In response to the urgent challenges presented by global climate change, the world’s leading universities are called on to play a critical role.
At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting at Davos in January 2019, Tsinghua Universities initiated the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC).
Five months later, GAUC was formally established and the fifteen member universities include Australian National University, the University of California Berkeley, the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics and Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Tokyo, Tsinghua University, the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, the Indian Institute of Science, Sciences Po, Stellenbosch University, Oxford University, Columbia University, and Yale University.
To learn more about the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate, please visit: www.gauc.net.
Leading organizers
Imperial College London, University of Cambridge
Co-organizers
Columbia University, the University of Oxford, Yale University, and Tsinghua University
Strategic partners:
COP26 Universities Network
Supporting offices within Tsinghua
GAUC Secretariat
Institute of Sustainable Development and Climate Change (ICCSD)
Graduate Affairs Office
Graduates Union
Office of International Affairs
Global Competence Center
Center for International Security and Strategy (CISS)
Tsinghua x-lab
Horizon Program for Global Youth Development
Student Association of Belt and Road Initiative (SABRI)
The Summit is themed "Climate X", to emphasize the close interconnection between climate change and other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the transforming impact that climate change holds over other subjects.
Integrate with other trending global topics, the Summit will focus on the interconnection between climate and four areas: Nature & Biodiversity, Food & Health, Energy, and Transportation.
In addition to those areas, the summit also welcomes youth to initiate their field of interest, to study and explore its interconnectivity with climate change.
Considering the importance of global climate governance, the summit encourages the youth to submit papers, innovate solutions or share voices from the perspective of public policy.
The Summit will hold three tracks this year, namely: Academic, Action, and Voice, calling for youth’s ideas and solutions in different forms, to further expand the influence of the strength of youth, the Summit, and the GAUC network.
ATTENTION: The Voice Track will close on 31 Aug and the Academic track and will close on 5 Sept.
The Academic track calls for academic papers from the graduate students within and beyond GAUC.
Columbia University, the University of Oxford, Yale University, Tsinghua University
Abstract (between 1000 and 2000 words) submission deadline is 5 Sept.
Preliminary review result will be announced on 24 Sept.
If the abstract is accepted, the author will be invited to the summit, he or she must prepare a 3-minute verbal presentation during the Summit (25 Oct-29 Oct), and submit a 15-munite presentation in a short video format on social media by 8 Oct.
Candidates advancing to the second-round review to compete the Best Paper Award must also submit the full paper and an abstract that can be understood by people with non-academic background by 8 Oct.
Students who receive Best Paper Award will be issued certificates and also be invited to the GAUC High Level Award Ceremony on 5 Nov. during COP26 together with presidents of GAUC member universities and global climate leaders.
All submissions must be in English.
Submissions are not limited to unpublished researches.
Published results are acceptable as long as they are original researches published within one year of the submission date.
Unpublished researches are encouraged and will receive bonus points in the evaluation round.
Where to submit my papers?
For more enquiries: gaucevent@tsinghua.edu.cn (alternative submission channel)
To bring the voice of the next generation to the global arena, the Summit also initiate the Voice Track. In partnership with COP26 Universities Network, the track calling for short video clips from global youth on their ideas, suggestions, and actions towards climate change.
COP26 Universities Network
Your first name and country (5 seconds)
Why is climate change important to you? (25 seconds)
What is the most important change you think we need to make to address climate change? (25seconds)
Are you involved in a climate group or organization? If so, what does it do/what are you working on?(15 seconds). If you are not, please leave out this question.
What pledge will YOU take to address climate change (25 seconds)
What would you most like to say to global decision-makers at COP? (25 seconds)
Participants should age between 18-30.
Please shoot your film landscape.
Please feel free to include, where relevant and where the footage will be enhanced, a mix of wide and close-up shots.
Please aim to have no/minimal background noise.
We’d love to see footage of you/your group speaking, as well as footage that demonstrates what you’re working on, or talking about – e.g. a polluted or flooded river.
If you can, please speak in English. If this is not possible, let us know what language you are speaking and subtitles will be used to cover non-English language sections.
Send the video as a direct message to one of the following social media accounts
Twitter: https://twitter.com/actnowfilm #ActNowFilm
Weibo: https://weibo.com/u/6264403708?is_all=1 #ActNowFilm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actnowfilm/ #ActNowFilm
Or send it as a WeTransfer link to info@zero.cam.ac.uk.
Learn more about the #ActNowFilm,go to
https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/cop26/actnowfilm/
