WHA students attend national sustainability conference

More than 200 sixth form students from 19 schools and colleges from across the South West had the opportunity to meet experts and debate key issues on the environment this week as part of a national sustainability conference.

Year 12 students from Winterstoke Hundred Academy attended the event held at The University of the West of England (UWE) on Thursday 27 June.

Hosted by the Cabot Learning Federation (CLF) Post 16, the conference was part of a series of 11 events being produced across England and Wales this week.

The eco conference series idea was pioneered by Sir Tim Brighouse before his passing, and they have honoured his transformational leadership of education.

Timed to coincide with the Summer Solstice, each ‘Our Earth, Our Future’ conference was an opportunity for sixth formers to engage in and discuss vital topics around the environment, climate effects and sustainability efforts.

The Bristol theme centred on ecology and sustainability and also featured energy, food, travel and infrastructure. The event was supported in the planning by the Ministry of Eco Education lead Tom Walmsley.

Throughout the day, students enjoyed a mix of expert panel discussions and workshop sessions which involved healthy debate and forward-planning around how we can each support UK and global sustainability agendas.

Keynote speakers included Tom Walmsley from the Ministry of Eco Education and Keith Scholey from Silverback Films, the company behind the BBC’s The Planet series. With expert panellists bringing their knowledge and research to the fore, the event also included Swansea University Chemical engineering Faculty, Energy Sparks, SUEZ and UWE’s Green Skills project.

The ‘Our Earth, Our Future’ 2024 conference series has been generously funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation nationally, with support from climate education charity Let’s Go Zero Advisors.

A report from the event, informed by the participating students’ perspective, will be pulled together by Global Action Plan and filmed created by local education Media provider Boomsatsuma.

Kath Cooper, Principal of CLF Post 16, said: “This is a tremendous opportunity for year 12 students from across the city and neighbouring areas, to bring change to our environments and settings. The power rests in these young people’s fingertips!

“I am thrilled by the interest across the sixth form provision and the wealth of expertise supporting our programme of seminars and key notes. It was an amazing day and I am sure this event will have a major impact on the students that attended for a long time into the future.”