Shaahid Kajee, a fourth-year MB,ChB student, represented the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Stellenbosch University (SU) at the 9th annual World Student Environmental Network Summit (WSEN) held in June in the United Kingdom (UK). Kajee, who is the newly elected vice-chair of the Tygerberg Student Council and a member of the Green Committee on the Tygerberg Campus, wrote the following article about his experience.

"The spectre of climate change has long been dismissed by the general public as an abstract, far-away concept with no definite solutions and no will to implement change. However, with natural disasters now affecting even South Africa, the effects of climate change can no longer be ignored, and existing solutions must be implemented with all possible haste. With the idea that climate change is a global problem that requires unified, global action, in July this year, the University of Sussex and Keele University jointly hosted the 9th annual WSEN and I was incredibly privileged to be able to attend. The WSEN is an organisation run by students for students, and provides an international platform for knowledge transfer and skills development.

The theme for this year was "Sustainability Together" and the focus was on empowering student leaders and activists to strengthen their sustainability projects and raise awareness with the help of experts in the field.

The summit placed considerable emphasis on politics and civil disobedience as the drivers for sustainable, responsible development. Over the week, delegates were taught how to lobby decision makers to implement change using both confrontational and non-confrontational methods in a stepwise approach. The UK's anti-racism organisation "Hope Not Hate" delivered skills workshops on how to isolate opponents of a campaign and strategies required to unify and mobilise large groups of people using social media and disinformation tactics (a skill that must be used VERY carefully and only as a last resort!). Among the many highlights of this summit was meeting the deputy leader of the UK Green Party, Ms Amelia Womack, the youngest ever deputy leader of a UK political party. In her workshop, she illustrated how to incorporate sustainable ideals into all facets of public governance and how to turn climate activism into a career.

The keynote address by Mr Paul Allen from the Centre for Alternative Technology was arguably the best presentation of the summit. In his presentation, he highlighted a model for a Zero Carbon Britain. Allen is an expert in the field of alternative technologies and is a strong proponent of 'powering down' our high-energy lifestyles, while providing solutions to maintain our current quality of life. His model for Zero Carbon Britain and his pioneering research have been presented at numerous UN Climate Change conferences.

One of the many criticisms of all sustainability conferences is that they are typically 'all talk and no action'. However, during one of the workshops on de-growth (i.e. green development), my team and I, consisting of South African, Peruvian and Canadian delegates, developed a model for energy transition and energy justice, which will be presented to the Barcelona City Council for consideration. This model is set to be one of the most innovative energy policies in Europe, should it be implemented.

In general, the summit was a wonderful opportunity to meet like-minded young people from all over the world and exchange ideas that will be delivered to our respective countries. As the representative of Stellenbosch University, I was pleasantly surprised to note that our institution is truly a world leader in terms of the many sustainable policies we have, often driven from the highest level of university management.

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to the Frederik van Zyl Slabbert Institute for Student Leader Development and SU's Co-Curricular Support Fund for making this trip possible and allowing me to represent our university on the world stage. It was truly a worthwhile event!"

Photo: Shaahid Kajee standing outside Oxford University's library.