COP21, the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, will be taking place in Paris (France) from 30 November to 11 December. COP21 will be a crucial conference, as it needs to achieve a new international agreement on the climate, applicable to all countries, with the aim of keeping global warming below 2°C.
Science centres will be represented, with two main events coordinated by ASTC, the Association of Science-Technology Centers:
- A video conference from inside COP21 where representatives from science centre networks will show videos from their local youth programme on climate, followed by a discussion with experts at the Summit and a discussion on social media. Monday 30 November 2015 at 13.15 (Paris time CEST).
- An interactive video conference where the youth who took part in initiatives ran by locoal science centres will join in a live exchange with each other and the audiences gathered at Universcience, Paris. Time and date will be announced soon.
Want to engage your own local audience in this worldwide effort? The World Cimate Exercise might be exactly what you need. This simulation game developed by Washington-based NGO Climate Interactive together with MIT allows participants to step into the role of UN representatives for lively, thought-provoking discussions around climate change, simulating the discussions that will take place in Paris. All science centres and museums are invited to take part in this exciting opportunity and host a World Climate Exercise at their institution.
To learn how and find all of the materials you need, go to the World Climate Project website, where you can also register your event and see other events taking place around the world.
A first special training webinar hosted by Climate Interactive on how to organise and lead the game in a science centre or museum will be held on 24 September at 19.00 CEST (Central European Time) - register here. If you cannot make that first one, there will be other opportunities as well.