Students Share Key Takeaways from Climate Change Project Week

19.11.2021

Students Share Key Takeaways from Climate Change Project Week

Conducted by Wittenborg at its three study locations, Apeldoorn, Amsterdam and Munich, the ‘Climate Change Summit Simulation’ Project Week involved more than 150 students, encouraging them to immerse themselves in the issues of climate change. During the activity, which took place between 3 and 5 November, students were divided into 7 groups, each one acting as an economic region or key country, classified as “developed” or “developing”. Overall, many of the 100 nationalities at Wittenborg University of Applied Sciences (WUAS) were represented.

By making use of digital communication platforms, the teams engaged in lively debates, and each worked on producing a policy document to be presented to the summit at the end of the project week. The ultimate goal was to "reach" a global agreement that successfully keeps climate change well below 2˚C over preindustrial levels globally – which the students did with flying colours. The initiative was run simultaneously with the COP26 world climate change summit hosted in Glasgow (UK).

According to Krish Bonthula, an MBM student from India, project weeks like these help participants connect with other students and lecturers, also contributing to the overall progress of their studies. “It has helped me in many ways. Among other opportunities, I had the chance to lead my team, conduct factual research regarding my topic and I improved my presentation skills as well”, he says.

Aya Nishida, an HBA student from Japan, mentioned that the project helped her develop her communication skills. “It was my first project week and I really enjoyed it. I made some new friends and improved my teamwork competencies”.

Apart from developing the students’ personal and professional skills, the activity was also intended to raise their awareness about the causes of climate change, its economic effects and possible solutions, as well as the importance of climate change negotiations.

“By taking part in this project week, I am able to spread awareness about climate change, educating more people and asking them to join us in this cause”, says Erfan Homayounmoghaddam, an HBA student from Iran.

After the Project Week, students had to fill in a survey as a means of evaluation and self-assessment. The results will be shared in the next few days.