Pupils representing Stonar School in Wiltshire have taken part in the first ever ‘virtual’ WWF Our Planet’s Future Summit. The summit was organised by WWF and Globeducate as the first in a series of online sustainable education events to complement online schooling and the international school group’s Global Agenda project.
The workshop immersed the pupils, aged 12 to 14, in the varied and interlinked issues that face our planet, and aimed to build their understanding of the complexities involved in bringing about change at a global level. Pupils met as a diverse group of 24 twice during the week, beginning with a briefing from WWF Education Manager, Matt Larson-Daw, and were split into a World Leaders group and six smaller Biome expert groups to focus on their respective areas.
“It was an honour to be part of this event and to see the passion our Globeducate students have for our planet,” said Oanh Crouch, Education Director for Globeducate. “The pupils had the opportunity to demonstrate their research and presentation skills as they developed a plan to safeguard the future of our planet. Their ability to adapt from it being a real to a virtual event was a true testament to their resilience as well as their dedication and commitment to the project.
“Collaborating together across three different Globeducate school settings and locations, the students produced an impressive summit with fascinating content and well-constructed arguments. It was a purposeful experience for the students and adults involved and we look forward to more joint WWF/Globeducate online events over the coming term. We are fortunate to have this partnership with a world leader in sustainability education.”
Alex, one of the World Leaders, a Year 9 pupil from Stonar School, added, “As World Leaders we had a fund of 100 billion ‘World Dollars’, split equally in five billion tokens. We were given briefings on food, energy and health, and had to decide on our priorities and how to invest the available budget, as well as what agreements to put in place, in order to ensure a positive future for the world population. I worked with fellow Stonar students Hannah, Year 9, and Mae, Year 8, as well as two students from ICS London. I was also asked to give the official vote of thanks at the end of the summit, which was really rewarding.”
Justine Skinner, Eco-Schools Coordinator for Stonar School, commented, “Biome or ‘Our Planet’ experts were split into small groups, each tasked with researching one of the biomes of our planet. They then presented their case to the world leaders to inform and influence their decisions on how to invest their budget and define the future of society. Not only did the students have to work within an online platform that was new to most of them but this was the first time that students had tackled group work together at an online event with other Globeducate students from different schools.
“Everyone was very impressed with the way in which they embraced the opportunity and all of the teachers involved felt that the students had a fantastic opportunity to not only engage with these global issues but also to learn new communication skills that will give them confidence for the future.”