On Thursday November 19th, TY attended a youth summit in the RDS of 400 students like us. It was called ‘Changing the World’ and it ran from 10 am – 4 pm.
Here are some student comments about the event:
The first thing I noticed when I walked in was they were splitting up schools, so two students from each school were sitting at a table with 5 other students and a facilitator, who basically just supervised the discussions.
There were many presentations, all based around the SDGs, of which there are 17, (SDG= sustainable development goals).
RÓISÍN
Obviously I am concerned for the future and feel negative about the amount of work needed to be done that could have been avoided if not for the actions of past generations. But I feel positive about the future as the right attitudes and work ethic combined with our evolving technology and group effort could really make a difference. All the students seemed passionate, interested and intelligent and if they’re just some of the people trying to make a change, were in with a real shot.
AISLING
At first, i didn’t think that a seminar like this would make me feel special or like we could make a change, but after a few speeches i started to realise that if we all work together, we can probably change the world that the last generation ruined.
MAZZY
I was taken aback when I arrived at the conference. People from all parts of Ireland made the journey to go to this. It was inspiring to see such a large gathering of young people who were all greatly passionate on the subject. I found it very inspiring at the energy that they had and got me riled up for their causes. I liked the idea of being involved in the start of a great movement however as good as the intentions are I am wary of how successful they will be.
CAITLIN
I had fun being part of the big event. I was inspired by it.I enjoyed it a lot. Now I feel like I can change the world by just doing little things like switching off the lights and not wasting food.
ADITI
I learnt a lot in that youth summit, but I think the thing that stuck with me most was ‘we (the 2030 generation) are the first generation that can end world hunger, and the last generation that can end climate change.’
That was scary- if we fail to end climate change, that’s it.
Róisín