2024 Theme: 'Change Makers'
This year’s summit is being held at the Ipswich City Council building in the Nicholas Street Precinct on Tuesday 10 September 2024. The full day summit is for students in grades 4, 5 & 6 in the Ipswich area. The event focuses on sparking sustainability projects at school and home.
The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Change Makers’. It will focus on the different ways we can lead change, from representative leadership, through to narrative and storytelling.
PROGRAM OUTLINE
- Video showcase – sharing projects from across Ipswich schools.
- The World’s Future – through an innovative game learn about the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and how our local actions contribute to global change.
- Changing the world through stories - hear from a local author about how we can use stories to inspire the community to think about the world in a different way.
- Being a change maker in your community - learn how you can share your ideas with our local representatives.
- Additional stalls and hands on activities – local organisations that can help you achieve your goals.
For more information about the event please contact the Enviroed Officer on 07 3810 6196 or email enviroed@ipswich.qld.gov.au.
Previous Youth Sustainability Summits
Youth Sustainability Summit 2023
This year’s summit is being held at the Ipswich Civic Centre on Wednesday 11 October, 2023.
The full day summit is for students in grades 4, 5 & 6 in the Ipswich area and focuses on helping to spark sustainability projects at home and at school.
The theme for this year’s summit is ‘Impact’ with a particular focus on the skills we need to lead change. Participants will hear from other school students about a range of sustainability projects and how they can inspire their fellow students to work together in improving sustainability outcomes.
This year’s summit will be led by students themselves to share projects they have been working on. There will also be other local guests, presenters and hands-on workshops and interactive experiences.
There will be an opportunity to explore and reflect on the ideas presented on the day and have time to begin to develop a sustainability project.
Program outline
- Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country
- Local leaders - student leaders from local Ipswich primary schools.
- The World’s Future – through an innovative game learn about the United Nations Sustainable. Development Goals and how our local actions contribute to global change.
- Super bin monitor - Jessica Lindsay from Mallow Sustainability will run workshops on how to help your fellow students ‘get their waste sorted’.
- Action planning and reflection – our one big goal and next steps.
- Additional stalls and hands on activities – local organisations that can help you achieve your goals.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2022
The annual Youth Sustainability Summit is for primary school students in the Ipswich area and focuses on helping to spark sustainability projects at home and at school.
The theme for the 6th annual summit is Working Together for a Brighter Future with a particular focus on student leadership.
Participants will hear from other school students about a range of sustainability projects and how they can take practical steps to starting a project.
This year’s summit will be led by students themselves to share projects they have been working on. There will also be other local guests, presenters and hands-on workshops.
There will be an opportunity to explore and reflect on the ideas presented on the day and have time to begin to develop a sustainability project.
Program Outline
- Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country
- Natural Leaders - Student leaders from local Ipswich primary schools
- Food Waste Warrior - Jessica Lindsay from Mallow Sustainability will share what we can all do about food waste
- Protecting Nature – Hear from passionate conservation volunteers about how to protect our local environment
- Start your own Sustainability Squad – Students take time to reflect and begin to craft their own eco-narrative. EcoEducate will step through how to start your own sustainability squad or club.
- Action Planning and Reflection - Facilitated session to develop an action plan for your school
- Additional stalls and hands on activities from Ipswich EnviroEd team, Ipswich Nurseries, Natura Pacific Education, Ipswich Waste Services, Learning About Birds (BirdLife SQLD and BirdsQLD), Wave of Change (Containers for Change) and more.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2021
The theme was Small Actions Lead to Big Things, with a particular focus on student leadership.
Students heard from other young people about a range of sustainability projects and decided how they could take practical steps to start a project at home or school.
Themes and presenters included:
- Natural Leaders - Student leaders from local schools - Springfield Central and Goodna State Schools
- Resourceful Partners - Darcy Witherspoon from Down2Earth and Brett Briggs from OIKOS
- Waste Warrior - Jessica Lindsay from Mallow Sustainability
- Habitat Defenders - Tamielle Brunt from Wildlife Preservation Society of QLD
- Action Planning and Reflection - Facilitated session to develop an action plan for your school
- Additional stalls and hands on activities from Ipswich Nurseries, Natura Pacific Education, SEQ Water, Urban Utilities, Ipswich Waste Services and more.
Educational Resources
Council provides several learning resources for schools on waste, sustainability and the environment. Topics include:
- Composting and worm farms
- School recycling
- Waste education
- Nude lunch days
- Waterway health
Access the resources here.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2020
To ensure a COVID safe experience, the 2020 program was delivered online with a range of options for schools to participate. Themes included the screening of Plastic Alarm, a livestream session with special guests Costa and Plastic Free Boy, a classroom bin challenge and a range of educational resources that can be accessed here.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2019
The 2019 Youth Sustainability Summit was held for Year 4 and 5 primary school students and pinpointed how we can live with zero waste. Special guest Plastic Free Boy spoke to the students about plastic waste being harmful to animals in the oceans and how they could be a part of the solution. Workshops also showed how an old t-shirt could become a handy re-usable bag, how to sort our recyclables correctly to reduce waste and a brainstorming session for students to examine sustainable projects they could implement at their school.
We congratulate those students and schools who have implemented some of the projects developed at the summit.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2018
In 2018, over 400 students participated in the Youth Sustainability Summit, focusing on how they can help change the world and live more sustainably at home and at school. Workshops covered creating fashion items from what you have at home, learning about erosion and how to manage it, the wildlife living in our local backyards and more.
Youth Sustainability Summit 2017
The inaugural Youth Sustainability Summit, run for students in the Ipswich area, was held from 12-13 October 2017. The summit was a key commitment of Council’s Sustainability Strategy. More than 200 students walked away from the summit feeling empowered to make a difference and returned home with ideas for the future. The summit focused on sustainability starting at home, with special guests and workshops. Students had the chance to understand, discuss and develop sustainability projects, innovations or ideas.
“The presenters were very passionate and energetic. The hands-on activities linked well with the Australian curriculum.The gift bags were extremely generous.Everyone had an enjoyable day.Thank you“ - St Peters Lutheran College (Springfield)