Wednesday 16th December 2009

As we type it’s snowing! Yes, it is absolutely freezing in Copenhagen and the snow is quite a novelty. Wearing more layers than most of us have in our lives, we brave the Danish snap with the upmost positivity (note: thermals here are not just for Guide camp here, they are for everyday usage).
Access to the Bella Centre is continuing to become more and more restricted and the mechanisms in place for entry are being adjusted ongoing. Unfortunately most delegates were unable to enter today; very long queues in the freezing cold (a Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties) only to be told in some cases that access was denied (a Guide is self-controlled in all she thinks, says and does). There is an increasing presence of police and security as the heads of state continue to arrive - helicopters are a regular fixture in the sky.


Learning about running programs in the SNOW a completely new experiance

We continued with the non-formal education outreach program; environmental and climate change education at local schools. The activities have been very well received and the high level of English spoken by the students is not only very impressive but very helpful! And we are learning to consider snow when planning activities and considering program options. Speedy attended the Australian delegation meeting on our behalf to get first-hand info on our country’s status and opinion on the text. She was also involved in the WAGGGS press conference and action today which have received a lot of positive feedback.

So, we bid farewell to the Bella Centre but not to the importance and focus of the conference or the impact that WAGGGS can have both here and after COP15. We will miss our early morning entry security checks (who wouldn’t want their ankles frisked each morning), the sense of notoriety in having your official ID card scanned numerous times daily, leaving your jacket in a cloakroom the size of a basketball court and weaving through the cast of thousands as you get your daily exercise running the marathon from one end of the Centre to the other for meetings and sessions.

Tomorrow starts with the ‘from COP15 onwards’ debrief...where we’re going after this amazing event and how we can maintain the momentum and work...



A group shoot in the snow with many of these girls seeing snow for the first time!


Everyone enjoyed a good snow war!!!


This it the same sign as in our first blog but now a part of the amazing winter wonderland!

The Copenhagen Update!

So, not quite sure where the other blogs have left off, so I think I’ll just cover from Saturday onwards. It was the first morning that many of us were able to sleep in, which was great. Speedy made getting up worthwhile by cooking pancakes for everyone (well, for everyone who was up in time!). Then for a couple of hours we had a mega-debrief on all that had happened during Week 1, and all that will happen during Week 2. We had time to reflect on our personal objectives from Week 1, and think about what we wanted to achieve over the next week. Also, each person had to say how they thought that WAGGGS could have maximum impact at COP15 this week.



Saturday afternoon many of the delegation attended the huge rally and march through the streets of Copenhagen to the Bella Centre. However, Speedy, Petina and Ally were in dire need of clean clothes and spent the afternoon hanging at the local Laundromat. Aby spent the afternoon at the Bella Centre as a member of a panel for a discussion based around youth involvement in action against climate change, dazzling everyone with her brilliance. Petina was everyone’s hero by cooking lasagne for dinner, before some headed out to the NGO Youth party for a dance or 2, or stayed behind and ate chocolate and lollies.

Sunday morning was another sleep in, but not for Speedy and Ally, who took advantage of a free sunny morning to enjoy a canal tour by boat (much to Petina’s dismay as she not able to join them). They had fun cruising along the harbour, checking out the back side of the Little Mermaid, the back canals with redeveloped navy buildings, and not having to duck their heads when the boat went under low bridges. They got back to the Scout Centre just in time to change into formal uniform to go and meet Her Royal Highness Princess Benedikte of Denmark at the Scout’s activity ‘camp’ in the city centre. Petina and Prisca (from Madacasar) made short speeches about why WAGGGS was represented at COP15, and what we had been doing. They were both amazing and the Princess was agreeing with everything they said!! After the reception with the Princess, our delegation said goodbye to Linden, who has returned to Australia. It’s been great having her with the team for the first week and a bit, and encouraging that WAGGGS is behind us 110% and so supportive.



At the Princess reception we also started meeting some of the Scout Summit participants, who number around 30 from nearly the same amount of countries. They are also now staying at the scout centre with us, which makes it a bit squishy, but a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded young people from around the world.


Waiting to meet the princess

Monday...The last day that all our delegation were able to get into the Bella Centre at the same time!! At some points during the day the Centre was in ‘lock down’ with no new people allowed to enter, which meant that some people were stuck outside in the cold waiting for hours to get in, and maybe not at all. We were all very lucky to make it inside the centre and get to spend another day attending events, talking to people and making contacts. It was also a very special day because it was the first meeting of the International Youth Climate Movement (IYCM)’s gender group which was very much headed by some of our amazing WAGGGS delegates but brought together a group a youth all who are passionate about seeing girls and young women recognised in text (that means formally written in the documents that the governments will all agree on). It was really great to find other people who are on the same page as us!


Meeting Tim Flannery

Tuesday... This was the start of the secondary pass system limiting the number of people able to get into the Bella Centre (this was applied across all Non- Government organisations). Because of this the lines to get in where extra confused and extra long but all WAGGGS people who needed to made it inside (including Ally). Petina spent most of her day working on programs to run in local school using non-formal education to increase climate awareness and also activities that could be run in the cold at the Scout Climate Camp in one of the city squares in Copenhagen. Speedy once again out shone all when thrown a bed sheet within an hour turned it into a fully functional life size board game to be played at the Climate Camp. Ally and Petina along with Katie (one of our WAGGGS leaders) and Margrethe (one of the Danish WAGGGS delegates) spent our evening playing in the snow!!! Well we spent the evening teaching scouts that came through the climate camp games (playing) and it was snowing... so that is playing in the snow. Unfortunately the snow didn’t settle but it was quite heavy and delight for us all, if not a little cold!!! Wednesday is set to be a big day for all with the main WAGGGS side event and action (which both Ally and Speedy will be inside the Bella Centre for), our day of non-formal education yet with 2 school sessions and the scout camp (which will keep Petina very busy) and a koala day for Abby. So as we sign off now. Stay tuned to here more about the last few days of our amazing journey!

next video is on youtube check it out

Hi world,

Sorry that this is another link the internet will not work fast enough to load it straight to the Blog but here check this out anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGc3QXfemgM

Finally i had some success with the blog site and got this blog up the next will follow very shortly!!!!

Just a quick blog from the Aussies, and everyone else in the WAGGGS Delegation to let you know that we are all safe and well despite what you may see in the media :)

due to technical difficulties I can not up load blog video check it out on you tube

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir1BquukU34

WAGGGS onTV

WAGGGS even made it to international TV

http://www.euronews.net/2009/12/07/optimism-marks-conference-beginning/

Our COY experience

An overview of our time at COY from Speedy (Nellie)

1st Day at COP-15!

Today was the first day of the main COP-15 conference. It has set the scene for the next 2 weeks, which will be amazing, tiring, busy, interesting and at some points overwhelming, but also a valuable learning experience.

We all attended a press conference held by UNICEF and FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation), which focused on using youth and music to break barriers and build bridges towards global climate action. These 2 organisations have partnered with WAGGGS to produce the Climate Challenge Badge. There were 8 youth delegates speaking on behalf of the Children’s Climate Summit, and they shared their experiences of music’s influence in the climate change movement. During the open question time, 2 WAGGGS delegates asked the panel questions regarding the impact of climate change on girls and young women in their communities, and how they were being included in the decision making process to take action. A number of WAGGGS delegates also attended a press conference held by the Women’s Environment and Development Organisation, which identified why gender equality matters in a global climate change agreement.

After lunch we took part in a joint youth action, performing a ‘flash dance’ in the main common area of the Bella Centre. Over 200 youth took part to demand climate justice through dance and song. These types of actions are important as they gain the attention of the media and put pressure on government delegations.

A number of delegates also had the opportunity to attend a panel discussion including the Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen and the Executive Director of Greenpeace Kumi Naidoo. The closing statement of this discussion was made by Professor Wanguri Maathai, an exceptional woman whose work and influence has grown from a one woman campaign to save the environment to being internationally recognised for her struggle for democracy, human rights, and environmental conservation. She was presented with a World Citizenship Award by WAGGGS in 2007, and we were lucky enough to meet with her and have a photo taken.

It was a jam-packed day, challenging at times, but we can’t wait for more!

COY event

6th December
COY 5- Conference of Youth- a great way to pass a couple of days
The past two days have been very busy and an amazing learning experience. As a delegation we have been attending COY 5 (the Conference of Youth) which has involved attending workshops, being a part of open space discussions and a range of other experiences. The workshops have allowed us to spend time with other youth from around the world sharing information and discussing important topics. Between us we have attended a wide range of workshops form how to best utilise a day at COP 15, learning about public narrative and discussing forest and land change issues to Speedy learning the flash mob actions and being involved in some great street performing. These workshops have covered everything from group facilitation (which where lead by members of our WAGGGS team) to discussing policy issues to media and creative actions. I think through these workshops we have each gained a lot of use full skills and met some cool people.
Yesterday afternoon was taken up with group discussions on a range of topics. Ally and Speedy went to the Actions working group where they were involved in hearing about all the different actions that will be happening throughout COP 15. I attended one of the policy working groups which for most people would have boarded them to death but I should my twisted nature by enjoying listening to a heap of policy detail and issues regarding them as well as highly detailed bits of forestation issues.
Our first day out in the conference world was capped off with us all enjoying a great evening of international food/culture. Each member of the delegation come along with an item (mostly food) to share this was a great opportunity for us to share in each other’s background and get to know each other a bit better. Despite being very full at the end of the experience it was very memorable and was a great brake from the very full on sessions and a good chance to relax (possible of the last time as a big group till the end of the conference).



Today we had more workshop in the morning and this afternoon as a part of COY we had a regional brake away group (a meeting) in which all the people for the different Australian and NZ groups came together. It was very interesting to have a group of passionate people all together with many views. But we all strongly agreed that no matter what we each need to be putting pressure on our governments to set real ambushes targets for both emissions cuts and funding for adaption, are all looking for ways to share this united message both now and post Copenhagen.
There has been some challenging moments in at COY times where you wonder where it is going. And some amazing moments one such moment was when Speedy and I won a guy fully around to our view and he agreed that we need to be here to represent the youth of this generation not just one person and very delegate should remember this. It was a great feeling and we were able to share a lot with a roomful of people which left us on a major high.
After COY this afternoon we were finally able to get our UNFCCC id’s which will allow us into the Bella Centre and the heart of the action of the next two weeks. In making it into the centre we showed that Guiding is recognised everywhere special consideration being given to us by a kind security guard to keep our party together which was a huge bust to us all in the middle of a lot of long ques.
So while I’ve been writing this Speedy and Ally are cooking dinner (they are on cook patrol tonight, see some things are the same everywhere when you’re a Guide) and I should probably draw to a close to find my patrol to organise our duties and eat some dinner. So thought for the day... what will you do to show the government that you want to see a Fair, Ambitious and Binding agreement signed on December 18th???
Petina

Quote of the Day
Saturday – About Speedy “Some people have problems” from our Brazilian Guide
after having just seen Speedy walk across the yard in 2 degree weather in a t-shirt!!!

P.S. Abby has just arrived so expect to hear from her over the next few days

4th Decmeber Video Blog

Hear first hand what our first full day as WAGGGS delegates was like.

Our First Real Day

Friday 4th December.

Today was a day of inhouse training, getting to know each other and hearing about what’s in store for us over the next two weeks. Linden Edgell (Deputy Chair of the WAGGGS World Board) gave us an overview of how WAGGGS sits within the UN framework and why WAGGGS should be represented at COP-15. As a group we brainstormed and decided that WAGGGS was better positioned to represent the voice of girls and young women at COP-15 because we are a value based, cross cultural, intergenerational movement which represents 10 million members worldwide. We are the largest organisation for girls and young women, and one that crosses most normal dives of socio-economics, geographical and cultural regions and other barriers.

Our logistical miracle maker, Katie from Our Chalet, ran us through a couple of getting to know you games, which included hitting people with pillows, and a ‘concentration recall’ game that involved repeating actions associated with climate change, including pretending to be tsunamis, earthquakes, polar bears and melting ice bergs.

We spent a lot of time working through WAGGGS’ key messages for COP-15. This was a really full on afternoon editing different documents that will help us as a WAGGGS delegation best promote the voice of 10 million girls and young women. WAGGGS believes that girls and women are the key to fighting climate change. Over the next 2 weeks as youth delegates we will be spreading the word that women and girls are most affected by climate change, and are the people best placed to taking action against climate change at a grass roots level.

This afternoon we also identified which ‘working groups’ that we would initially like to be involved in. These working groups will be used to develop our policies, handle communications and media, develop climate-change oriented programs for local school and Guiding/Scouting groups, organise our stand for the exhibition hall, and identify opportunities for us to link with other youth organisations through action.

After a pizza dinner each delegate presented a poster that they had designed (as homework), centred on environmental programs and activities that they undertake in their home countries. This was a great opportunity to hear about all the awesome things that other countries are doing and the effect that WAGGGS can have on people’s lives.

This rather long and tedious day in some ways was capped off with each delegate being presented with a WAGGGS scarf, a symbol which we are honoured to wear as we represent not only our countries, but 10 million members worldwide.

As we finish typing this Speedy is already asleep and Ally and Petina think that they should be so good night all.

Ally, Petina, Speedy.

Quote of the day: “If Kevin can’t bring an ETS to Copenhagen, the least he can do is to bring the Vegemite” (An Aussie at breakfast).

We Arrived!!!

Ally, Speedy and Petina are currently sitting at Spejdercenter, Holmen (The Danish Scout/Guide Center, pronounced Spider and Holmen is the suburb an artificial island). After numerous hours traveling, multiple security checks and trying to navigate the Danish transport system we finally arrived at our destination.

Nellie and Petina managed to get some decent sleep while on the plane from Thailand to Switzerland. However Ally only managed to doze for a few hours from Singapore to Munich (there was a guy snoring behind her).

Petina managed to get stopped at each check-in point with a 'Stand over there please' type comment each time. However she did make it through each time without too much trouble.

Petina and Speedy got the opportunity to watch big trucks with really big hoses, spray the plane. They were removing the ice from the wings of the plane. They then proceeded to spray the plane with a weird green substance. It was awesome to watch.

We then got to fly over the snow caps of the Swiss Alps. OMG !! what a sight, it was simply stunning. Neither of us got photos because the seat belt sign was still turned on, but we will hope to take some photos on the way home.

As we flew in to Copenhagen we got to see the wind farm out in the ocean. This is truely a place with some forward thinking. Also confirmed by the massive amount of bicycles that can be seen everywhere. Park and Ride has taken on a whole new meaning with bikes parked outside bus and train stations.

We are almost settled in now and will head out this afternoon for some sight seeing adventures. Till next time - Nellie, Petina and Ally :)