A researcher from the British Antarctic Survey will be the keynote speaker at a special climate conference for Cambridgeshire schools this week.
Dr Simon Morley will tell the conference about how research by the BAS informs and reinforces what actions are required to protect the Antarctic.
He will be the main speaker at the COP27 event for schools being hosted by Sawston Village College, part of the Anglian Learning multi-academy trust, on Wednesday (November 16).
A total of 13 schools are taking part in the conference, which will also give students the opportunity to plant trees following presentations by the Babraham Forest Garden Project and Natural England.
The participating schools are Sawston, Linton, Bassingbourn, Comberton, Bottisham, Impington and Soham Village Colleges, together with Littleport and East Cambs Academy, Chesterton, Cromwell and Coleridge Community Colleges, Northstowe Secondary College and the Netherhall School.
All schools are being invited to bring ideas for a Climate Change debate on the key commitments and objectives to take away from the event and deliver as part of their climate change objectives.
Also present will be Cllr Bryony Goodlife and Cllr Maria King, Chair and Vice-Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Children and Young People’s Committee, together with Director of Education for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Jonathan Lewis and other senior officers from the education department.
In addition to the conference on November 16, Aled Jones from the Global Sustainability Institute in Cambridge will be hosting an online debate the following day to discuss progress so far at the international COP27 summit.
Cllr Goodliffe said: “Our young people are some of the best informed and committed advocates of the need for climate change, so I am delighted that so many of them will be taking part in this vital conference and contributing their ideas. I am sure that their initiatives will be taken forward to help tackle this global issue.”
Cllr King added: “Yet again Cambridgeshire is leading the way on national and international initiatives to address one of the biggest challenges of the century – climate change. I am proud of our schools and our young people who have shown such energy in their determination to do what they can for their own generation and generations to come.”
Jonathan Russell, Principal of Sawston Village College added: “We are delighted to be hosting this event. In bringing together young people who are passionate and committed to making a difference, we believe this provides an opportunity for
connection and change at a local level in the face of a global crisis. We hope to inspire young people and be inspired by them, by their creativity, by their energy and by their determination to help all schools take small steps towards a greener future.”
