WESTBURY residents may have noticed banners popping up around the town last month (April) promoting climate education.
They were put up by a group of five students from across Wiltshire who have been rallying support for climate education by taking part in banner drops and days of action, as a part of April’s ‘Teach the Future’ week of action.
One of the students, Charlie Sweetman, lives just outside Westbury so took to the streets on the afternoon of Friday 16th April to hang banners reading ‘Climate Education Now!’
The young activist is a part of the Teach the Future England campaign, which was created by the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) and Students Organising for Sustainability in October 2019, which is officially supported by a host of organisations including the National Union of Students (NUS), RSPB, Greenpeace, National Education Union (NEU) and the British Youth Council.
They are also part of the newly-formed Trowbridge Youth Community Action collective (TYCA), which is aiming to raise awareness of ecological and social justice issues on a grassroots level through actions, such as those seen during the week.
Banners could be found under the bridge on Station Road and fence on Station Approach, where many passing pedestrians and drivers took interest in the banner: slowing down to read it.
As one of the handful of towns and villages taking part in this coordinated week of action in the county, the student in Westbury and other volunteers in Wiltshire hope that these actions will raise awareness of the necessity for climate justice education to be included into the curriculum in order to prepare young people to mitigate the effects of global warming and equip them with the skills to maintain a green and just society.
With the recent local elections, the students are urging local politicians to get behind the growing movement supporting education reform; they would like their local representatives to use their vote and their voice to make the change on a local level that will trigger wider action within the school estate and curriculum.
