On Monday 10th of May, Panamuna sent two team members to the inaugural Sustainable Schools Symposium Dinner held at Somerset College on the Gold Coast. The event was organised by the newly formed Sustainable Schools Network, and was a chance for us to mingle and network with others who are working in the sustainability field, whether that be within a school setting or the broader community. It was also a chance to hear from some game changers in the area of environmental activism, many of them who are part of the younger generations.
With catering from Mudjira Village Eatery, who created and delivered a meal that was not only sustainable but absolutely delicious, and a huge marquee with tables decorated using natural, reusable and recycled objects, the mood was set for a fantastic night.
There were a variety of presenters at the event – 18 speakers to be precise - but probably the most profound dialogue occurred during the panel discussion. On this panel was Melati Wijsen, co-Founder of Bye Bye Plastic Bags Bali, aged 19; Australian UN Youth Representative for 2019 Kareem El-Ansary; Holley Somerville Knott from Tell Someone Who Cares, aged 15; and Amelia Berner from OzHarvest; and Robert Hales from Griffith University Centre of Sustainable Enterprise.
What an incredibly inspiring event! It gave us so much joy, along with enhancing our drive to continue doing what we are doing here at Panamuna to #createchange, to hear what these young people had to say and the positive move of schools in making lasting change within their communities, as well as more broadly.
The key take away message from the event was that Sustainability is:
- An imperfect process
- Achieved through capacity building
- Learned through conversations and sharing
- Can seem restrictive, but within these confines creativity flourishes
So do something, anything, that would see a move towards lasting positive change for our environment.
