Young Citizens Conferences

MILSET Young Citizens Conferences (YCC) are dedicated to the views and concerns of youth regarding the social impact of science and technology on the modern world, gathering their voices from every part of the globe and encouraging them to actively enter the discussion.

The exponential growth of new technologies and scientific knowledge has generated new and exciting possibilities; however, this has also raised new ethical, social and ecological issues. We believe that the open-mindedness of young scientists combined with their sense of social responsibility can yield important contributions to the dialogue.

The primary goals of these conferences are achieved through a three-step methodology: 

• Concerns
• Discussion
• Actions.

YCC goals

• Create a space where youth can express their views on the topic;
• Engage youth in discussion and debate concerning their future;
• Enable youth to discover their personal responsibilities;
• Encourage youth to express their concerns about the topic through participation in an open global discussion;
• Present the voice of youth through short video presentations which will be posted on the MILSET website and other internet platforms.

What are the Young Citizens Conferences?

Throughout the year, local, regional and national youth STEAM organisations around the world are invited to organise YCCs on the topic to encourage youth to discuss their thoughts and propose suggestions based on their knowledge and experience. Conferences follow the three-step methodology: Concerns, Discussion and Actions.

How to organise them?

NGO’s, universities, schools, or any group of youth can organise a YCC and then submit their conclusions to ycc@milset.org.

MILSET defines youth as people between 13 and 25 years of age.

We advise you to follow the YCC methodology: Concerns, Discussion, and Actions to integrate the results with others from around the world. Furthermore, it is important to follow carefully the instructions for submitting results for your contribution to be accepted.

What are the requirements?

To keep the conference discussions as efficient and fruitful as possible we encourage you to follow this three-part methodology:

• Concerns: Introduce participants to the issue. Start by asking them thought-provoking questions about the topic and their recent related observations and experiences. What changes have they noticed? Which changes are having the greatest impact on society? What could be the social consequences of those changes in the near future? Participants can be also shown short videos on the topic, or guest speakers can present various opinions.
• Discussion: In small groups, participants discuss ideas, issues and concerns related to the topic from the first part of the conference or from their own experience. Encourage them to identify possible future benefits and risks for each concern.
• Actions: Participants explore and list possible actions to solve or reduce the concerns they identified. What should be done to reduce the risks and apply the benefits in the best possible way? Who should be responsible for accomplishing these actions? What can participants do to have an impact – at home, at school, in their community, and in the world? How should we behave in our everyday life? As teams, participants prepare short presentations or videos to communicate the results of their discussion and their recommendations. 

Let's share youth ideas with the world!

As a YCC organizer sum-up the results of the discussion and fill in the report form

Make short  videos  of participants during the activity, and send the best one to ycc@milset.org which will be  posted on the MILSET website and MILSET Facebook.

For more details download YCC presentation.

Topics

• 2008/2010 - Climate
• 2011 - Chemistry
• 2012/2013 - Water
• 2014 - Farming
• 2015/2016 - Energy
• 2017 - Science Learning
• 2018 - Artificial Intelligence

Resources

• YCC presentation
• Submit an event
• Join YCC on Facebook