^{Our meeting with Virgin Atlantic and British Council staff in the Sydney Airport.}

GREENING CITIES International student summit 2007, London

The Summit, which the British Council co-hosted with the Natural History Museum London, brought together around 250 students from both the UK and countries as widespread as Australia, China, Brazil, Singapore and Oman to tackle the issue of how to make our cities greener and create a sustainable future.  The students heard from scientists, policy-makers and politicians about different aspects of ‘greening’ cities and shared views with each other and developed networks worldwide. Australia was represented by Rebecca Byrnes and Karyssa Arendt of Riverside High School, Tasmania and here is their report.

After a long, tedious plane trip we, as part of our prize for winning the British Council MyClimate Competition, arrived in London to bright and sunny weather, which was quite surprising at 5am in the morning. We were amazed by the sheer size of the city and the number of people about at all times of the day. The city was thronging with people and cars and diverse culture, with over 300 different languages spoken in London alone.

^{Karyssa and Rebecca, excited and ready to board the plane in Launceston to get our trip underway!}

We managed to cram in some hasty sightseeing before and after the Greening Cities conference and saw Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, the Tower of London, Madam Taussauds House of Wax, an amazing theatre performance called Stomp, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral and some of the most impressive and expensive shops in the world!

^{Dinner on the first night at the Imperial College - Tereza (Czech), Petra (Czech), Rebecca (Australia), Karyssa (Australia), Nicol (Czech), Alla (Yemen), Tereza (Czech)}

The main reason we were there though, was to represent Australia in the Greening Cities International Student Summit and we were joined by roughly 60 other international students and over a hundred people from the UK as well. We had plenty of time to interact with the other people and we made some amazing friends from all over the world who we hope we’ll stay in contact with for as long as we can – who knows, maybe we’ll even meet some of them again one day?

^{Karyssa, Yasko and Rebecca outside the National History Museum}

The actual summit was held in the Natural History Museum, which was one of the most beautiful buildings that we saw. We listened to some impressive speakers including representatives from the Natural History Museum, the World Wildlife Fund, environmentalists and the Mayor of London – Ken Livingston. We learnt a great deal about Global Warming and its world-wide impacts and we were inspired by the determination of everyone who attended the summit to do something about the problem. We were amazed at the way all of the international delegates faced up to the problem and came up with suggestions to combat it regardless of where they were from. We were also really impressed with everything that London is doing to reduce Global Warming and hope that we can follow its example here in Launceston.

^{Rebecca with the delegates from Thailand on the steps of the National History Museum}

Some of the things that were discussed at the conference were:

• The idea of personal carbon allowances
• The role of urban plants in combating climate change
• The importance of record keeping and how individuals can play a key role in this
• The future development of eco-cities and the current project of Dong-Tan in China, a joint program between the British and Chinese governments to construct an emission-free city
• The effects of growing aviation on carbon output and climate change.
• Carbon Footprints
• Transport and its contribution to climate change

^{Karyssa receiving her certificate from Renuka on the last night.}

What is happening in the UK in regards to Global Warming:

• Ken Livingston, mayor of London, has introduced a congestion charge where people must pay to drive their vehicles in the city – this aims to encourage the use of public transport, reducing traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions in the city.
• The mayor plans to introduce a further £25 charge for heavy vehicles such as 4x4’s and trucks entering the city.
• The mayor is also running major global warming awareness campaigns and aims to reduce carbon emissions in London by 60% in the next 20 years.
• Public transport has been upgraded and is being continually improved in order to reduce carbon emissions.

^{Rebecca receiving her certificate from Renuka on the last night.}

Our trip to London was by far the most amazing experience either of us has ever had. We saw incredible sights, shopped like crazy, met awesome people and learnt heaps of significant information that we hope we can use to make a difference back here in Tassie.

^{Abdullah (Yemen), Seraj (Libya), Karyssa (Australia), Alla (Yemen), Rebecca (Australia) and Mohamad (Saudi Arabia) ice skating after the conference.}

We would like to offer suggestions to the Riverside High Community as to how we can all reduce our contribution to climate change, so keep an eye out in the Pendulum for our little tips and suggestions!

Our first tip to help you and your family reduce your carbon emissions:

• Use your car as little as possible; instead of making lots of little trips, combine them into one to help minimize the carbon emissions produced by your car.

Karyssa and Rebecca's website is a passionate call for people to resist climate change and adopt a range of ideas, including emailing the Prime Minister and putting mirrors on the top of cars and buildings to reflect sunlight. Visit their site at www.myspace.com/XxThe_ResistancexX

"Virgin Atlantic are thrilled to have been involved with the MyClimate! competition, and congratulate each and every entrant. If we assist in the education of our next generation, we're heading in the right direction for creating a sustainable future," Virgin Atlantic's Head of Asia/Pacific, Jon Harding, said.

Media contacts:

Christopher Wade, Director, phone 02 9362 6705

Grainne Brunsdon, Assistant Director, phone 02 9362 6708