As part of celebrations for their 50th anniversary, I was proud to be on the judging panel for Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s inaugural
Youth Environment Summit-Staffordshire (YESS) on April 11th.
It was wonderful to see so many young adults from our local schools, colleges, universities and youth groups take part in a debate setting where they presented opinions on environmental issues that mattered to them. It was exhilarating to see the passion behind the five subjects debated, particularly climate change and wildlife under threat.
A taste for making real change.
Held at the council chambers at County Buildings in Stafford, participants were able to sample the atmosphere of genuine local government decision-making. Workshops were held after the morning debates to share further information in a practical learning environment.
The debates on the day included plastic waste and recycling, nature reserve access, creating a thriving landscape for Staffordshire wildlife, climate change and the responsibility of Staffordshire residents to increase their use of renewable energy whilst reducing fossil fuel consumption.
The arguments and pledges made will be considered in the 2019
Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s business strategy.
Fun and skills development with an environmental backdrop.
As the Staffordshire Business & Environment Network (SBEN) Chair I had the pleasure of judging the best team and individual Debate Lead with special guest ecologist, writer, broadcaster and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust Vice President Mike Dilger.
The winning team was Sir Graham Balfour school with Harvey from Westwood College, and Francesca from Erasmus Darwin Academy winning best individual participant. All participating teams were awarded one years’ free membership to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.
It was a hugely successful day and hopefully the first of many. It was an absolute pleasure to see the enthusiasm from all participants and the effort they had clearly put into their presentations.
Sustainability firmly on the agenda.
As the dawn of climate crisis and environment change rises, and from the viewpoint of a collective effort for sustainability, the input of young adults is incredibly important – look at the awareness Swedish schoolgirl Greta Thunberg has achieved in such a short time.
We need more emphasis in our education system to enthrall youngsters to make life choices to help steer environmental change and it’s great to see that sustainability is reaching curriculum learning at last.
I studied my degree in the late 1970s and climate change simply wasn’t on the agenda then. It’s now a major issue, still with uncertain consequences, but it’s refreshing to see the sharing of environmental and conservation information as a mainstream concern.
I look forward to seeing how the landscape progresses on a local and national level and all of the potential offshoots from this first Youth Environment Summit-Staffordshire. Thank you Staffordshire
Wildlife Trust for inviting me to take part in such a successful and important event.
As I always say “Sustainability: take responsibility, take action”.