On July 17th, the ‘Climate x’ Leadership Training Program 2023 (‘Climate x’ 2023), co-hosted by Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) and the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), successfully held the second live workshop focusing on leadership. 

As the strategic partner of the program, the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) played a vital role in enhancing the participants’ leadership skills through a comprehensive series of webinars. Led by Ms. Jiadan Yu, Project Lead of Public & Government Affairs at UNITAR, these webinars provided valuable insights, practical tools, and knowledge on effective leadership in the context of climate action.

The second climate leadership course was led by Mr. Jérôme L'host, a dedicated Senior Consultant based in Geneva and Moscow, with extensive experience working internationally with both the private and public sectors. Mr. L'host attended the University of Savoie, where he studied Public Administration & Economics (AES). He is a certified Myers-Briggs Type lndicator (MBTI) Coach, a UN-certified Coach and Trainer, as well as a Synaps-certified and LSA (Leadership Style Analysis) Coach.

The live workshop session of the course was hosted by Alice Ho, the Chief Youth Officer of GAUC, and Mr. Joshua Newman, a trainee of UNITAR. Mr. Jérôme L'host and the youth trainees further discussed the four leadership types and their application to climate change. Mr. Jérôme L'host then delivered the second course on the four steps to build a team:  forming, storming, norming, and performing. He also introduced designing a high-performance culture, relying on three main parts: core values and guiding behaviors, business focus and purpose, and meaning.

During the workshop, Mr. Jérôme L'host shared a story about a lord and three craftsmen who were engaged in the same carving task but provided different interpretations of its meaning. He inspired students to consider both the short-term task, the midterm mission, and the long-term vision when exercising leadership power. In the final part of the course, Mr. Jérôme L'host discussed inspiring communication skills, particularly suited to the climate field, including logos, ethos, and pathos. Logos refers to the logic of the argument, requiring powerful and reasoned rhetoric; ethos refers to establishing personal and moral credibility; and pathos refers to appealing to the emotions of the audience to rouse their passions.

The Climate x Leadership Training Program 2023, co-hosted by the Global Alliance of Universities on Climate (GAUC) and the Asian Universities Alliance (AUA), is open to college students globally. By emphasizing the synergy between climate change and other UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and adopting a ‘Train the Trainer’ approach through a combination of interdisciplinary lectures, diversified workshops, and engagement practices, the training program aims to empower the next generation to take innovative actions and unlock their potential to contribute to a net-zero future.

On July 20th, the youth trainees will delve into the new session on ‘Climate x Health,’ led by Prof. Mannix P. Balanay of Nazarbayev University and Prof. Masahiro Hashizume of The University of Tokyo.

Reporter: YAO Fanghong

Editor: Cary Lee

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