After Jo’burg, it’s time to wake up!

The National Trust has been building links from the gardens of years past to the voice of youth on global change. Sophie Scott explains its involvement with Your Wake Up Call.

Agriculture and biodiversity are central issues for the National Trust. Looming large in the international political arena too, they provided two of the five headline topics at the Jo’burg Summit. This was also the focus of Your Wake Up Call, an initiative led by UN Environment and Development (UNED), with the explanatory subtitle ‘Young People Speaking Out on Behalf of the Planet’.

The Trust took the decision to support this initiative, which has galvanised young people from a wide range of charities and organisations including the Centre for Alternative Technology, Childline, RSPB and Fairbridge. It proved a great opportunity for communicating on environmental issues, and at the same time laid to rest any worries that the 12-25 age group is the hardest to engage in our work.

We began this year by running a competition for 12-18 year olds from Birmingham schools, Having asked them to submit their environmental manifesto, we received an extremely high standard of entries. Adam Dumbleton from Holy Trinity Catholic School, and Sara Kouser from Golden Hillock School, were chosen to go to South Africa, with nearly 100 other young people and their guardians, as Trust representatives in Your Wake Up Call.

At a preparatory conference in Birmingham in April, which included 30 young South African environmentalists, a shared approach and attitude was quickly established. Our theatre company ran a skit to raise issues surrounding personal choice, and when as part of the drama an ‘environmental campaigner’ shouted “don’t recycle, refuse packaging!” a loud cheer erupted! They group chose to focus on the issue of food and farming, and agreed three ways of delivering their messages:

  • broadcasting them throughout the summit at information points on large multimedia screens;
  • distributing a newspaper;
  • hosting an event for world leaders.
The Trust also held a pre-summit preparatory day at Upton House in Warwickshire, which involved the runners-up as well as the two winners from our original competition. We are uniquely positioned to develop models of sustainable living, embracing houses, gardens and the broader landscape, and Upton House is a fine example of how a (rather well-to-do!) family would have lived sustainably with the benefit of a carp pond and large walled garden. The many exotic varieties of old fruit and vegetables grown there can still be seen today. A session with the Upton House gardeners, Heather, Phil and John, exposed a fascinating fact - the young environmentalists all had gardens, and openly attributed their interest to their first hand experience of the natural world that they’d gained from them.

Our website proved to be another effective way of gathering views about key issues in time for the Johannesburg summit. Among the points formulated via a discussion board under the Learning and Discovery section at www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trusttalk were:

  • If we cannot buy locally, we should grow our own food.
  • We need more information about the effects of pesticides on our health.
  • The government has a responsibility to provide this information.
  • It is better to buy locally and ‘unorganic’ than to import organic food from overseas.

For the Trust, the whole initiative reinforces a basic truth. Working with young people is not an optional piece of ‘inclusion’. It is essential if we are to work towards a sustainable future for all.

Sophie Scott is education interpretation officer at the National Trust.

23 September 2002

Sophie Scott