Technology is enabling a climate change summit to go ahead in April as multiple events are being cancelled across the county due to Coronavirus fears.
Robert Ferguson Primary School, in Carlisle, has taken the decision to utilise the technological tools at its disposal to host the second annual youth climate summit online rather than holding a public gathering.
Originally, the event was going to be held at Carlisle Racecourse, but instead, schools will now link up to the summit by using Zoom video conferences on April 22.
Graham Frost, the headteacher of Robert Ferguson Primary School, said: “When you have got over 50 schools interested in taking part, it just seemed to be the logical thing not to cancel but to look for an alternative way to deliver it.
“The technology is there, it is easily accessible and it will work with the particular format of the event.
“People will still be able to hear our speakers via their screens, they will still be able to take part in the discussion.”
The organisers decided to implement the changes to the summit for a number of reasons that go beyond caution over COVID-19.
Hosting the summit online is a more environmentally friendly platform than having people travel from across Cumbria to Carlisle.
It also makes it more accessible to people and schools who may have struggled to attend otherwise.
Guidance on how to use the technology will be sent out to teaching staff in the coming weeks.
“The participants will be able to hear each of our speakers and in between each speaker there will be time for discussion,” said Mr Frost.
“I will also be running a pre-meeting using the video conference technology a couple of days beforehand so that staff will be able to become familiar with not just the technology but also how the event will run.
“Once the speakers have spoken there will be some discussion activities and what we anticipate is that there will be some questions posed and an opportunity for each of the school groups to respond to those questions.”
So far, 50 schools from Cumbria have signed up to attend the event.
Mr Frost said: “I think it is a very strong indication of the depth of feeling amongst professionals that they want this for young people to do more about the climate and bio-diversity emergency.”
If all the places aren’t filled by next week, places at the summit will be available to schools from across the UK.
This opens up the opportunity for more young people to engage in the national climate emergency debate.
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