Westminster’s ArCCAT hosted a mock COP to inspire the next generation of climate advocates in an immersive event with 80 St Marylebone CE School students aged 12-18.
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The University of Westminster’s Architecture and Cities Climate Action Taskforce (ArCCAT) is a community of course representatives, students, and alumni which aims to accelerate positive change within the University of Westminster,London, to fight climate change. They rely on the strengths and expertise of each individual, leaving space for different approaches and objectives. Last November, student representatives from across courses designed and delivered a Mock COP – also known as the United Nations’ Conference of the Parties – event with the Geography Department of the neighbouring St Marylebone CE School on the Marylebone Campus.
The event was intended to be an immersive experience designed to transport young people into the centre of global climate politics. It involved a role-play session where students were divided into groups representing interested parties, such as the fossil fuel industry, the banking and finance sector, youth activists, the agriculture and forestry association and many more, to draft policy proposals to address climate change. They debated their proposals, attempting to determine the best course of action to lead to equitable, logical and meaningful compromises.
The students aim was to make the most environmentally sensible decisions concerning climate change to keep global warming below the 1.5C threshold, as decided in the 2015 Paris Agreement. They could see in live time how their policy choices would impact global temperature increases using an online simulator called En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator. En-ROADS is a dynamics system model that allows users to explore the impact that policies have on dozens of factors like energy prices, temperature, air quality and sea level rise.
One of the pupils involved, Myra Soni, wrote afterwards, “I was assigned the coal industry, which you can imagine would be quite challenging to have to defend passionately, but it was actually very interesting to view the other perspective and work out how we can lead to equitable, logical and meaningful compromises. Overall, I found it to be an informative and engaging experience that allowed me to better understand the complex dynamics involved in international climate negotiations.”
Dr Ro Spankie, Assistant Head of the School of Architecture and Cities and Convener of the ArCCAT, said: “St Marylebone CE School approached us about running a Mock COP for their pupils during Climate Action Week. I handed the task to the students who designed the role play and created preparatory tasks for the 80 pupils aged 12-18 who had signed up. The result was three hours of enlightening and challenging debate. Fantastic!”
ArCCAT President Antoni Canyelles, who led the Mock COP event, said it was “very impressive” to see how seriously the young girls from St Marylebone CE School took the exercise.
“They came in very prepared, with a lot of research and dived into their roles with no hesitations from the start. It was incredible to see them enjoying the exercise and seeing their reactions as we logged their agreements in the En-ROADS simulator,” Canyelles, who is also an architecture student, added.
Featured image: St Marylebone CE School.
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About the author: Antoni Canyelles is a final-year Architecture RIBA Part I student at the University of Westminster (London). As the President of the Architecture and Cities Climate Action Taskforce (ArCCAT), he has led various initiatives, including the Mock COP event, to inspire future climate advocates and accelerate positive change to fight climate change.
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