Travis Waller, from Luton Sixth Form, attended the 2023 Youth Climate Conference as a reporter. He shares his perspective on the two-day event for Luton’s young people.
Students began to arrive at Stockwood Discovery Centre around nine o’clock, where they were greeted with smiles from the staff. Children were given a name tag and a goody bag.
On the first day, three local schools attended the conference with their year 5s (aged 9-10). They went to two presentations on climate change, themed around food and transport. Day two was for year 9 (aged 13-14). These age groups were chosen as they are in a period of transition: the younger group will soon be choosing a high school, and the older year group is about to start their GCSEs. Inspire them now, and they can bring new environmental energy into those choices.
The day began with some brief opening presentations to explain the day and introduce the partner organisations. Then it was on to the workshops. I sat in on the one in the café, being taught by Youth Network climate ambassadors Warren and Hamnah. I was pleased to see the expression on the childrens’ faces and their willingness to engage.
The activity was to explore global land use, by the gradual placing of Lego pieces representing different biomes. The Lego base plate they were building on was a thousand blocks, which represented 100% of the earth’s surface. Children looked eager to learn and share their opinions. After a short break, part two of the food workshop saw the children finding their school on a large map of Luton. They also placed Monopoly houses to represent their own homes, and discussed where food comes from in the town.
After this was lunch. I was able to speak to a teacher at one of the schools and get her thoughts on the day so far. The feedback I received was very positive. She agreed with our choice of year 5’s, emphasising the importance of teaching younger children, giving them a good grounding in the problems and the good habits they can enact in their everyday lives.
In the afternoon came the transport workshop, with an introduction to modern transport presented by ambassadors Labiba and Simrah. This introduction led students through the Mossman Gallery, which features antique modes of transport throughout the years. They discussed the pros and cons of different ones, from horses to steam to cars, and the effect on the climate that they each have.
Back in the workshops, I was impressed with the energy levels. I expected a drop off in excitement and participation as the day went on, but I saw a high level of eagerness to learn.
At the close of the day I had a quick chat with some of the teachers, staff members, and students. One staff member said that they were initially wary of the unconventional activities, but thought it ended up being a great activity for the children, and they themselves learned a lot. The children I spoke to said it was very interesting and they learned so much, and they started to tell me all the facts they were taught.
Day two followed a similar programme, with the addition of a Q&A with six panellists from various sectors of environmental work around Luton. Participants could ask questions about what they had learned, or any queries about the environment in Luton more broadly.
I was thankful for the opportunity to attend the climate conference 2023, and to do this write-up. From what I observed over the two days, I was impressed by the job the team did, bringing young people to a place where they can learn about the climate and the difficult situation we are in if we do not make a change. The fact that the conference is executed by young people for young people is both refreshing and inspiring. It shows they want to make a change, and there is a new energy and passion about what needs to be done.
Zero Carbon Luton 