaster who created the site, at: rio@peacechild.org

Peace Child International has worked continuously on the Rio Earth Summit Agenda since 1992. For us, the road does not end in Rio: it begins again in Rio this June – and continues for the rest of our lives, seeking – struggling – committing – innovating – and energizing our communities and nations for SUSTAINABILITY.  It is truly our generational challenge: and we hope this site will help us all rise to it.

Thank you for sharing news about this site with your network.
 

Sincerely

David R. Woollcombe, President, Peace Child International
International Director, World Youth Congress  Series on Youth and Sustainable Development
[david@peacechild.org]

Rio+20: Logistics and Agenda

Hi Everyone,

Looking for details on the dates of the conference, the mission of the organizational committees and who's compiling the zero draft? There's a small power point presentation that you can view at the link below that will give you all the useful information you need to know about the Rio+20 conference including the venue of the conference and side events.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/46990110/Rioplus20_logistics%20and%20agenda.pdf

For those interested, remember that the last day to apply for the side events is the 31st of March! That's by the end of this week.

Yours sustainably,

MyCity+20

Rio+YOU - It's time to mobilize!

MyCity+20 has been adopted by Road to Rio+20, an NGO coalition, as one of their two worldwide campaign. The second one is Rio+YOU, and we strongly encourage you to take a look at what it's all about.

Join the campaign, spread the passion.

See more at:
http://www.riomasvos.org/?lang=en

Your time, your future !
Yours sustainably,
MyCity+20

NRDC’s Vision for a Different Kind of Earth Summit

Today we host on our blog an article by NRDC, on the kind of inovations the Rio+20 simulations could try out!

by Michael Davidson, Natural Resources Defense Council

From NRDC’s participation in international summits since Stockholm 1972, we recognize the value of gatherings such as Rio+20 in generating real progress on the ground toward environmental goals. Success at Earth Summit 2012 is particularly important given the growing skepticism worldwide about the ability of such international negotiations and gatherings to do anything worthwhile on the huge environmental and economic challenges we face. The summit process will involve thousands of officials, business and civil society leaders throughout the world and a collective investment of hundreds of millions of dollars. It is critical that this time and energy is not wasted.

In order to realize its potential, we propose the following structure for Earth Summit 2012. A one- to two-day conference simulation based on this will benefit from previous successes and be readily accessible to advanced undergraduate and graduate students. For more information on our priority outcomes for Rio+20, visit www.race2rio.org .

Three Days of Recognition and Support for Country Actions

The official high-level Rio+20 meeting from June 20-22 must be different than earlier summits.  There is no need for another long Plan of Action or the addition of another treaty to the hundreds that have already been adopted.  The three-day meeting should instead put the spotlight on individual and collective actions of presidents and prime ministers to move toward sustainable development goals. These sessions should:

●      Encourage all presidents and prime ministers to use their allotted time for speeches – usually about 5 minutes - to present on the specific sustainable development initiatives, challenges, and needs in their respective countries.

●      Create the expectation for new or substantially scaled-up commitments from all countries, which are specific and short-term; and identify partners for technical assistance and coordinating actions. Here are some examples.

●     Produce a politically-binding outcomes document of not more than ten pages that recognizes the imminent threat of exceeding our planet’s natural boundaries, the need to move to a new green economy, and recommits governments to act on their promises to move towards sustainable development. Here’s what we think about the current zero draft: on clean energy/climate; oceans; from a youth perspective.

●      Generate an appendix of country commitments to the outcomes document that provides a foundation for a registry of such commitments at a new global center for sustainability actions:  

Four Days of Engagement and Cooperation with Major Stakeholders

The period of four days (June 16-19) prior to the official summit provides an unprecedented opportunity to engage sub-national governments, businesses and civil society on an equal footing. These sessions should be coordinated closely and in parallel with the official meeting; they should:

●    Invite CEOs of major corporations, local government officials, and civil society leaders to give presentations on sustainable development challenges and opportunities in their sectors.

●      Create the expectation for commitments from all major businesses and local governments that are specific and meaningful, and complement or exceed national goals.

●      Produce a registry of major stakeholder commitments, which includes robust monitoring and reporting provisions, and is in parallel with the national registry above.

To learn more about NRDC’s Race to Rio campaign, please visit us and sign up for our periodic newsletter at www.race2rio.org

Highlight: Paris+20 and an idea for a framework you can adopt

As you may already know, the idea of organising simulations of Rio+20 was born in Paris. At the moment, MyCity+20 is receiving many requests regarding how the simulation should or could look like. This post aims at sharing how Paris+20 is making the magic happen :)

First of all, we are differentiating between the responsibility of the organisers and the secretariat  and presidency. The organisers are creating a "big box", which is a framework for the simulation, while the secretariat and presidency are creating a "medium box", inside the big one, which is a framework for the negotiation.

The "big box" is about setting the date, the place, which delegation is represented, which twist you want to introduce compared to the real process, etc. The previous post, called "The framework of Rio+20 simulations" are about this big box.

The "medium box" is about setting negotiation rules, deciding how to facilitate the negotiations, etc. They are mostly the responsibility of the secretariat and presidency.

In the case of Paris+20, we are doing the following: 

From the organisers point of view:

1. Preparations. They consist of 3 phases:

1a. Conferences, so the participants get a background knowledge on the issues at stake. In this phase and the following one they go from individuals to participants.

1b. Delegation preps: participants are divided in teams, so they can prepare their positions, go deeper on some topics and decide their working methods.

1c. Prep-coms: there will be intermediate (short) meetings so the delegations can start interacting with each other, establish alliances, etc.

2. The simulation itself : 

We, as organisers of Paris+20, provide food, a place for a three-day negotiation (including one night), and all the necessary material.

3. Debriefing:

It will last one day and will happen at the UNESCO building, which is not the same place as the simulation itself. The point of the debriefing is to allow delegates to become individuals again, i.e. who are not role-playing any more. Psychological studies have shown that this is absolutely necessary in order to turn anything experienced during the game to a positive and enriching learning experience.

4. Day of action:

We now address the daily life of our participants. What are the kind of projects, actions or careers they could pursue in order to "be the change they want to see in the world" ?

From the point of view of the delegates:

In parallel to the work of the organisers, and from phase 1.b to 2:

- A zero draft (simplified) is published by the secretariat.

- Delegations have time to amend the draft

- The draft is modified, and thus becomes draft 1. It will be the basis for the negotiations in phase 1c and 2.

In parallel with this work on the draft, one has to decide the voting rules & procedures, the way the negotiations will be held, etc. It is the responsibility of the Secretariat and the Presidency, but any decision taken has to have a consensus among the voting delegations (and eventually be formally voted on). The Secretariat will transmit a document called "rules of procedure", based on the Rio+20 rules of procedures, which can be found on the internet.

We are not yet sure how the negotiations will be held, but we forsee the following:

- one opening session, very formal, to help people get into the roleplay, as well as voting the procedures (can NGOs/IMF attend any session? can they vote ?)

- negotiation blocks: delegates are divided in discussion groups, where every country is represented. After each block of discussion, we will schedule buffer time, for each delegation to meet again, and for setting the agenda of the next block. Each decision will need a vote from the plenary to be finalised.

- closing ceremony, for the final voting.

These explanations are based on the design of Paris+20 and are not at all a "must" for all the simulations of Rio+20!

We hope it does help you :)

Yours sustainably,

Paris+20

Framework of the Rio+20 simulation: Scenario Set-ups

Have you ever wondered why the UNESCO process is how it is? How could you change it, etc? Creating a model of reality is the perfect opportunity to test scenarios, new processes.

In line with the goals set by us for our Rio+20 simulations (educating the youth, acting locally), we encourage each city to experiment, and we suggest you to pick one of the following scenarios:

Don’t forget to let us know which scenario you’re implementing! Keep in mind some include modifications in the Rules of Procedure.

A) How can the role of local authorities be reinforced?

The program “Agenda 21”, directed at municipalities, local governments, and civil society groups, was one of the most successful outcomes of the Rio 1992 Conference. The local scale seems to be one of the most relevant scales at which to apply the general principles that are decided at an international level. Therefore, it can be useful to look into a possible further-reaching involvement of this group of actors.

è  Thus, local authorities could negotiate directly on concrete and common issues depending on their own situation. One delegation of local authorities could take its own commitments.

è One variant of this hypothesis could focus on world megacities and give them one vote since some of them have a GDP and/or a population more important than some states.

Example of specific delegations: Mexico City area, The Megacities of New York or Tokyo, Singapore.

B) How can the need to consider long-term issues be reconciled with the inherent tendency of negotiations to focus on short-term questions?

Politicians and negotiators often tend to adjourn important topics related to climate change. This problem is related to terms of office of politicians, and short-term poll outcomes. In order to remediate this, governments could nominate a delegate to represent their long-term interests (for example a young citizen elected or designated by local associations).

C) How could the negotiations be “regionalized”?

Whether the issue is climate, deforestation or local pollution, the decisions and outcomes of negotiations should be implemented for regions and not countries, thus reinforcing the cooperation of the individual countries. In the case of Kyoto, this would mean negotiation by area, and then negotiation within the defined areas to attribute certain carbon reduction targets to each state. The main limits and difficulties of this model would first be to define the regional areas: which legitimacy, which efficiency for these areas? And how to decide their creation (need for a specific UN agreement)?

To implement this hypothesis, the simulation structure (contact groups, meetings schedule…) should be re-organized by taking into account:

- Geo-economic unions like the ASEAN, the European Union or the Mercosur

-  Common ecologic issues and interests such as deforestation.

D) How could one envisage organizing negotiations through “aggregated interest groups”?

NB: This hypothesis is the most complex to implement. It necessitates a well-organised and large secretariat.  

In order to make negotiations more efficient and prevent deadlocks, one could reduce the number of participants so that for each topic, the different interest groups would be represented. International negotiations have so far been conducted by heterogeneous and inflexible global interest groups (G77, industrialized countries against developing countries…). So, how about bringing together stakeholders in homogenous and flexible thematic interest groups?

States would have to – for each theme negotiated – pick a group that would then represent them in the negotiating process concerning that precise issue. The members of each group would hence differ from one theme to another and for each issue several homogenous interest groups would be created. The right to vote would, however, remain with each individual state who would be invited to validate the negotiating results obtained by the thematic interest groups.

To implement this hypothesis, the simulation structure (contact groups, meetings schedule…) should be re-organized by taking into account specific issues, which can explode conventional interest groups like the G77.  For instance instead of organizing one unique meeting to negotiate a World Environmental Agency, organize one meeting for its mandate, one for its funding…

E) How transparency can be reinforced by publicizing negotiation meetings?

Delegates usually negotiate behind closed doors with the single pressure of their national mandate. In order to restore a balance of pressure, civil society could be allowed to attend every meeting and to speak (at least once). We can try to make the negotiations transparent and public by allowing some journalists to attend, record and broadcast all the meetings.

Don’t forget to send us:

-          hypothesis chosen + justification

-          list of the delegations

The full document can be found here, thanks to Paris+20.

Yours sustainably

MyCity+20

/Any question regarding this post? contact mycityplus20@gmail.com

Framework for the Rio+20 Simulation: Delegation Details

We ask each MyCity+20 project to share this common framework so that the results can be consistent and comparable. Do feel free to alter it according to your preferences, but don’t forget to let us know the reasons behind that!

This post is dedicated to the delegations to be represented and it will be followed by another one on scenario set-ups.

Since the simulations are organized with a limited budget and resources, every state cannot be represented. Therefore, countries have been chosen for their specific group characteristics.

1. Mandatory States delegations:

- One delegation for the host country (i.e. your country)

- Brazil, China, India, South Africa

- European Union (if you have enough participants you can represent some specific European countries)

- United States, Japan, Australia

- Small Island Developing States (Caribbean and Pacific Islands)

- Saudi Arabia (to represent the OPEP)

- Two least Developed countries.

- Bolivia (to represent countries which disagree with the current international system and with the concept of  Green Economy).

2. Mandatory non-States delegations:

- Bretton-Wood Institutions: if enough participants you can form two delegations, if not, then one delegation with at least one representative of each institution.

- UNEP/UNDP (one delegation with at least one member for each program)

- A scientific delegation (one delegation with at least one member for each group)

- Major Groups

- Journalists: it’s strongly advised to ask for the local/university media to cover the event as if it was not a simulation

2a. Presidency: 

The simulation conference has to be presided by Brazil. The host country (your country) should take the vice-presidency.

The president has to be active, leading the negotiation process, and stimulating the different delegations. He has to be part of the Brazilian delegation, according to the RIO+20 organization, but the vice president of your simulation has to be from the delegation of your country, highlighting the national commitment of youths.

2.b Secretariat:  

The role of the secretariat is to write the first document of negotiation which should be as neutral as possible. It can include articles which are proposed by certain groups, but should try to include the perspectives of all delegations.

After this document is ‘published’, i.e. presented to the delegations, they are allowed to make amendments. These should then be integrated into ‘zero draft’ to form draft 1. It also has to decide how to frame the contact groups.Then, the final draft, which will be the basis of your simulation of the conference, has to be published with the results of the Preparatory Committee. The secretariat may adjust its contact groups. During the simulation, the secretariat is not directly involved in the negotiation process, but has to moderate the debate and add into the draft’s final modifications. 

 In case you are running the simulation with highschool students, we suggest to have adults helping out the Secretariat.

3. Optional delegations: (examples)

- Venezuela (as part of the bolivarian doctrine) Ecuador

- Russia

- Singapore: especially in testing a scenario related to cities

- Another African Country like Ghana, or a really poor country such as Liberia

- Politically sensitive country (thinking to the Arab Spring) like Iran or Egypt

- South East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines…)

How many people per delegation?

We recommend:

- At least 3 students for each State delegation

- At least 2 students for the IMF, World Bank and UNEP/UNDP delegations

- At least 3 students for the scientific delegation

- At least 9 students in the Major Groups delegation

- At least 2 journalists

- At least 3 secretariat members.

TOTAL (approx):  45 Students for States delegations +20 Students for non-States delegations = 65 players.

These figures are indicative and aim at providing us a basis for future comparison of the outcomes of each simulation. The important point is to let us know your plans.

The full document can be found here, thanks to Paris+20.

Yours sustainably

MyCity+20

/Any question regarding this post ? contact mycityplus20@gmail.com

How can I start my own simulation? - part2

Ok, so you contacted us, and you are now on the map, as a blue dot.

Would you rather be a green dot ? It would mean that you moved from "I'm interested" to "Yes, I am running a simulation of Rio+20 !". It is very easy ! Follow these steps :

1. Send us an outline of your plans, as soon as possible. This way, we can be sure we have the same understanding of what MyCity+20 is all about. It should include a short presentation of the organisations which are involved ! The name of your project should either be in the shape of "MyCity+20" or include it. For example "Amsterdam+20", "Kinshasa+20", or "MyCity+20 - Highschool xyz".

2. Send us the details of your communication campaign :

- specific email address in the shape of youcityplus20@. This will be used for us to communicate with you, as well as to add your contact on the map !
- link to your facebook, website, twitter, etc

3.  Congratulations ! You are now added to our working mailing-list, where we connect the different organisers around the world. There, we will discuss what we can build together !

Check the map, you are now a green dot :) You can now call yourself as part of the MyCity+20 movement.

Yours sustainably

MyCity+20
/Any question regarding this post ? contact mycityplus20@gmail.com

How can I start my own simulation? - part1

MyCity+20 is a concept as well as an informal platform in order to motivate and support other cities to create their own simulation of Rio+20.

We share a common vision:

Young people take action in the field of sustainable development.

And we give ourselves the following mission:

Young people will be ready to tackle international sustainable development issues by simulating international summits. Young people are also given the opportunity to take action locally on SD issues.

We set for ourselves 3 goals :

1. The youth learn about global SD issues thanks to a simulation of the Rio+20 summit.

2. The youth are given the opportunity to take action in their local community.

3. The youth carry the message that they are ready to be involved in the transition towards a sustainable society.

You like our vision and mission, as well as our goals ? So does UNESCO* :)

You don't know how to start ?

The MyCity+20 team edited two documents, with UNESCO**:

- a concept note

- a "How to start" document, with a step by step approach.

Read them, and you will know how to be added on the map :)

Yours sustainably

MyCity+20

/Any question regarding this post ? contact mycityplus20@gmail.com

* The content and outcome of the discussions during the negotiation simulations of the MyCity+20 initiatives and during its preparations do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO with respect to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development.

**The draft version is still in the process of being discussed with UNESCO. UNESCO is in the process of endorsing this draft version.

How the youth can take over Rio+20!

Rio+20 will undoubtedly be a milestone in the history of international negotiations and this represents an opportunity that must be seized in order for others to take notice of the youth and for us to be a prominent part of future conferences. 

But, how can you mobilize the youth to act in Rio+20? How can the youth be empowered to deal with sustainable development issues?

Borrowing from our experience of a simulation of the Copenhagen negotiations on climate change organized by Sciences Po in 2011, we arrived at the conclusion that giving the youth a taste of the UN negotiations was the best way to pique their interest.  In this context, we decided to organize a simulation in Paris of the upcoming conference in Rio de Janeiro this June.

Our project is thus aimed at mobilizing the youth, educating them on the urgency of sustainable development issues and encouraging them to involve themselves in the negotiation process, albeit from a distance. At our simulation, we will test new methods of negotiation and will arrive at some potential outcomes. Through our experimentation, we will come up with innovative ideas that can restructure the UN processes and restore hope in them. UNESCO, our partners in the project, will be working with our research team in developing a hypothesis for our conference. However, it is important to note that irrespective of the outcomes of our simulation, empowering the youth to take action is our main objective. If we manage to do this, we will succeed in achieving the primary goal that we have set for ourselves, i.e., that the youth is ready to play an active part in international negotiations and to shape its own future.

Through the active support of UNESCO, we have moved towards disseminating the idea globally, extending beyond Paris and France, and looking at other cities in the world. We are encouraging other cities to jump onto the bandwagon and to host their own Rio+20 simulation as we believe that our initiative is worth partaking in.

We have, so far, received an enthusiastic response from many youth organizations and universities worldwide, making us feel optimistic that the MyCity+20 movement will be a success. Currently, we have representatives in Asia (Colombo+20 and Mumbai+20), Europe (Rome+20 and Amsterdam+20) and Central America (MexicoCity+20), Africa (Kampala+20 and Kinshasa+20) who are willing to organize their own simulation of Rio+20. We at Paris+20 will provide interested cities with support; giving them ideas on how to start their own simulation; potential people to contact and overall complete flexibility in organizing their own event. Any interested cities are welcome to contact us at mycityplus20@gmail.com for further details.

The feeling that the time is ripe for the youth to take over the negotiations is being translated into action with this movement and we encourage everyone to participate in the process!

Read this article on the official UNCSD website:  http://www.uncsd2012.org/rio20/index.php?page=view&nr=699&type=230&menu=38

Mapping out the MyCity+20 projects

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to our blog! Through this we shall keep everyone up-to-date with all the happenings across the MyCity+20 projects.

On the left you will find the MyCity+20 map of the world. Click on the markers to view the cities where we have contacts (or from where we have received expressions of interest). If you belong to one of these cities and would like to get in touch with the contact person, either send an email to the address if given, or to us at mycityplus20@gmail.com.

Don't forget to send us the links to your websites/blogs/facebook pages once they are created so we can add them to the link list. Entries for short articles are also welcome!

Yours sustainably,
MyCity+20