10 November 2021
Year 11 students Daisy and Lara feature in a film, made by the Tomorrow’s Engineers Week programme, which explores how engineers are at the heart of tackling the climate crisis. To coincide with COP26, this broadcast is now available to all schools across the UK, together with lesson plans, to give students the opportunity to learn more about engineering and the positive impact that it can have on the climate emergency. Lara and Daisy explain below how this came about.
Daisy and Lara, Year 11
Just before half term we took part in the national Tomorrow’s Engineers Week Schools COP Summit, hosted by former BBC journalist Susan Bookbinder and champion of all things STEM, broadcaster Fayon Dixon. In preparation for the event, we discussed ideas between us about future rural and urban areas, specifically looking at what future cities should look like, how we could improve our rural areas and protect wildlife from climate change, and how engineering solutions could fix these problems.
The Summit took place on Zoom, with more than 30 other schools also taking part, each with two student representatives, along with the presenters and two guest engineers. We were introduced into the discussions, then put into breakout rooms to further develop and discuss our ideas. We found everyone’s input so inspiring and thought-provoking and were amazed at the ideas students our age could come up with. The experience has reassured us that our voices can be heard and that it is truly up to us how we can shape the future of this planet. We are so grateful for this experience and are excited to hear what ideas and discussions the real COP26 summit will have, and how that will correlate to the points made at the junior event, as some of our ideas will be put forward to politicians.
We were so pleased that the Summit was recorded and made into a short film for social media platforms and to be used in the week of COP26 in schools all around the UK, which is a true honour.
To watch the film and hear from Lara, Daisy and their peers, click here.