A SCHOOL in Bude has been involved in a UK first, as Bude Climate Partnership hosted a mini climate jury.
The results of the climate jury held at Budehaven School have been released. The jury ran alongside the Bude Area Community Jury and hoped to achieve many of the same targets.
Held in November 2023, 18 students, aged from 11 to 16 from the school were chosen at random to sit on a jury exploring the local effects of climate change.
The Budehaven Youth Mini-Jury was commissioned by Bude Climate Partnership in order to recognise that young people have a stake in the future and allow them to have a say in the policies that will affect their generation, and that they may bring fresh perspectives and creativity to the problems.
The resultant jury met for a total of 12 hours over three days. During this time, mini-jury members heard from seven expert commentators and shared their own lived expertise.
Among those commentators visiting the jury was Professor Mark Baldwin, professor of climate science at Exeter University, Martin Dorey, founder of the 2 Minute Foundation, and Skye Neville Campaigner with Kids Against Plastic Tat.
Skye may only be 12 years old, but she is chief campaigns officer for Kids Against Plastic which has seen her speak to the United Nations’ Sustainability Council. She is also regularly in media publications and talks at various events. Skye has been featured in CBBC Regenerators and Newsround.
During her visit, she presented to the jury about ‘what can be done’ to tackle pollution, and jury members were invited to ask questions of Skye about the subject.
After hearing from seven experts, the group was invited to produce some recommendations.
On the morning of the final session, the mini-jury dedicated some time to thinking about the different actions that they, their communities, and their schools could take to address climate change and a range of other environmental issues.
After deliberating on their recommendations, the jury compiled a list of 18 total recommendations, ranked in order of importance.
Among the list, some of the recommendations include:
- Raise funds for tackling climate change,
- Investigate what is sold in the canteen to check if products are sustainable and ethically sourced,
- Don't drive to school if not needed,
- Raise awareness of environmental impact of vapes, which litter our beach and school,
- Investigate whether having no school uniforms might help address climate change,
- Have a ‘Meat Free Monday’,
- Use empty green space in the school to grow food,
- Organise a school group, to drive ideas forward.
These recommendations were then taken to the Bude Area Community Jury, and presented to Bude-Stratton Town Council to demonstrate what changes young people want to see when it comes to climate change.