For cCHANGE, May started with an exciting trip to beautiful Haugland in Sogn og Fjordane. 150 students from the Red Cross Nordic United World College and from local high schools attended the Student Climate Summit.
The summit was led by cCHANGE and hosted by Red Cross Nordic United World College (RCNUWC) with support from the Sogn og Fjordane County and Fylkesmannen. It took place back-to-back with the conference on climate change adaptation in Sogndal, 2 – 4 May.
It included lectures by professor Karen O’Brien, exercises on different views on climate change, and group work on climate change solutions.
Students working on climate solutions.
Science and solutions
The summit kicked off with an exercise to illustrate how the issue of climate change can be viewed from different perspectives. The students had impressive knowledge and reflections on the complex adaptive challenge of climate change.
After diving into the climate change science, the summit turned to solutions. Focusing on practical, political and personal spheres of transformation, the students were introduced to a tool for analyzing climate change responses.
The participants also worked in groups on analyzing concrete solutions to climate change. As part of this, they reflected on how practical aims and goals are influenced by the systems and structures they are part of. In turn, the values, beliefs and worldviews we hold, influence how we view systems and possible responses to climate change.
Moving around to express opinions on climate change.
Reflections on spheres of influence
An important aim of the summit was to spark reflections among the participants, getting them to think about their own spheres of influence. Among the questions raised are: What systems are you part of? What are the leverage points for change within those systems?
One of the most influential changes we as individuals can make may be to simply become aware of our political agency. The take away message from the Student Climate Summit can be illustrated by a re-writing of the famous words by Gandhi: «Lead the change you want to see in the world».