WHAT ARE THE BARRIERS TO COLLABORATION BETWEEN CHINESE AND U.S YOUTH ON CLIMATE AND ENERGY ISSUES, AND HOW WILL CUYCE OVERCOME THEM? (Barrier [B], Overcome [O])
1. Youth Credibility
[B] Youth, in both countries, have less social trusts to create robust and practical solutions. Both societies view youth as untrustworthy and incapable of creating change of this nature or this scale, thus they feel disempowered. They also are faced with little intercultural project management skills, professional experience, and shortage of influential mentorship to help guide them on how to have effective collaboration and turn ideas into reality.
[O] We will build an extremely credible organization around this idea of youth empowerment and capability to carry out international collaborative solutions projects and being extremely reliable and effective at what we do and offering really high quality and impactful results. CUYCE empowers youth through transformative personal growth and leadership development opportunities.
2. Logistical Barriers
[B] There are an immense amount of barriers, which make setting up collaborative solutions projects difficult on an international scale. These barriers include visa restrictions, setting up food and housing in a foreign country, building up strong relationships in the other country, and navigating an unfamiliar culture.
[C] CUYCE will facilitate the necessary preparations to carry out a climate solutions project including preparing relationships with and introducing climate fellows to key players upon arrival, setting up housing arrangements in advance, and navigating the visa process for fellows.
3. Scarce Resources
[B] Youth operate in a resource scarce environment, and it takes many resources to collaborate on clean solutions internationally.
[O] We will build a community of resources by fostering relationships with resource rich actors and harness pre-existing, non-monetary assets.
4. Scarce opportunities
[B] There are few opportunities for youth to collaborate internationally on climate solutions projects.
[O] We will create and provide opportunities for youth to collaborate in this manner
5. Assumptions
[B] Assumptions about each other culture inhibit effective collaboration.
[O] CUYCE breaks down assumptions by providing opportunities for conversation and exchange, educational materials, and by fostering a culture that values reflections to create new, shared understanding.
6. Collaboration Experience
[B] No experience working on teams with people who share different cultural values
[O] CUYCE provides opportunities to solve problems together with people who share different cultural values. Captures insights of doing so and passes them onto collaborators in the future.
[B] No place to connect around share values, passions, and interests
[O] CUYCE will sustain long-term commitment and ensure success through a platform for people to connect around issues that motivate them to extremely high levels and fulfill them greatly.
7. Education
[B] There are few spaces that provide a plurality of views on climate change and Sino-US relations and to engage in critical discourse about the issues
[O] CUYCE fosters critical discourse about the issues by providing a space to interact with peers online, holding, discussions, debates, and forums, in addition to providing educational materials aimed toward exposing youth to a plurality of views on the topics.
8. China-Side Specific Barriers
[B] Even the most concerned Chinese have not developed the capacity to effectively organize for large scale societal transformation and change.
[O] CUYCE creates partnerships with agents of change who already have significant experience in organizing for large-scale societal transformation and change
[B] An underdeveloped civil society in China makes it more difficult to find support to engage in collaborative solutions. In addition, Chinese youth are still limited in the level of participation and engagement that they deserve in global issues.
[O] CUYCE will invest in high likelihood of success projects to prove this kind of work is possible and effective. This will thus foster acceptance, new norms, and engagement in society.
9. U.S-Side Specific Barriers
[B] View that we can't collaborate internationally, that we need to focus on the US first (US organizers)
[O] Combines US solutions work with international collaboration.
[B] The U.S sees China as a rival due to its booming economy and rapid rise as a global superpower. U.S citizens are coming to grip with the prospect of a country with financial and military power that could rival its own.
[O] We will tell a new story. This story is based of our work. Our new story changes the discourse and shifts the paradigm. This is how we multiply our effectiveness. We will partner with government agencies that previously thought this work was impossible or have been unsuccessful with it in the past. We will share our learning and spread their learning to the rest of our countries through their agencies.
[B] Since the U.S has had a robust civil society from the country's establishment; there is much greater power with grassroots activities. U.S youth work from the bottom up to make influential policy changes. Many American think that Chinese citizens are suppressed and efforts in either country cannot cross pollinate ideas to make change happen together.
[O] CUYCE identifies constraints within Chinese society and adopts creative methods for working within them.
10. Short sighted timescale/urgency trap
[B] There is a feeling among U.S organizers that we need both to create the solutions to these problems right now and that we can. This is an unrealistic timescale. The transformation we are working for will take decades and that is the timescale we need to be operating on.
[O] Professes the long view, painting a picture where cross cultural collaborative skills among future leaders will be critical to the prosperity of future communities. Also professes what we can gain from international collaboration.11. Information Gap
[B] In the U.S, media reporting on China’s environmental performance tends to be negative and a major rival to the West. A significant reason is that U.S reporters are less familiar with China with its rapid rise. In addition, media coverage tends to be brief and leave out key parts about the cultural and political situation. This has created a one-sided perspective for many U.S citizens.
In China, the government or different interest groups control major parts of the media. This makes it almost impossible for the public to hear comprehensive and critical reports and ideas. The discussion has never been encouraged, and the government will use sometimes hatred toward U.S.
[O] CUYCE will create open and critical discussions that develop a holistic understanding of the cultural and political dynamics at play as much as the news and events themselves.
11. Shared World
[B] If you don’t view the world as shared, you don’t view the need for solutions globally. People have not learned to think globally in the effort to deal with the worldwide crisis.
[O] CUYCE promotes a critical understanding that our actions are felt globally and as the largest developing and developing countries, we have unique responsibility to create a just, prosperous, and sustainable future for all.
[B] Youth, in both countries, have less social trusts to create robust and practical solutions. Both societies view youth as untrustworthy and incapable of creating change of this nature or this scale, thus they feel disempowered. They also are faced with little intercultural project management skills, professional experience, and shortage of influential mentorship to help guide them on how to have effective collaboration and turn ideas into reality.
[O] We will build an extremely credible organization around this idea of youth empowerment and capability to carry out international collaborative solutions projects and being extremely reliable and effective at what we do and offering really high quality and impactful results. CUYCE empowers youth through transformative personal growth and leadership development opportunities.
2. Logistical Barriers
[B] There are an immense amount of barriers, which make setting up collaborative solutions projects difficult on an international scale. These barriers include visa restrictions, setting up food and housing in a foreign country, building up strong relationships in the other country, and navigating an unfamiliar culture.
[C] CUYCE will facilitate the necessary preparations to carry out a climate solutions project including preparing relationships with and introducing climate fellows to key players upon arrival, setting up housing arrangements in advance, and navigating the visa process for fellows.
3. Scarce Resources
[B] Youth operate in a resource scarce environment, and it takes many resources to collaborate on clean solutions internationally.
[O] We will build a community of resources by fostering relationships with resource rich actors and harness pre-existing, non-monetary assets.
4. Scarce opportunities
[B] There are few opportunities for youth to collaborate internationally on climate solutions projects.
[O] We will create and provide opportunities for youth to collaborate in this manner
5. Assumptions
[B] Assumptions about each other culture inhibit effective collaboration.
[O] CUYCE breaks down assumptions by providing opportunities for conversation and exchange, educational materials, and by fostering a culture that values reflections to create new, shared understanding.
6. Collaboration Experience
[B] No experience working on teams with people who share different cultural values
[O] CUYCE provides opportunities to solve problems together with people who share different cultural values. Captures insights of doing so and passes them onto collaborators in the future.
[B] No place to connect around share values, passions, and interests
[O] CUYCE will sustain long-term commitment and ensure success through a platform for people to connect around issues that motivate them to extremely high levels and fulfill them greatly.
7. Education
[B] There are few spaces that provide a plurality of views on climate change and Sino-US relations and to engage in critical discourse about the issues
[O] CUYCE fosters critical discourse about the issues by providing a space to interact with peers online, holding, discussions, debates, and forums, in addition to providing educational materials aimed toward exposing youth to a plurality of views on the topics.
8. China-Side Specific Barriers
[B] Even the most concerned Chinese have not developed the capacity to effectively organize for large scale societal transformation and change.
[O] CUYCE creates partnerships with agents of change who already have significant experience in organizing for large-scale societal transformation and change
[B] An underdeveloped civil society in China makes it more difficult to find support to engage in collaborative solutions. In addition, Chinese youth are still limited in the level of participation and engagement that they deserve in global issues.
[O] CUYCE will invest in high likelihood of success projects to prove this kind of work is possible and effective. This will thus foster acceptance, new norms, and engagement in society.
9. U.S-Side Specific Barriers
[B] View that we can't collaborate internationally, that we need to focus on the US first (US organizers)
[O] Combines US solutions work with international collaboration.
[B] The U.S sees China as a rival due to its booming economy and rapid rise as a global superpower. U.S citizens are coming to grip with the prospect of a country with financial and military power that could rival its own.
[O] We will tell a new story. This story is based of our work. Our new story changes the discourse and shifts the paradigm. This is how we multiply our effectiveness. We will partner with government agencies that previously thought this work was impossible or have been unsuccessful with it in the past. We will share our learning and spread their learning to the rest of our countries through their agencies.
[B] Since the U.S has had a robust civil society from the country's establishment; there is much greater power with grassroots activities. U.S youth work from the bottom up to make influential policy changes. Many American think that Chinese citizens are suppressed and efforts in either country cannot cross pollinate ideas to make change happen together.
[O] CUYCE identifies constraints within Chinese society and adopts creative methods for working within them.
10. Short sighted timescale/urgency trap
[B] There is a feeling among U.S organizers that we need both to create the solutions to these problems right now and that we can. This is an unrealistic timescale. The transformation we are working for will take decades and that is the timescale we need to be operating on.
[O] Professes the long view, painting a picture where cross cultural collaborative skills among future leaders will be critical to the prosperity of future communities. Also professes what we can gain from international collaboration.11. Information Gap
[B] In the U.S, media reporting on China’s environmental performance tends to be negative and a major rival to the West. A significant reason is that U.S reporters are less familiar with China with its rapid rise. In addition, media coverage tends to be brief and leave out key parts about the cultural and political situation. This has created a one-sided perspective for many U.S citizens.
In China, the government or different interest groups control major parts of the media. This makes it almost impossible for the public to hear comprehensive and critical reports and ideas. The discussion has never been encouraged, and the government will use sometimes hatred toward U.S.
[O] CUYCE will create open and critical discussions that develop a holistic understanding of the cultural and political dynamics at play as much as the news and events themselves.
11. Shared World
[B] If you don’t view the world as shared, you don’t view the need for solutions globally. People have not learned to think globally in the effort to deal with the worldwide crisis.
[O] CUYCE promotes a critical understanding that our actions are felt globally and as the largest developing and developing countries, we have unique responsibility to create a just, prosperous, and sustainable future for all.