TSL 2017 INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS DEBATES, AWARDS & VISITS

Topic - Climate Action

Venue: Oxford, UK – July 3-6, 2017

I am writing to share my experience with an environmental education initiative and learning platform that I have been a part of. I also want to introduce the platform to the Tunza Ecogen Family.

From 4th to 6th July 2017, I participated in the TSL International Schools Debates, Awards and Educational Visits in Oxford, UK. This is the fourth year that I have participated in this program. The 2017 TSL International Schools Essay Competition and Debate invited school children to explore practical pathways for climate action.

Background of the Organization

The Living Rainforest (TLR) in UK is operated and run by the Trust for Sustainable Living (TSL). The mission of the Trust is to further the understanding of sustainable living in the UK and abroad through high-quality education. TSL hosts a range of events on contemporary sustainability topics, including the annual International Schools Essay Competition & Debate and Schools Sustainability Challenge.

The Living Rainforest is home to 700 species of plants and animals- birds, butterflies and lizards roam free in their tropical glasshouses. With a registered educational charity status, TLR welcomes over 80,000 visitors a year.

Contest and Events

As a part of their annual essay competition (in September 2016), TSL invited schoolchildren from around the world to write open letters to the newly-elected UN Secretary General, outlining their ideas for practical climate action.

Essay contest participants, Finalist and Honorable Mentions, and their teachers were further invited to attend the annual TSL International Schools Debate, Awards Function and educational visits in the UK from 3rd to 6th July 2017. The annual essay competition and debate is aimed at primary students (ages 7-11) and secondary students (ages 11-17).  They also hold a Schools Sustainability Challenge, where they invite schools to showcase their actions in form of video presentations.

TSL received 1,232 essays from 77 countries this year. Over 200 people (including students and teachers) from 30 countries attended this year?s Debates.

My essay entry was selected as a Finalist in the Secondary School Category and I was invited to attend the debate.

The Program

Monday 3rd July – Primary Schools Debate: Our Plan for Climate Action.

I did not attend this day, as it was for the Primary School students.

I attended the Event from 4th to 6th July.

Day 1- Tuesday 4th July

Secondary Schools Debate

Topic- Can We Beat Climate Change by 2030?

Venue: Rhodes House, Oxford

Debate Preparation

After registration, welcome speech and introduction to the day's proceedings, the participating students were divided into groups, followed by Individual Speeches where all students presented their POV on the topic and exchanged ideas. It was informative to hear from people coming from different parts of the world about their problems and proposed solutions to avert climate change. Thereafter the students groups worked together as teams to prepare their joint arguments, either pro or con, and prepare their action plan for debate on the question, 'Can We Beat Climate Change by 2030?'

Educational Talk

Debate preparation was followed by a talk 'A blueprint for reversing global warming' by Katharine Wilkinson. Ms. Wilkinson is a Senior Writer at 'Project Drawdown'.

Project Drawdown is a nonprofit organization and coalition of scholars, scientists, entrepreneurs, and advocates from across the globe that is mapping, measuring, modeling, and communicating about a collective array of substantive solutions to global warming, with the goal of reaching 'Drawdown', the point in time when the concentration of atmospheric greenhouse gases begins to decline on a year-to-year basis.

Ms. Wilkinson gave some very interesting ideas to avert climate change from artificial leaves to smart highways. She spoke about the top 20 most environment friendly and sustainable practices in the world which included, vegetarianism, solar panel installation, livestock and its rearing etc.

Debate

Thereafter the debate started. All teams delivered their respective arguments as group presentations, followed by brief rebuttals from and responses to the other groups. My group was talking for the motion and we presented an optimistic view with a positive resolve that climate change can be arrested by 2030.

Our action plan included:

1. Harnessing nuclear energy because it is one of the strongest sources of energy (with proper safeguards)

2. Global citizenship i.e. global optimism, unity of thoughts worldwide etc.

3. Building sustainable cities because cities are the building blocks of the economy and climate change can be beaten only if all cities adopt the sustainable practices

4. Also using alternative energy production sources like thermal power and other ways to produce clean energy, taxing of coal and petroleum (fossil fuels) as they emit largest amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere and so on.

I want to put on record here that the knowledge I have gained through the Tunza Ecogeneration Forum and my learning experience at JEEA in Seoul in February 2017, proved very useful for me at the debate, especially on the topic of sustainable cities. From my personal experience I can confidently say that this Forum has been a great resource for me- an eco education school accessible on my fingertips, wherever I am,

Debate Conclusion

The Debate ended with closing arguments wherein it was concluded that it may not be possible at the current stage to predict or state with certainty that climate change can be controlled by 2030. However we can achieve positive results by collaborative work on it at a global level and can stop further deterioration of the climatic condition to be able to control it over a period of time.

Awards Ceremony

The debate was followed by Awards Ceremony to declare winners of the Essay contest and best contributors to the debate. I was selected as one of the TSL Secondary School Ambassadors to present the debate outcomes, on the following day, to the invitees that included leading experts on the subject.

Event Program continued in next Post