Casey Environmental Summit - St Margarets
Casey Environmental Summit
On Friday 14 September, select members from our Environment Club attended the Casey Environmental Summit hosted at Nossal High School in Berwick.
Students listened to a panellist discussion before breaking into working groups to discuss the practical realities of contemporary sustainability practices in schools and broader society.
They heard from an industry expert, Keith Allilomou, to learn about how sustainability can serve as a positive force for economic change.
Jane Burns, from the Centre for Education and Research in Environmental Strategies, spoke about the issues holding back the implementation of sustainable development practices in schools.
Mandy Robertson from the Dolphin Research Institute offered ideas on how to work to promote actual actions in relation to sustainability, rather than the simple tokenistic alternative of ‘talking the talk… [without] walking the walk.’
In working groups, they then workshopped how to bring these ideas back to their schools and find a voice to fight for systematic change. Underpinning these workshops was the idea that ‘Sustainability is not a topic, it is not something that we go along in our timetable… the challenge is making sustainability an underlying theme that should be the thread that changes everything.’
The summit was an excellent opportunity to engage with like-minded students from a range of schools in the Casey area. It was excellent to see our boys representing their school proudly at this important event.