Reporting from the Youth Climate Conference

Travis Waller reports on the third Youth Climate Conference:

The Luton Youth Climate Conferences, delivered by Youth Network, started in 2022 and are a collection of workshops that help children to learn about different elements of the environment, and why the mindset people have towards the natural world should be altered. 

Youth Climate Conference 2024 marks the 3^rd instalment of the annual event which is organised and delivered by the Climate Ambassadors, a group of young adults from Youth Network, who advocate on behalf of other young people. This year the conference was split into two days, with the first being attended by seven local primary schools with 65 students attending. Day two was attended by 45 students from five local secondary schools.

The vision is to inspire young people on sustainability at the point that they are transitioning into secondary school or into their GCSE years, and therefore making important choices about their lives. The focus for this year’s conference was food and biodiversity – chosen because of issues around both the environment and food poverty and the impact of food on young people.

The success of YCC2024 lies in the engaging workshops, including making bug hotels or bird boxes, harvesting potatoes or growing tomatoes, putting on beekeeper suit and working with hives or identifying different trees and animals in the woodland area. To embed the learning, students wrote down their findings in their Climate Action Booklets, which form part of their plans they continue to explore the issues back at their school.

YCC 2024 was held at the Stockwood Discovery Centre, primarily for its stunning views and a multitude of sustainable areas, meaning the students can see first-hand an array of differing environmental elements. One topic that repeatedly arose during the conference was Net Zero 2040, Luton Borough Council’s pledge to reach net-zero on carbon emissions. 

Several different organisations/companies supported the climate conference including the Wildlife Trust and Luton Borough Council. This is really important as not only does it mean that the conference is acquiring support, it also means that we can use the expertise of those who constantly work within the environment to further the legitimacy and usefulness of the conference.