Youth Climate Conference

The first Youth Climate Conference was hosted by Blackpool Sith Form on Wednesday 30^th October. Attended by young climate leaders from across Lancashire, comprising of 16 schools, colleges and youth groups as well as 53 organisations. Two staff members and five students, who are all members of the Cardinal Newman Carbon Reduction Team attended the event and returned to College with lots of fantastic insights to share with the rest of the Carbon Reduction Team.

Students had the opportunity to engage and network with agencies and employers offering voluntary work and careers in sustainability, enabling them to find out more about prospective careers withing the sustainable industry. They also got the opportunity to take part in workshops and listen to talks from expert guest speakers on how we can all work together to reduce our carbon footprint and make a real difference.

There were talks from Scott Butterfield, from Blackpool Council and Jane Hardy-Jones from Lancashire County Council who provided an overview of Lancashire’s progress to carbon neutral and also attended a round table discussion on how we get there and what students wanted from the day.

There was a chance to ask questions to a climate panel with a number of professionals involved in sustainability and working towards net zero, including Prof Chris Dent, Professor of Economics and International Business at Edge Hill. Not to mention workshops to take part in, including an App workshop run by Youth Focus North West, who were discussing an app being produced by a team of students, with the goal of helping others worried about the climate crisis. The Badgers trust hosted a protecting nature workshop, talking about extinction and ways in which this can be prevented.

Networking with employers and organisations offering work and volunteering organisations including the Wyre Rivers Trust was also on the agenda before watching climate inspired performances from Ludus Dance and “The Save the World Club” by Tenderfoot Theatre.

The students who attended had a fantastic experience and left feeling positive about the impact that they can have in the future. Megan Hudson, a year 12 student who is part of the Carbon Reduction Team at Cardinal Newman said: “The conference made me feel positive about the future as it was a great experience to talk with so many like-minded individuals and learn about the changes being made in order to save our planet from the climate crisis.”

Macey Perrins a year 13 student who is also on the Carbon Reduction Team said: “The conference was a wonderful way to demonstrate how there are communities actively trying to work against climate change. It was brought up how you can sometimes feel overwhelmed and alone when acknowledging everything that needs to be done but the conference helped in creating a positive and hopeful outlook for those there. It was also an amazing opportunity to meet those who are experts in this field and learn of potential roles you could fit into in the future.”

Thank you to all those involved in the organisation and delivery of the event - it was great to be part of it.

For more details about the Carbon Reduction Team at Cardinal Newman and their activities to reduce our impact on the climate, please click here.