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'Amazing' Oxford climate summer school ends with awards for leaders of tomorrow

Published

‘You are all members of the Oxford Saïd family now.’

Plaudits and awards were won yesterday by 32 talented high school students, as the prestigious Future Climate Innovators Summer School culminated in acclaim and applause. Their inspirational journeys and future prospects as climate ‘change makers’ were recognised as they each received graduation certificates in Oxford Saïd’s Nelson Mandela Lecture Theatre in front of an audience of family and friends, watching online, and the experts and leaders who have guided them through the last two weeks.

The students, from as far afield as Canada, China, South Korea, India, Dubai – and the UK, were coming to the end of their two-week summer school, for which they won places in the face of 1,000 applications from young people in some 40 countries. Jo Fawkes, Oxford Saïd Director of Marketing and Communications, Global Inclusion and Youth Education, who has led and overseen the summer school, praised the students and said how much they had impressed, with their ‘passion for learning’.

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Then, Saïd Business School’s Dean, Professor Soumitra Dutta, told the students: ‘You will be important change makers. You are our leaders of tomorrow…you have a bright future ahead of you.’

And, he added: ‘You are now part of the Oxford Saïd family…go ahead and make your impact on the world.’

He was followed by Mukul Pandya, Associate Fellow, who had inspired the Oxford Saïd-Burjeel Holdings Climate Change Challenge competition for high school students and teachers. He told the students: ‘A leader is best when people barely know they exist…may you find your own path to success.’

Next, Pankaj Paul, from Burjeel Holdings, praised the summer school and the group, declaring: ‘Go and be change agents.’

As each student came up to be presented with their awards, the applause continued and the excitement was audible as every name was called out in turn.

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Eagerly anticipated was the final result of the summer school competition. After lectures, workshops and seminars, in the second week, the students had worked in six teams to create innovative sustainable business concepts. According to the judges, there had been extremely fierce ‘Dragons Den-style’ questioning of the contestants, and only four points separated all the teams.

In the event, the runners up were Urban Jungle – with their eco-vision buildings that incorporated a variety of environmentally friendly materials. However, the winners were the Condensave team, for their idea of harvesting the condensation from air conditioning units in China’s urban areas to tackle water scarcity challenges.

Manos Kapterian, Oxford Saïd’s Chief Operating Officer, said: ‘You have exceeded all expectations…this isn’t the end, but the beginning of your journey as young leaders…many congratulations.’

 

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Praising the summer school for bringing together such a diverse range of students from around the world, enabling students to learn from others, and delivering such a challenging programme, Linda Lee, the vice-principal of a Chinese High School, said: ‘This has been an amazing summer school and, I think, the best summer school in the world. This has been a wonderful programme.’

Meanwhile, Dae In Yoon, a teacher from South Korea said: ‘It has been amazing, our students are very interested in this programme…they really enjoyed it.’

Watch the highlights on Instagram from the two-week Summer School