Student dispatches from the Sustainable Solutions Summit, a one-day student-run symposium on the intersection between the goals of economic development and environmental conservation.
The Sustainable Solutions Summit, hosted by Austin High School, Bellaire High School and the Village School, brought Student World Affairs Council members and non-member students together to learn from a variety of professionals on the importance of sustainability and the charge for youth to get involved in the fight to save the climate. Thank you to Puneetha Goli, Connie Lin, Pavithr Goli, Zaid Ali and Raghav Aggarwal for co-leading the Oct. 5, 2019 event.
Read more below about how SWAC ingenuity made this event a success!
“I began developing the idea because I thought there was a gap in dialogue among youth about sustainability issues…”
When Bellaire High School’s Connie Lin first thought about hosting a Sustainable Solutions Summit, she didn’t know where to start.
Lin, who began developing the idea because of a perceived gap in dialogue among youth about sustainability issues, said planning such an event seemed like an impossible task.
“Thankfully, because of our team of students and the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston’s Ms. Felecia Chatman and Mr. Ronan O’Malley’s extensive support, we were able to bring this idea into reality,” Lin said.
But not without some bumps along the way.
Austin High School’s Raghav Aggarwal said the event planning process taught him “the importance of being flexible,” particularly when it came to securing a venue. Thanks to their tenacity, forward-thinking and teamwork, the students were able to overcome venue and speaker cancellations, eventually bringing the event to the Village School’s campus.
Austin High School’s Raghav Aggarwal said the event planning process taught him “the importance of being flexible,” particularly when it came to securing a venue. Thanks to their tenacity, forward-thinking and teamwork, the students were able to overcome venue and speaker cancellations, eventually bringing the event to the Village School’s campus.
On the day of the event, “seeing how many thoughtful questions (students) asked speakers and how eager they were to connect,” convinced Lin “that all of the planning and all of the barriers we had to cross (venue change, speaker cancellations, stress and lost sleep) were 100 percent worth it.”
According to Austin High School’s Amaar Valliani, the Sustainable Solutions Summit was “perfectly balanced.”
“There was a professional atmosphere but not so much that it was overbearing,” Valliani said. “Even though there were only 50 countries in each committee, the organizers’ assortment was very diverse in both geography and ideologies, thereby contributing more value to the discussion.”
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Nabeel Syed, also a student at Austin High School, said he believed sustainability “is a crucial topic for humanity to plan initiatives on.”
Preparing for the event allowed Syed, who represented the Republic of Kiribati, to realize “the effect that man-made climate change was having on millions worldwide who live and have their livelihoods situated near rising oceans.”
“The opportunity to develop traits of resourcefulness and flexibility allowed us to further our initiative of inciting youth activism and awareness in international relations and stand by the mission statement of the World Affairs Council of Greater Houston,” said Syed.
If you would like to know more information about SWAC and how to get your school involved, please email [email protected].
