Page 47 - Herioter 2021

We focused particularly on engagement and
how inequalities can affect this and what we can
do about it. Being such a diverse group, it is no
surprise that our conversation came down to the
concept of collaboration. Only if we collaborate
properly can we effectively engage those from
different backgrounds and those who believe
sustainability will affect their income or lifestyle
negatively.
During the evening session every person
attending was able to share their reflections
on the day (and the other webinars) and
then share their personal and professional/
student commitment to action. In order to
keep us accountable we sent these to one of
the organisers who would return them three
months later to ensure we were honouring our
commitments. Personally, I pledged to use more
public transport and to use my influence and my
voice to make change in our school and local
community.
When reflecting on the webinar series I felt
Ellie Coulson and Eleanor Donkers (both S1) imagine a better world a real sense of gratitude. To be part of such a
The voice to bring about meaningful change. It was diverse group that enabled us to think ‘big’ was
a great opportunity to share our Heriot’s journey
a brilliant opportunity and I am very thankful.
and discuss what we could do next.
It was the first time I had looked at school from
beginning concluding summit. Again, due to Covid-19 an in- an educator’s perspective and it has given me a
After seven webinars, it was time for our
new insight into education and sustainability. I
person meeting was not possible, so we turned to
am able to look at sustainability in a completely
of positive Zoom once more. Had we been able to, we would different way now and various discussions have
have met at Hawkwood in Gloucestershire, which
given me so many new ideas, particularly the
is a centre for future thinking that incorporates
conversation in the breakout rooms. Being part
nature and its beautiful grounds into many of
change the courses it holds there. In the morning session of the team that presented our own webinar
allowed me to distil my ideas about sustainability
of our summit, we reflected on the webinars as
and develop my public speaking, leadership
each presenter gave a distillation of the essence
of their webinar and the actions they were taking and communication skills which are key skills
for the long term. I am grateful to have had the
The end of the beginning. This was the title for forward. Following this we exited into breakout opportunity to take part and know that we will
the Hawkwood Climate and Education Summit in rooms for discussion about what each group continue our network and hopefully all meet in
December 2020, the culmination of many months believed to be the key questions raised by the person one day. That is why the title the ‘end of
of hard work, creativity and out-of-the box ideas. webinars. I was lucky enough to be in a group the beginning’ is so apt. While it may be the end
It all started back in May 2020 with a summit on with an educator from Greece, a kindergarten of our webinars, it is definitely the beginning of
‘disrupting education for a sustainable future’. teacher from Bethlehem and a human rights positive change.
Initially meant to be held at Dollar Academy lawyer from Jerusalem. Coming from such
over three days, hundreds gathered over Zoom different places and backgrounds we were able Lucy Anderson (S4)
for discussions and talks from experts on the to expand our ideas and think in a broader way.
climate and education and from business leaders.
Following this it was decided that we needed to
continue the discussion further, so our bi-monthly
sustainability education webinars began.
A truly international group with members from
Jerusalem, America, Switzerland, New Zealand
and Scotland, we explored some big questions,
including: how to best to engage pupils and equip
us with the self-direction and skills needed to
tackle the problem of climate change; and how
to bridge the gap in an unequal society. Some
webinars focused on the theory of education: how
do we utilise tools such as experiential learning
and project-based learning to achieve our goals?
Others focused on how to engage the entirety
of a school community so that every pupil and
teacher is involved.
A group from EARTH (The Environmental
Action Research Team at Heriot’s) presented part
of Webinar 5. We spoke about what it was like to
be a school pupil with the issue of climate change
hanging over our heads and what teachers could
do to ensure every pupil was able to use their S6 pupils crafted pizza in the shape of geographical features, most of which were globes or coniferous woodland given the
proximity to Christmas
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