Winners of Global Challenges Youth Music Contest #GYMC15 Announced
Press release, Klagenfurt, 6th of November 2015 – Winners of the Global Challenges Youth Music Contest #GYMC15 announced
Youth using Music for successful UN Climate Change Conference – COP21
“Let the Music Talk, let the rhythm play, let the world know what the youth have to say!”
“Three awards, three continents”
- GYMC15 Online Voting Award Winner:
“Sahabat Alam” (Friends of Nature) – Adeline Suwana, Sahabat Alam, Indonesia, Link to the video: wshe.es/jSmGtCet
- GYMC15 Jury Award Winner:
“Speak for the Trees” – Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, Earth Guardians, United States, Link to the video: http://wshe.es/NDNcT7GH
- GYMC15 Jury Special Recognition for a GYMC15 Children’s Song
“Climate Astronauts” Gottfried Kinkel Primary School Bonn, Germany, Link to the Video: wshe.es/aWr1AMGv
Giving young people a voice in global climate change negotiations has been the declared aim of the organizers of Global Challenges Youth Music Contest when they announced the “Youth and Climate Change #GYMC15” at the Bonn Climate Conference in June 2015 http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/2015-global-challenges-youth-music-contest/
Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), John Crowley from the secretariat of UNESCO’s Management of Social Transformations Programme and their civil society partner Miroslav Polzer (IAAI) said: “We are looking forward to meeting and awarding the winners on 7 December in Paris. The creativity and musical communications skills of so many young people are a testament to just how seriously youth from all corners of the Earth today take climate change. There were so many impressive songs, made with such love and care from so many youth, we as judges struggled to make our final decision”.
“But we now have our winners including a special recognition prize for a children’s song from the home city of the UNFCCC. Each entry has their own story to tell, from the risks the world is running from failing to address climate change, to the power of young people to catalyze change. We hope governments meeting in Paris in December to forge an historic, universal climate agreement download these songs and play them at moments when inspiration is needed. Perhaps we can save the world with a melody or at least contribute towards the kind of forward-looking decisions that can help humanity get there, “ they added.
45 young musicians from 26 countries from all around the world (including Fiji, Chile, Colombia, United States, Canada, Grenada, Nigeria, Benin, Kenya, France, UK, Germany, Austria, Italy, Slovakia, Albania, Turkey, India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Vietnam, etc.) followed the GYMC15 Call for Music and submitted their self produced music video clips on “Youth and Climate Change” to inspire the negotiations at UN Climate Change Conference COP21 with their music.
Through online voting (51.000 page views, 14.100 votes casted) and based on a jury composed of representatives of GYMC15 partners IAAI, UNESCO MOST and UNFCCC ACE the winners have been identified and are announced this Friday 6th of November 2015. Below is the list of the #GYMC15 award winners:
GYMC15 Online Voting Winner:
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“Sahabat Alam” (Friends of Nature) – Adeline Suwana, Indonesia (3596 votes) About the song: ‘Sahabat Alam – Friends of the Nature’ song calls for children and youth to love nature and environment in order to hinder climate change without differences in distances or languages, and to invite the entire nations’s young generation to love and care their environment by taking early roles in saving the nature and have a healthy planetarium to live in. Along with this spirit, Sahabat Alam pushes world political leaders to act decisively in mitigating the climate crisis and ensuring a better future for all of us. |
GYMC Jury Award Winner:
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“Speak for the Trees” – Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, United States About the song: Speak For the Trees was written on behalf of protecting the worlds resources for future generations. Our song tells the story, of how young people are standing up all over the world as leaders to protect what they love and to be a voice for those that are voiceless. Ours and future generations will be most affected by the decisions made at COP21, so we are using our voices though music to remind world leaders what is at stake and that what they decide at COP21 will determine the kind of world they will leave us with. |
The award for both winners is a round trip to Paris and the opportunity to participate in an official COP21 side event on “Youth Empowerment for Climate Action” scheduled on 3rd of December and in a GYMC15 climate change edutainment show in UNESCO COP21 pavilion on 7th of December (more info: http://www.glocha.info/index.php/latest-news/279-gymcatcop21)
In addition to the above two award winners for songs created by young people, the GYMC jury decided to introduce an additional ‘Special Recognition for a GYMC15 Children’s Song’ and to award Gottfried Kinkel Primary School Bonn, Germany for their song: “Climate Astronauts”which stands out with the innovative collaborative process in which the song has been produced (the Climate Ambassadors program http://www.bonner-klimabotschafter.de).
GYMC Jury Special Recognition for a GYMC15 Children’s Song
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“Climate Astronauts” Gottfried Kinkel Primary School Bonn, Germany About the song: This song was developed and performed for the theatre congress SAVE THE WORLD II in theatre Bonn in September 2015. http://tinyurl.com/oyzdduu Climate fairy Bernadette La Hengst developed the song lyrics with the help of the kids from Gottfried Kinkel school Bonn who are climate experts, since they got their climate driving license certification last year in a project called Klimabotschafter (climate ambassadors). http://www.bonner-klimabotschafter.de |
(visit http://wshe.es/JyaxcYSZ to see all 33 shortlisted entries)
The award ceremony will take place in Paris on 7 December 2015.
About the Global Challenges Youth Music Contest#GYMC15
The Global Challenges Youth Music Contest (GYMC) is an online music video competition for young people organized by the International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches (IAAI), a Civil Society Organization based in Klagenfurt/Austria in cooperation with UNESCO Management of Social Transformation (MOST) programme, UNFCCC Climate Secretariat and other partners.
The overall objective of the Global Challenges Youth Music Contest is to use the power of music to promote the understanding of the importance of global challenges – like climate change – for every global citizen and to engage young people in activities that contribute to global and local public good in the context of goals and programs of United Nations system.
With the 2015 edition of Global Challenges Youth Music Contest (#GYMC15) the organizers aim to:
- Communicate the topics of the UN Climate Change Conference COP21 which will be held in Paris in November/December 2015 to young people through peer communication (“informal global citizenship education”);
- Create and spread positive messages about youth-led climate action;
- Promote low-carbon lifestyles and think global – act local‘ values and action;
- Show to policymakers that young people demand strong global cooperation and bold action on climate change.
About the #GYMC Organizer and Partners
The 2015 GYMC is being organised by the International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI) www.glocha.info in cooperation with UNESCO Management of Social Transformation Program the UNFCCC secretariat and the WorldWeWant2015 online consultation platform www.worldwewant2015.org.
IAAI – International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges
IAAI is a youth focused UN ECOSOC accredited civil society organization based in Klagenfurt am Wörthersee in Austria. Founded in 2007 by a group of futures studies experts, science managers and global youth leaders, IAAI develops innovative conceptual frameworks, information and communication technology tools and campaigns in the field of multi-stakeholder action and innovative resource mobilization for global challenges (post2015 agenda) action. Its flagship initiative is the 15/15/15 UN Civil Society Resource Mobilization Partnership which is being implemented i.a. through “Global Youth Music Contest” and the “Global Challenges Action Network (GloCha)” (link to GloCha poster at COP20 in Lima: p://bit.ly/1tsgeOC)
Contact: Miroslav Polzer, Secretary General of IAAI, E-Mail: polzer (at) glocha.info; Website: www.glocha.info
UNESCO – Management of Social Transformation Programme (MOST)
The Management of Social Transformations (MOST) Programme is part of the Social and Human Sciences Sector (SHS) of UNESCO. It was designed as a research programme to produce reliable and relevant knowledge for policy makers. The original mandate established a strong commitment to the promotion of research that was comparative, international, inter disciplinary and policy relevant. The programme was also designed to organize and promote international research networks, to give attention to capacity building and to establish a clearing house of knowledge in the social science field. One particular focus of MOST is on building efficient bridges between research, policy and practice.
Contact: John Crowley, Chief of the Research, Policy and Foresight Section, E-Mail: j.crowley (at) unesco.org
United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCCC
With 196 Parties, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has near universal membership and is the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol has been ratified by 192 of the UNFCCC Parties. The ultimate objective of both treaties is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system. During COP 21/ CMP 11, UNFCCC secretariat’s Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE) program – will organize a variety of events and activities related to climate change education, training, public access to information, public awareness, public participation and international cooperation as well as youth. The events and activities will showcase good practices, lessons learned and climate action. For more information on COP 21 please visit the COP 21/ CMP 11 website.
Contact: Adriana Valenzuela Jimenez, UNFCCC Action for Climate Empowerment, AValenzuelaJimenez(at) unfccc.int
WorldWeWant2015
WorldWeWant2015 is an open and impartial global conversation platform that has been launched in the year 2011 as a joint venture of UN Development Group and Civil Society. It is governed by an open multi-stakeholder process with participation of both the UN and Civil Society – The World We Want 2015 Policy Strategy Group (PSG). The World We Want 2015 online global platform has facilitated online portions of the post2015 Agenda thematic consultations, national consultations, and the UNDG Dialogues on Implementation. Since its formation in 2011 WWW2015 has developed into a leading platform for open-knowledge, open-data, and cooperation and unique inclusive online facility enabling civil society engagement with policy making on global challenges.
Contact:Ravi Karkara, Co-chair WWW2015 PSG, E-Mail: karkara (at) un.org, Website: www.worldwewant2015.org
For media inquiries and for more information, please contact:
Dr. Miroslav Polzer, Executive Director
International Association for the Advancement of Innovative Approaches to Global Challenges (IAAI)
Adresse: Neuer Platz 10/I, At 9020 Klagenfurt am Wörthersee/Austria
Website: www.glocha.info; E-Mail: polzer (at) glocha.info; Tel.: +43 (0) 664 4203648 (mob/Austria)
Twitter: @glocha_mp
