Collaborative Conference: The Road to Glasgow: A Pre-COP Conference for the Youth Environmental Alliance in Higher Education

Climate change is a complex global problem that demands collaborative engagement. While students in higher education have long participated in climate action and some have attended the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to learn about global climate negotiations, there has yet to be a coordinated effort to bring those students together to learn from each other and share their experiences; nor has there been a concerted effort to train students in how to interact directly with COP participants.

By creating a multicultural and multi-institutional opportunity for students, the Pre-COP conference will become a launching pad for climate action and innovations led by youth at their home campuses, as well as on the global stage.

The “Road to Glasgow Pre-COP Student Conference” (hereafter “Pre-COP”) will take place in Derby, United Kingdom, as well as virtually, October 28-30, 2021, immediately preceding COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland. The PIs leading this effort are from the YEAH Network, a transdisciplinary, multi-institutional, international Research Coordination Network for Undergraduate Biology Education that focuses on providing real world experience on environmental negotiations and policy for students in science and sustainability majors.

The Pre-COP will prepare students in science and sustainability related disciplines to participate actively in, and contribute to, the COP26. First, students will be introduced to the culture and structure of international environmental negotiations and the COP processes. Second, interdisciplinary student teams will generate action plans within broad thematic topics with the goal of enhancing synergies between youth in higher education and international policy frameworks.

Third, students will be guided to present these ideas at the COP26 via press conferences and presentations at side events (e.g., the U.S. country pavilion). Finally, participants will share the ideas generated at the Pre-COP as well as their firsthand experience at COP26 with their home campuses.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.