Category: Eco-Council

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, Life below water, Life on Land, SDG 14, SDG13, SDG15, SDGs

The Cambridge Schools Eco Council – Cam YS4C Actions

We rallied outside Great St Mary’s at 5:30 pm on Friday, Sep 24.

Then on Sep 25, 2021, we were l at the Cambridge Climate Fair on Parker’s Piece.

For the last 18 months, the Covid-19 pandemic has overtaken all other issues of discussion. We made a stand with thousands of other youths across the world to remind everyone that the climate crisis has NOT gone away. It’s real, it’s dangerous and – as shown by the recent floods in
Germany and London – it is already upon us.

This November, world leaders fortunate enough to get the vaccine will gather in Glasgow, UK, to participate in the 26th UN Climate Change Conference (COP26). They are supposed to be implementing constructive solutions to the climate crisis and be initiating real, meaningful action.
However, over a period of time longer than most of the lives of Eco Council members and Youth Strikers 4 Climate, they have obfuscated the issue with greenwashing and avoidance of accountability.

In such chaotic times, it is up to us, the activists, scientists, engineers, lawyers, ordinary individuals – and children to raise the alarm bells. We thus return to the streets to protest with youth across the world for a brighter future. And that is why we show our support this Saturday to the many other climate activists fighting for meaningful action to be taken.

We thank everyone, children and adults, who joined us on Friday and Saturday, but these actions are just the beginning. They are a prelude to the strike from school on Oct 22 and the COP26 actions in November. Get ready, Cambridge. Change is coming whether you like it or not.

We also made into the press, check this article by Cambridge Independent:

Climate fair, school strike and a walking activist – Cambridge looks to COP26 for change

In Cambridge, Cambridge School Eco Council and XR Youth Cambridge organised a protest – the first such public event this year – outside the Senate House on Friday evening, on the same day Greta Thunberg spoke at the Bundestag in Berlin. Hundreds of school strikes took place across Germany ahead of their election on Sunday in the week the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said the world was “seemingly light years away from reaching our targets” on climate change.

“As the world slowly reawakens from a horrid pandemic, youth strikers across the world are rising up with actions to say #BuildBackBetter,” says the schools eco council, as speakers repeated their concerns at the prospect of having no water in Cambridge, and demands for “a Green New deal now!” on King’s Parade.

By Mike Scialom

Read the full article here.

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, endangered species, Life on Land, SDG13, SDG15

WINNERS OF THE ROTARY YOUNG ENVIRONMENTALIST 2021

Team Heron won the Local, Regional and National Rotary Young Environmentalist competition!!

  • The Winners of the local Intermediate Team and Junior Age Group competitions were presented with their trophies and certificates on 22 June by our President, David Ball (R) and Community & Youth Service Committee Chairman John Barrett (L)
    Source: Rotary, 2021

Results of Cambridge Local Competition

INTERMEDIATE AGE GROUP (11-14)

Winner – Team Entry

Nico Cordonier Gehring, Thomas Langford, Orlaith Traynor-Bucknall, Morgan Hayes (King’s College School) – The Heron Team – Cambridge Climate Change Action Project


STOP-PRESS – The Heron Team have gone on to win the final, National stage of the competition in their age group!

To see the full article got by Rotary click here

Check out this interview by Cambridge 105 Radio as (we) the Heron Team from Kings College School won the local and district rounds of this year’s Rotary Young Environmentalist competition.

We won the Local, Regional and National Rotary Young Environmentalist competition and we celebrated!!!

  • Heron Team – King’s College School
    Thomas, Nico, Orlaith & Morgan

Do you want to know more about our project? Go to my post: The Cambridge Climate Change Action Plan Project: Heron Habitat Helpers

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, endangered species, Life below water, Life on Land, SDG 14, SDG13, SDG15, SDGs

FEB 2021 Free Online Eco-Seminar Mini-Series for Students – Register Now!

I’ll be chairing Free Online Eco-Seminar Mini-Series for Students – Register Now!

Together with the Voices of Future Generations Children’s Initiative, the Cambridge Schools Eco-Council has been organising a mini-series of free 60 minute Online Eco-Seminars to raise awareness of key sustainability challenges and solutions, while schools have been forced online in many countries. Children, students, families and members of the public can register for free over Eventbrite and participate online over Zoom, 4:30-5:30pm (UK time) on 17 February and 24 February.

Each Online Eco-Seminars focus on a key sustainable development goal, such as Access to Fresh Water (SDG 6), Sustainable Consumption (SDG 12), Climate Action (SDG 13), Life Below Water (SDG 14) or Life on Land (SDG 15).
Eco-Seminar speakers include both student leaders and experts on the subject!

Eco-Seminar 1: Saving our Steams and Rivers through Sustainable Water Management – Wednesday, 17 February 2021

Focus: How can we better protect and sustainably manage our beautiful freshwater resources, preventing floods and depletion, and saving our streams and rivers?

Chairs: Nico Roman (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Co-Chair, Voices of Future Generations Child Ambassador, Kings College School Eco-Society Co-leader) and Paloma Bargh (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Deputy Chair and Eco-Activities Committee Co-Chair, Saint Johns College School Eco-Society Co-leader)

Speakers: Child author speaker: Rehema Kibugi (Gold Award Laureate, Voices of Future Generations (VoFG) Children’s Rights Initiative, Child Author for Africa) tbc
Ecocouncil speaker: Junayd Islam (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council former Co-Chair, key organizer of student climate strikes and city council livestreamed Eco-Council meetings).
Experts: Ian Halls (Leader, Cambridge Friends of the Earth) and Fabiana Piccoli Araújo Santos (LLM Candidate at the University of Cambridge and co-founder of Itacaré Water Caring Project Brazil)

Eco-Seminar 2: Promoting Sustainable Lifestyles through Preventing Plastic Waste – Wednesday, 24 February 2021

Focus: How can we better promote and practice more sustainable lifestyles at home and through our shopping habits, even during lockdown, preventing plastic waste and protecting our fragile rivers, oceans and ecology?

Chairs: Nico Roman (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Co-Chair, Voices of Future Generations Child Ambassador, Kings College School Eco-Society Co-leader) and Ginny Denmead (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Co-Chair and St Bedes College School Eco-Society Co-leader)

Speakers: Child author speaker: Freya Tikva (Gold Award Laureate, Voices of Future Generations (VoFG) Children’s Rights Initiative Child Author for Europe, Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Deputy Chair and Co-Chair of Eco-Activities Committee.
Ecocouncil speaker: Luana Fernandes Seixas (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Communications Officer, Student Leader of Long Road Sixth Form Eco-Council, key organizer of student climate strikes and eco-seminars).
Experts: Emma Thomas (Co-founder and Director, Full Circle Zero Waste Retail, Ecologist) and Ben Thomas (Environment Manager, Cambridge Waitrose Grocery Store)
Over zoom, after a 15 mins for tech testing and interactions from 4:15pm to 4:30pm, student Eco-Councillors and UN Voices of Future Generations child authors / ambassadors, together with world-class experts, will provide a 20-minute introduction to a sustainability challenge, and discuss creative local and solutions. For a further 30 minutes, participants can ask questions and discuss potential solutions and ways to raise education and awareness interactively, followed by a 10-minute closing from the experts and youth speakers by 5:30pm.

Register here

Please note: Children and youth participate with permission under supervision of parents/guardians from their homes.

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, SDG13, SDG15, SDGs

Youth Strike 4 Climate – Theme: Global Trade and Local Business

Please help us to make our planet a better place by putting an end to waste!

Press Release on Dec 18, 2020 – YouthStrike4Climate

Each year, consumers in the UK use an average of 227,000 miles of wrapping paper, with over 83km2 of this ending up in our bins. On top of this, two million turkeys, five million Christmas puddings, and 74 million mince pies are disposed of while still edible, causing almost 270,000 tons of food waste during this widely celebrated holiday. We cannot sustain this.

This year, we need to come together to tackle the huge amount of waste we produce at Christmas. Families can create new ways of being sustainable around the Christmas period. Because of the current global pandemic, we are unable to meet up in large groups, so we do not need to buy as much food and wrap as many presents as we usually do. And, if large households do not have guests staying, they do not need to heat rooms of the house that are left unused.

Source: Cambridge Independent

On Friday Dec 18, 2020, members of the Cambridge Schools Eco Council will be meet at iconic sites around Cambridge in socially distanced groups of six to sit-in with placards and signs. There were be no chants or speeches, only kids sitting down with placards to remind the world of the important climate crisis. We discouraged supporters from joining us as we wish everyone to be safe in these uncertain times. Instead, we would recommended striking from the safety of their own homes by sharing pictures with a Christmas message about climate change. 

As this strange year draws to an end and we would like our community to know how proud we are of them. When faced with a pandemic we have done incredible things purely for the wellbeing of those around us. We have stayed in doors when we would have liked to have gone outside, managed to keep our hands clean and wear masks to do our bit in stopping the virus, and stayed in touch with our neighbours to make sure they’re OK. We have given money, time and energy so we can make it through together. We have treated this crisis like a crisis.

This is why it disheartens us that we are still failing to stand up to the climate crisis. While we welcome the UK government’s efforts, it is looking very unlikely that the Ten Point Plan will succeed in its aim to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The plan ignores the biodiversity crisis and relies too heavily on new technologies, which engineers and scientists warn are unlikely to save the planet. We know we can tackle a crisis, as we have so well demonstrated in past weeks, but only when communities and individuals come together and do their bit.

We strike to make our voices heard, to fight for the planet, and for the survival of humanity.

For more info check the following article: Cambridge school eco-strikers close out 2020 with plea to end waste

Climate Action, Climate change, Convention of the rights of the child, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, endangered species, Life below water, Life on Land

Blog post for VoFG Arabia

Hello everyone!

I want to share with you my thoughts on climate action and the protection of life on land, a post that I wrote for Voices of Future Generations Arabia. I was thrilled to write on VoFG Arabias’ blog ‘voices’ which also features the voice of Jane Goodall (the world’s best-known female scientist!!) Founder – the Jane Goodall Institute & UN Messenger of Peace, and the voice of Isobel Abulhoul, CEO of the Emirates Literature Foundation and Festival Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.

You can read my post below or click here: Climate action and protection of life on land – the voice of Nico Roman

Thank you, Voices of Future Generations Arabia, for this brilliant opportunity. In this blog, I would like to argue in favour of empowering children’s voices and quality education – SDG 4 & SDG 17, as I did in May during a symposium with over 1000 online participants.

My name is Nico, I am 11 and go to Kings College School in Cambridge. I am a UN Child Ambassador for the SDGs, and as part of this commitment I also edit an online blog – Nico’s Natural World – with over 9000 impressions, and hundreds of followers. Please come and visit it some time.

It is time that we all stand up for our children’s rights – as reflected in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), especially Articles 24 and 29 that promise us a healthy environment and education about nature, and also Articles 12 to 13 that guarantee us a voice in decisions that concern us.

Our future, and the futures of all species on Earth, concern us! They really do!

I might be only a small child, but I know that advancing the world’s SDGs, especially SDG 13 on Climate Action and SDG 15 to Protect Life on Land, makes the difference between a terrible global nightmare, and the future we want.

Even as our whole world is locked in frightening quarantines and curfews from the global COVID-19 pandemic, we can and must still speak out for our Earth, and for future generations of all species.

Climate change and biodiversity loss are real, dangerous and urgent.

As children, we are trying very hard to be heard, locally and globally, to stop the suffering and losses from getting even worse.

Even though we cannot vote, as children we already face the consequences of terrible climate change worldwide, including new viruses emerging, and old diseases returning, with impacts on our health and on the safely of everyone we love.

And we will face far, far worse in the future.

Currently, some decision-makers are doing the exact opposite,

backing up failing aviation and oil industries, which are causing the problem!

This is horribly unfair – it is a violation of climate justice!

The CRC promises us a healthy environment and this right means that willful destruction of natural habitats, without any regard for the plants and animals, nor for all future generations… just needs to stop.

We live in a climate emergency, and it will get worse if we can’t all work together, rather than re-starting all the harmful practices, and calling it recovery!

We also live in a biodiversity emergency, with thousands of species already lost, and many more at risk of going extinct forever—unless we all help to protect nature recovery when we plan economic recovery!

We must make sure our leaders tackle the climate and biodiversity crises with the same strength and unity they have shown us with the novel coronavirus pandemic, instead of ignoring it until everything is just too late!

If we want to make a difference, we must scale up our understanding, our education and our voices!

We need new guardian laws, institutions and networks.

The world after the COVID-19 pandemic needs to take children’s fears and interests much more seriously.

I am pleading for every single leader, including everyone reading online, to help us find new ways to stop the urgent threats of climate change and biodiversity loss, just as you promised in the SDGs.

Our rights are being directly infringed by current policies, laws and decisions – locally, nationally and internationally.

Even the smallest child CAN make a BIG difference, towards a more sustainable world for us all.

Voice of Nico Roman

Nico Roman (11), UN Child Ambassador for the SDGs, Voices of Future Generations Children’s Rights Initiative; Co-Chair, Cambridge Schools Eco-Council & YR6 Student, King’s College School (Cambridge)

Climate Action, Climate change, Convention of the rights of the child, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, endangered species, Life below water, Life on Land, SDG 14, SDG13, SDG15, SDGs

Watch our Eco-Seminars

Eco-Seminars in partnership with Cambridge Schools Eco-Council and the Voices of Future Generations Initiative

We organised free 60 minute Online Eco-Seminars to raise awareness of key sustainability challenges and solutions, while schools have been forced online in many countries. Children, students, families and members of the public free over Zoom from April 21 to June.

Each Online Eco-Seminar focused on a key sustainable development goal, such as Climate Action (SDG 13), Protecting and Restoring Life on Land (SDG 15) or Agriculture and Food Systems (SDG 2). Each Online Eco-Seminar included student Eco-Councillors and UN Voices of Future Generations child authors / ambassadors, together with world-class experts, provided a 25-minute introduction to a sustainability challenge, and discuss creative local and solutions.

We have recorded these eco-seminars (see below) in case you missed any of them or simply if you would like to watch them again.

ECO-SEMINAR 1: GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, THE PARIS AGREEMENT AND LOCAL SOLUTIONS – APRIL 21, 2020

Expert: Professor Christina Voigt, Ph.D., LL.M-Env (University of Oslo international environmental law expert and professor, IUCN Climate Change Specialist Group Chair, IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law Member and UNFCCC Compliance Committee Member)

Child author speaker: Jona David, founding Eco-Councillor of the Cambridge Schools Eco-Council, award-winning UNESCO VoFG Child Author of The Cosmic Climate Invention and other books, and student at Winchester College, UK

Eco-council speaker: Virginia Denmead, Cambridge Schools Eco-Councillor, Deputy Chair and Secretary, leader of St Bedes Eco-Society and student at St Bedes School, UK.

ECO-SEMINAR 2: AGRICULTURE, FOOD SYSTEMS AND CLIMATE RESILIENCE – MAY 5, 2020

Child Author speaker: Rehema Kibugi (UN Voices of Future Generations Children’s Initiative Child Author, Kenya)

Eco-Council speaker: Magnus Bramwell (Cambridge School’s Eco-Council Councillor and Secretary UK)

Expert: Advocate Ayman Cherkaoui (International Jurist in Climate Change Law, Executive Director of the United Nations Global Compact in Morocco, Lead Counsel for Climate Change at the Centre for International Sustainable Development Law)

Expert: Dr. Amy Munro-Faure (Coordinator at the Living Lab for Sustainability at the University of Cambridge)

ECO-SEMINAR 3: CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY POLICY AND SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES – MAY 19, 2020

Child author speaker: Jasper Chin-Moody (UN Voices of Future Generations Children’s Initiative Child Author, Australia)

Eco-Council speaker: Harry Auld (Cambridge School’s Eco-Council Councillor and Treasurer, UK).

Expert: Professor Laura Diaz Anadon (University of Cambridge Climate Change Policy Professor, University of Cambridge Peterhouse Bye-Fellow, C-EENG Fellow, Energy Policy Research Group Associate Researcher, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs Research Associate, 6th Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Lead Author).

Expert: MS Helene Kotter (Architect, Owner of Architecture Practice, Member of the Voice’s of Future Generations Children’s Book Series Leadership Council). In partnership with the Cambridge Schools Eco-Council.

ECO-SEMINAR 4: NATURE, BIODIVERSITY AND SUSTAINABLE LANDSCAPES –  JUNE 2, 2020

Child author speaker: Adelyn Newman-Ting (Voices of Future Generations Children’s Initiative Child Author).

Eco-Council speaker: Nico Roman (Cambridge School’s Eco-Council Co-Chair) and Freya Lundskær-Nielsen (Eco-Council Deputy Chair).

Experts: Ms. Hawa Sydique (Research and Communications Manager at the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute).

Tara Atleo (Environmental economics researcher and indigenous sustainable development professional from the Ahousaht First Nation in BC, Canada, PhD student University of Waterloo, Laureate Canada 150 Senate Medal).

Iain Webb (Cambridge City Greenways Project Officer).

ECO-SEMINAR 5: CONSUMERISM AND WASTE – JUNE 16, 2020

Child author speaker: Andrea Wilson (Gold Award Laureate, Voices of Future Generations (VoFG) Children’s Rights Initiative, Child Author for North America of Sarah’s Journey for Tomorrow, blog post author on the Sustainable Development Goals and Child Rights).

Eco-council speaker: Luana Fernandes (Cambridge Schools Eco-Council Communications Officer, Student of Parkside School, key organiser of student climate strikes and eco-seminars).

Expert: Dr. Markus Gehring (JSD, Dr iur, MA, LLM, Law and Land Economy Lecturer; Jean Monet Chair of European Law and Sustainable Development; Centre for International Sustainable Development Law Lead Counsel for Trade, Investment & Financial Law; Hughes Hall Law Director of Studies at the University of Cambridge).

Expert: Prof. Damilola S. Olawuyi, Professor of Energy and Environmental Law


Please note: Students participated with permission and under supervision of parents/guardians, from their homes.

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, SDG13

Digital Climate Change Strikes

In partnership with the Cambridge Schools Eco-Council and the Voices of Future Generations 

Strike with us every month!

These strikes raise awareness and put pressure on the government to take action. Times are so desperate that we as children are having to leave school for people to listen and take action. Each strike has a different theme. Show your support by performing a speech, make a placard or in any other artistic way.

During quarantine we have been doing online strikes. For this we ask you to send in a photo for the collage to be posted on our social medias and here on the website. Speeches, songs and other artistic expressions are also welcomed. You can send any submissions to our email: cambschoolsecocouncil@gmail.com.

We hope you enjoy the strikes!

June 2020: Stop Air Pollution

May 2020: Rethinking Farming

April 2020: Help Animals!

March 2020: Waterways & save our River Cam

Climate Action, Climate change, Eco-Council, Eco-Society, Life on Land, SDG13, SDG15, SDGs

WIC* WON PLATINUM on the green waste emergency eco-activity!

“The Wire & Ivy Cylindrical (WIC*) Eco-Composter”

*WIC means ‘home’ or ‘settlement’ in old English

Nico’s Narrative Report: Building an Eco-Composter for the Green Waste Emergency!

With the news that Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire district councils will not be collecting our green bins for a few weeks, I felt it a very good idea to build a green waste compost bin! I completed the project Step by Step.

Research: First, I researched the different designs and best location for a compost bin/heap, and investigated what can and what cannot be composted as green waste. I decided to make one that could compost layers of teabags, plant prunings and grass cuttings (green layers). According to The Eden Project, these are fast to break down and provide important nitrogen as well as moisture. I would also include things such as cardboard egg boxes, scrunched up paper and fallen leaves (brown layer). These are slower to rot but provide vital fibre and carbon and also allow important air pockets to form in the mixture. It was best to compost these green and brown garden wastes in the new ‘open’ composter, so my family could still use our other closed composters for food waste like fruit and veggie peelings. Otherwise it could attract mice and other animals, and make odours.

Design: Second, I made blueprint designs for a compost bin/heap for my garden. I eventually chose a cylinder made from wire and planks.I selected the most appropriate measurements: The planks are 54 cm long planks, to be driven 4cm into the ground, for a composter height of 50 cm. The length of chicken wire is 182cm, for a diameter of 58cm. This means my composter would have a volume of 158,525 cm3. For materials, I used old chicken wire that had been patching a fence, and two recycled planks of wood. I also used some withies of ivy which we recently cleared from a brick wall, to camouflage my composter and make it look more natural. (Recyle, Reuse, Reinvent!). I also made a list of tools needed, including the staple-puncher that I use to put up eco-council posters, a small hammer, saw and nails, and a spade for digging the holes. For safety equipment, I used gloves to guard against the wire and any splinters.

Design(I), Instructions for Use (II) and Materials List (III)

Construction: With help from my father (and amusement from my kitten), I built my composter. First, I gathered up the materials, including the wooden planks that were left over from a history project, and measured them carefully. I also gathered the tools we’d need, including the stapler, hammer, nails and small saw. For safely, we worked outdoors.

Second, I collected the other materials, including the leftover chicken wire from my tortoise table roof, that had been patching a hole in the fence. We did not use any new materials, except for the staples, because we wanted this composter to be very eco-friendly. Third, for safety it was my father who used the staple gun to punch the chicken wire to the planks properly. My kitten Alphabet was very interested in the chicken wire. Fourth, my father helped me to dig the holes in the soil, then we hammered the planks into the holes, so the composter stands upright. I tested it by inserting the first clippings of green waste. Finally, I used the ivy withies from a project last week to thin the ivy off the brick wall, to weave into the wire sides of my composter. They decorate and camouflage my composter so it blends into our green garden.

Building a Composter for the Green Waste Emergency

I greatly enjoyed making my composter because it required a bit of creative thinking about where to find materials that we could use, how to securely build the composter and where to place it in the garden. It helped that we had truly excellent weather all weekend so I was working in the sunshine for nearly two whole afternoons. I also had to distract my kitten, Alphabet, and keep her entertained so that she didn’t try to muddle everything up.I totally enjoyed the project of building a composter for green waste, because I felt that we were doing our bit to address a difficult situation with the green waste not being collected. I also enjoyed researching and creating the project idea, drawing the blueprints and planning diagrams, and being outdoors with my father and my cat to build it. I even rather enjoyed learning about ‘pi’ from my brother to calculate circumference and volume. My composter looks as if it belongs to the garden and blends into the scenery. It has very simple design and structure but is actually very sturdy!

To see the other winners click here: Winners of the Green Waste Emergency