This text is part of the special Scientific Francophonie notebook
Around a hundred students, from 33 countries and members of the French-speaking Student Leader Clubs (CLEF) network, went to Quebec for the second edition of the Francophone Student Youth Congress, on October 30. Climate issues were the key theme of the event, reflecting this new generation who desires to have concrete power over society and the environment.
The congress organized by the Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) was marked by an inaugural conference by Jean Lemire, filmmaker, biologist and emissary for climate change, northern and Arctic issues for the government of Quebec. Raising several hot topics, he addressed young people who will have to deal with the consequences of biodiversity loss and extreme weather events. Advocacy tools were proposed, as well as a collaborative Climate Fresco workshop, aimed at deciphering the global mechanisms at work in climate change to encourage action.
Members of the Young Entrepreneurship Project (YEP) student association, HEC Montréal’s entrepreneurial committee, were present at the Congress held in Quebec City. “It is important that entrepreneurs tackle climate and social issues, within their own structure or by considering its impact more broadly,” says Jules Basset, president of the YEP Club. No matter your fundamental mission, it is possible to build a project intelligently, step by step. »
The YEP association organizes events and offers support to other partner clubs or entrepreneurs, regardless of their level of advancement. “We advise them, or we refer them to the right resources,” continues Jules Basset, who himself is working on a project to recover diesel buses to make them 100% electric. The committee supported established companies like Windle Candles, which recycles restaurant wine bottles to make candles made from vegetable wax.
Activities and networking
YEP is part of the CLEF network, created by the AUF in 2022, which promotes the associative commitment of students from the French-speaking world, around entrepreneurship, eco-responsible actions, culture, digital technology or university sport. Today it has 200 clubs in 60 countries, which have organized hundreds of activities. The Asia-Pacific CLEFs from around ten AUF member universities met in Cambodia to discuss their experiences and establish the network’s objectives for the year 2024.
“Joining the network was an opportunity to have a better perspective on international issues,” says Jules Basset. It’s an excellent initiative, which allows us, for example, to speak with young people from a club in Africa and to understand their realities, their challenges, and to share our values with each other. »
At the local level, YEP recently met members of the AUF-ETS Club of the École de Technologie Supérieure, as part of a networking and training event. The participating students were thus introduced to the development of a project argument, public speaking as well as various communication techniques. “I encourage all clubs to connect to the CLEF network,” suggests the student. We are capable of having impacts on our scale and it is important to keep this hope to resolve the major problems we face. »
Student entrepreneur clubs
Since 2021, the association of student entrepreneur clubs (ACEE) of Quebec has been collaborating with the AUF as part of a pilot project, with the aim of transferring its expertise across the French-speaking world, through through the CLEF network. “The concept of a student entrepreneur club has existed for 32 years in Quebec,” underlines Pierre Touzel, president of the ACEE. The idea is to start from the experiences of certain universities to give other CLEFs the taste of developing the entrepreneurial aspect of their project with us. »
Meetings and activities were held with young people in Burkina Faso, Chile and Lebanon. While discussions are still ongoing, Pierre Touzel hopes to perpetuate the project with the three French-speaking countries, or even integrate new ones, in the years to come. “We strongly believe in exchanges with young people from around the world so that they can open their horizons to other cultures,” he says. It’s obvious that a shift is taking place, entrepreneurial youth want to change things, to have a concrete impact on a social and environmental level. »
The ACEE brings together 60 active clubs, 48 at the college level and 12 at the university level, including the YEP association. It provides tools for managing a club, recruiting members, organizing activities and starting a business project. The association also organizes competitions, conferences, missions and workshops.
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