Last week saw StuCAN’s 2024/25 Launch, setting out our hopeful vision for the future of climate action! The event brought together students, graduates, educators and practitioners in an evening of reciprocity, sharing thoughts on how student action can manifest, what tools and resources we need to make our education more climate literate, and how our creativity can be harnessed into effective, and playful, climate advocacy.
ACAN Student Ambassador, Joe Bass, said:
“I was honoured to be joined by a fantastic collection of speakers from universities and practice. Tom Bennett from Studio Bark spoke passionately about activism in education and practice. From war protests to XR’s worldwide movement beginning in 2019, Tom noted how activism often takes disruptive, but creative and collective forms. Enn and Linas from the University of Sheffield’s BESCA, Rona and Juliet from ESALA’s ECAN, and Daniel and Jennifer from the Mackintosh's MACK CAN all shared the many ways students and educators can come together to enact change. This change is seen in natural material libraries, Passivhaus site visits, talks, workshops, reclaiming underused university spaces and countless other acts.
What also resonated with me was the adaptability of their StuCAN chapters. Sheffield and Edinburgh, having two of the longest running student climate action groups, have evolved year on year, tirelessly campaigning for more to be done; working with and challenging their respective schools. The MACK CAN meanwhile is just starting its movement, and it was so empowering to see other students so eager to support them, sharing resources and their own experiences of action. Together, all of these resilient networks share a collective hope that students can make a difference and tackle the climate and ecological crises.
This event was just the start. We are planning a year of action going forward, including a StuCAN Festival, a Competition, Book Club and more. Our core mission is to embed a StuCAN chapter at every university, expanding our student network across the UK and beyond - all are invited to help achieve this goal, after all, in the words of Robin Wall Kimmerer “All flourishing is mutual.”
This is where student power lies: by coming together, sharing knowledge and using the skills we have as future built environment professionals, we have huge potential to shape our education so that we can design for all on our future, precarious planet.”
Watch this space!
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