in a world both poised on the brink of
an environmental crisis taking action
has never been more important however if
there’s a void a disconnect in the
information that we’re learning and
we’re seeing and the caring needed to
motivate action about two years ago I’d
finished working and studying in Dublin
Zoo and this had fulfilled a childhood
dream for me as I’d always had a
fascination with the interconnectedness
of people and nature and the Cathedral
of the wild I’d been lucky enough to
work with some inspiring
environmentalists who dedicated their
lives to saving and conserving animals
and their habitats all over the planet
I’d be involved in some amazing
conservation campaigns however I was at
a crossroads in my career and I began to
look at the role of environmental
education and skills as a way to turn
the tide on how we deal and see the
climate issues that we are now facing I
for kids of my own and I’d noticed that
there was a real disconnect in the
information that children were getting
to how they were feeling about the
environmental crisis they were learning
about the climate change and natural
resource depletion in schools and
textbooks and across the curriculum and
everybody has seen the scenes on
televisions were storms and droughts and
fires have shredded and ripped through
people’s lives and hangs and cities all
over the world and we’d even heard on a
daily basis about animals going extinct
but there was it was like these concepts
were just too big for young people they
were too much to take on there was a
disconnect and a void
and as I learned about it more and as I
asked them about this they told me that
they thought it was actually nothing to
do with them but it was too impersonal
and these were only young kids that had
that had no power and no voice to do
anything they thought it was up to
governments and to other leaders to do
something about it
our got really really worried about this
as I’d heard my bets on these young
people being the transitional generation
that was going to fix and repair our
world the sad and polluted world that
were currently living in so as a reflex
to this I developed an eight-week
sustainability action course and I
collaborated with the local school and
that I decided that I’d go in and I
would challenge these kids and I would
give them the responsibility and I’d
give them the opportunity to do
something if they wanted to
so and we didn’t do anything on the tax
book I decided that I wanted to make the
environment personal I decided this is
what was missing in the void and I
wanted to join the dots for them so we
talked about what was important to them
what they valued in the environment and
we looked out into our local community
and we looked and we saw and we
connected with the issues that related
directly to them over the year with
there was six action projects that
varied between climate change rising sea
level sea bins and plastic and
everything in between one of the groups
sorted rising sea levels connected with
their local sailing school and they
decided that they were going to order a
boat to be brought down to the front of
the school – peer educator 140 students
on their project and when the owner of
the of the sailing school arrived he saw
the kids project and then in there she
decided it was time to put the sailing
school up for sale as done Larry would
be underwater by the end of the century
by the time there were free kept going
another project they did was on a Sieben
a simple bin that sucks rubbish from the
from the sea and deliria was going to be
getting its first two cbins
in the upcoming months months but back
in January thirteen students came to me
they’d heard there was a teacher in town
that would let them do anything they
wanted to and they came and they said
that they were really concerned to buy
plastic in their local area they told me
that they wanted to become the first
plastic free school in Ireland so I
thought this was a great idea and I
provided the platform and a pullout
provided the opportunities for them to
develop their idea and make it into an
action so they approached their Board of
Management and they got it written into
school policy they got funding from the
PTA they campaigns their entire school
and community they went to talks outside
of school they excuse
they educated other schools and they
connected with their and they connected
with their local shops to change their
lunch do
they’re miss social media campaign
reached 120,000 people with people
tweeting as far as the Canada and New
Zealand so what I’d like to say to you
in three short months these fourteen
incredible students came to me and when
they were given an opportunity and when
they were giving the challenge and when
they were told that they could take
responsibility what happened was that
they changed their entire school and a
mass of people in the thousands they
became the first school in Ireland to be
single-use plastic free so it’s until
it’s necessary that we must give our
young people the platform to take action
we must use them as a launch pad for the
next higher level of ambition to
influence and change our community thank
you [Applause]
an environmental crisis taking action
has never been more important however if
there’s a void a disconnect in the
information that we’re learning and
we’re seeing and the caring needed to
motivate action about two years ago I’d
finished working and studying in Dublin
Zoo and this had fulfilled a childhood
dream for me as I’d always had a
fascination with the interconnectedness
of people and nature and the Cathedral
of the wild I’d been lucky enough to
work with some inspiring
environmentalists who dedicated their
lives to saving and conserving animals
and their habitats all over the planet
I’d be involved in some amazing
conservation campaigns however I was at
a crossroads in my career and I began to
look at the role of environmental
education and skills as a way to turn
the tide on how we deal and see the
climate issues that we are now facing I
for kids of my own and I’d noticed that
there was a real disconnect in the
information that children were getting
to how they were feeling about the
environmental crisis they were learning
about the climate change and natural
resource depletion in schools and
textbooks and across the curriculum and
everybody has seen the scenes on
televisions were storms and droughts and
fires have shredded and ripped through
people’s lives and hangs and cities all
over the world and we’d even heard on a
daily basis about animals going extinct
but there was it was like these concepts
were just too big for young people they
were too much to take on there was a
disconnect and a void
and as I learned about it more and as I
asked them about this they told me that
they thought it was actually nothing to
do with them but it was too impersonal
and these were only young kids that had
that had no power and no voice to do
anything they thought it was up to
governments and to other leaders to do
something about it
our got really really worried about this
as I’d heard my bets on these young
people being the transitional generation
that was going to fix and repair our
world the sad and polluted world that
were currently living in so as a reflex
to this I developed an eight-week
sustainability action course and I
collaborated with the local school and
that I decided that I’d go in and I
would challenge these kids and I would
give them the responsibility and I’d
give them the opportunity to do
something if they wanted to
so and we didn’t do anything on the tax
book I decided that I wanted to make the
environment personal I decided this is
what was missing in the void and I
wanted to join the dots for them so we
talked about what was important to them
what they valued in the environment and
we looked out into our local community
and we looked and we saw and we
connected with the issues that related
directly to them over the year with
there was six action projects that
varied between climate change rising sea
level sea bins and plastic and
everything in between one of the groups
sorted rising sea levels connected with
their local sailing school and they
decided that they were going to order a
boat to be brought down to the front of
the school – peer educator 140 students
on their project and when the owner of
the of the sailing school arrived he saw
the kids project and then in there she
decided it was time to put the sailing
school up for sale as done Larry would
be underwater by the end of the century
by the time there were free kept going
another project they did was on a Sieben
a simple bin that sucks rubbish from the
from the sea and deliria was going to be
getting its first two cbins
in the upcoming months months but back
in January thirteen students came to me
they’d heard there was a teacher in town
that would let them do anything they
wanted to and they came and they said
that they were really concerned to buy
plastic in their local area they told me
that they wanted to become the first
plastic free school in Ireland so I
thought this was a great idea and I
provided the platform and a pullout
provided the opportunities for them to
develop their idea and make it into an
action so they approached their Board of
Management and they got it written into
school policy they got funding from the
PTA they campaigns their entire school
and community they went to talks outside
of school they excuse
they educated other schools and they
connected with their and they connected
with their local shops to change their
lunch do
they’re miss social media campaign
reached 120,000 people with people
tweeting as far as the Canada and New
Zealand so what I’d like to say to you
in three short months these fourteen
incredible students came to me and when
they were given an opportunity and when
they were giving the challenge and when
they were told that they could take
responsibility what happened was that
they changed their entire school and a
mass of people in the thousands they
became the first school in Ireland to be
single-use plastic free so it’s until
it’s necessary that we must give our
young people the platform to take action
we must use them as a launch pad for the
next higher level of ambition to
influence and change our community thank
you [Applause]
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