Catholic Earthcare Youth Summit
Thank you to Year 12 students Alexis Low, Liz Lee, Chris Cakir and Ella Waddy for sharing their summary of the Catholic Earthcare Youth Summit:
On Friday 3 September, four Sustainability Club members had the opportunity to attend Caritas’ inaugural Catholic Earthcare Youth Summit hosted by Aquinas College.
The day started with a beautiful Welcome to Country. As one Aquinas College student played the didgeridoo, a group of his peers performed a traditional dance which drew its inspiration from native Australian fauna such as emus and kangaroos.
Under the guidance of Ms Simone Preedy, we were immersed into a world of sustainability within a forum of like-minded students from various Catholic schools across the Perth area and two regional schools via the event being live streamed. Throughout the day, we were able to engage in discussion with other students on topics that ranged from what was currently being accomplished in our schools, to our hopes and aspirations for the future.
The afternoon sessions were filled with many presentations from various organisations including the Water Corporation, Waste Wise and Climate Clever. The guest speakers were highly informative and provided us with a range of ideas, inspiring us to go further in our sustainability journey. We were enlightened on the harmful effects of our excessive consumption of the Earth’s resources as well as the delusion of “green washing” that causes more harm than good.
One guest speaker who was truly motivating was celebrity gardener, Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia. He possessed a broad wealth of knowledge and advice, which when combined with his obvious passion and zest for the environment, touched the hearts of all who were present.
All students came away from the event inspired to do more, make a difference, and help to encourage sustainability within the school and the wider community. We are looking forward to setting the foundations for a more proactive and sustainable school.
The day concluded with a liturgy in the Aquinas Chapel where we were called into the presence of the Lord to pray, give thanks and ask for strength for guidance in our journey ahead.
As said in Pope Francis’ 2016 encyclical Laudato Si, (meaning ‘praise be to you’), “Humanity still has the ability to work together in building our common home.”
We are reminded to embrace our home. Pope Francis’ encyclical is an urgent call to tackle the current ecological crisis by making a shift that will allow all humans to live sustainably and with dignity. Some themes explored in the document included a moral and spiritual challenge, care for God’s creation, impact on the poor, the call to solidarity and most importantly, Pope Francis calls for a change in lifestyle and consumption which were all elements that were discussed and explored during the day.
The time to act is now.
