ASHFORD SCHOOL STUDENTS TAKE TO THE STAGE AT COP27 SIMULATION EVENT

Last week, a team of our Sixth Form students joined together with their peers from 13 other United Learning secondary schools to take part in an exciting COP27 Climate Simulation Negotiation.

The event, hosted by the British Council at their UK headquarters in Stratford, was inspired by the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) taking place in Egypt this month. The event gave our students the opportunity to strengthen their communication, negotiation and presentation skills, whilst encouraging them to consider potential solutions to the challenges our planet faces.

Throughout the day, students engaged in several rounds of negotiations and presented their ideas confidently to their peers. They were also able to see their proposals modelled in a real-life climate simulation using computer software developed by Climate Interactive and MIT.

Below is what our students had to say about their experience:

“From an agricultural perspective, we found it interesting to see different approaches to tackling climate change and to listen to the views of people from a variety of backgrounds and from all over the country. All participants were committed to their roles which really helped the simulation feel real and benefitted everyone’s understanding of negotiations and how difficult it can be to compromise for the greater good. We were surprised at how much each country had to pledge and do in order to keep the rate of temperature increase below 2 degrees.”