In the morning of my last day, I tuned into the The Great Big Lesson for Climate & Nature: Live from COP26. It was a huge and interactive online lesson, broadcast live from COP26, for secondary schools, sixth forms and colleges across the UK. The lesson was delivered by AimHi Earth, Nature4Climate, World’s Largest Lesson & YOUTHTOPIA with support from Cambridge Zero and the Eden Project. At the end of the hour, Matthew Shribman, Headteacher of AimHi Earth, quoted Rob Hopkins… “It all starts with imagination.” If we can’t imagine a better future it won’t be solved. This has really stuck with me, and reaffirms the point that there is so much power in creativity.
Click here to watch.
I then jumped in an UBER and met with three members of the UK Schools Sustainability Network (UKSSN) at St Peter’s Primary School, to discuss all things COP26. Jack, Grace and Abi had travelled up to Glasgow the day before, with 17 other members of the network and a group of adult supervisors, including Mary Leonard who joined us for the meeting.
The UKSSN is made up of approximately 200 young people from individual climate and sustainability networks in regions across the UK. At the conference, students featured in the blue ministerial and green civil society zones with partners PPL PWR, Ucell and Climate Psychology Alliance, supported by Global Action Plan, the Royal Society of Chemistry Outreach Department and UKSSN member schools.
I was particularly excited to meet Jack, as he is a member of the GSL movement. He took part in the GSL Global Goals competition in 2019-20, represented GSL at the infamous Fridays for Future march in Bristol which was lead by Greta Thunberg, and was the first ever guest on the GSL Podcast.
We had a great conversation which left me feeling so inspired. You can read it here.