中欧社会论坛 - China Europa Forum

Workshop presentation

As the inheriting generation, we are mobilizing a coalition of rising young leaders from across many sectors and disciplines to advance clean energy as a unifying solution to climate change

Topics for debates

• the status quo of China and Europe energy and climate challenge;
• the regional impact of climate change; energy security;
• youth’s role and political influence in current climate crisis;
• the Chinese and European positions in the 15th UN Framework Convention on Climate Change;
• youth’s opportunities in the energy and climate challenge;
• how to foster cooperation between Chinese and European youth

About us

Chinese Prime mover

Lina Li (李莉娜), Peking University.

European Prime mover

Michael Plesner, Copenhagen University., Denmark Michael has been working in broad variety of jobs, including chairing Energy Crossroads Denmark, building the climate strategy of Copenhagen University and forming a green travel company. Studying Economics at Copenhagen University, Denmark and is currently engaged in courses of development economics, microfinance & social entrepreneur-ship. Michael is hoping to do research on microfinance as a tool to reach decentra-lized solutions to the energy challenges of poor countries.

European Participants

• Iuliia Ogarenko, Ukraine

Iuliia has been studying at the MSc Programme in Ecology and Environmental Protection, National University of “Kyiv-Mohyla Academy”. She recently turned in her thesis project which aims to analyze and evaluate carbon tax and emissions trad-ing system as policy options and suggest which one should be implemented in Ukraine. Iuliia also holds experience in the environmental youth activism and networking. In particular, she is a member of the Youth Environmental Organisation “Ecoclub Green Wave” (www.ecoclub.kiev.ua), for which she was serving a Head during 2007/2008 academic year. Currently, I am coordinating working group on climate change and the ongoing project is the discussion club on climate change issues. Finally Iuliia was part of the “Countdown to Poz’n’Hagen” project of Young Friends of the Earth Europe, which provided the opportunity to attend UN Climate Change Conference (COP-14).

• Esther Vallado, Spain

Esther holds a B.Sc. in Environmental Science by Coventry University, in the U.K. She worked for a year and a half as project developer for a water treatment company in The Netherlands, and 2 years for the IUCN (International Union for the Conserva-tion of Nature) in Belgium also in charge of different projects with an international nature conservation scope. She then returned to her home town in northern Spain, where she just completed her studies with a 2 year professional training on Natural Resources and Landscape Management, thus becoming a technician in this field. Esther develops and coordinates the activities of WWF- Asturias with volunteers, and she also collaborates in different ways with several other local, regional, national and international NGOs and Associations. She participated in the United Nations Framework Conference for Climate Change last year in Poznan, Poland, and she will be present in this years Conference in Co-penhagen too, doing political lobbying for a stronger agreement on CO2 emissions cut.

• Björn Obmann, Germany

Björn is living in northern Germany. He is 30 years old and studied biology until he started to get involved with the young climate movement at a local group of young friends of the earth Germany. There, he was youth coordinator for a competition for young climate saviors who developed their own projects. Björn accompanied a group of 5 young activists for the UNFCCC in Poznan in 2008 and attended the negotiations in Bonn in June. Furthermore Björn helped some local citizens initiatives against coal power plants.

• Thomas Henze, Stuttgart, Germany.

Since 2007 he has been working as a Market Analyst/Strategy in the Sales Planning department at Mahle, a leading manufacturer of components and sys-tems for the combustion engine and related products. Apart from his work experience at a supplier, he has also gained experiences in auto-mobile business during his vocational training to an automobile clerk at a car dealer and through several internships at Daimler as an OEM. He has also done an internship in Daimler China for 10 months.

• Asta Pipiraitė, Lithuania

Asta is a student at Kaunas university of Technology of Environmental management and cleaner production master studies. She currently holds a bachelor in environmental science. Asta has interest in all topics of global environmental problems (incl. climate change, ozone layer depletion, water, air pollution, cleaner production, social responsibility, life cycle assessment, sustainable development), and in finding ways to deal them. She has previously participated in forums and conferences concerning Climate change and clean energy incl. “Our Opportunity” by Energy Crossroads Denmark. Asta has published an article: “Spring barely photosynthetic rate and changes in stress phases under different cad-mium impact”. Agriculture, vol. 95, No. 1 (2008), p. 73-85.

Mediators

Bin Zhang (张斌), Tsinghua University, zhangbin06 (at) mails.tsinghua.edu.cn

Yupu Zhao (赵玉璞), Franklin and Marshall College, yzhao(at)fandm.edu