St Columbans Climate Trip to Solihull

As the Chaplaincy Group for climate, we visited the St Columbans Centre to discuss climate change and how best we can take action for our environment. Our visit was split into three sessions, each based around one part of the idea ‘see, judge, act; This helped us see the problem, learn about and understand it, and then use this understanding to take effective action.

In our first session (see), we spoke to Marge in the Philippines via video call, who works for the St Columbans uniting people of different faiths under one cause. She told us what it is like living on the frontline of the climate crisis, talking about the devastation caused by recent extreme weather events there and their impact on the local and indigenous communities. We asked lots of questions and learnt a lot from the answers.

After our conversation with Marge, we moved on to the next stage (judge), in which we went outside and reflected, either as a pair or individually, on what we could take away from it and how we could use it moving forward. We also sat outside to draw independently something small we could see in detail, not for the result but to think whilst enjoying the process.

On returning to a group, we shared our ideas and went inside to start part three (act). We chose an area we felt most passionate about making a change in and sat at its corresponding table to plan practical responses with others. We brainstormed many ideas about different campaigns, writing to our MP and changes within our school.

Overall, this was a refreshing, eye-opening experience from which we all gained a lot. We hope to use our now greater knowledge and awareness of the climate crisis to inform our decisions as a group in the future.

Taly - 9MA