'Student Climate Project' takes off!

The Student Climate Project has just launched online forums. Though still in early days, the aim of the forums is to bring student activists from all over the country together to take part in online discussion and networking aimed at building the student climate movement to a critical mass. All student activists are encouraged to sign up to the forums and get communicating with each other. It is hoped that the forums will contribute to a feeling of solidarity among existing student activists, and inspire them into taking further creative and exciting action against climate change. The forums will also provide an opportunity to discuss just how the wider student body can find their place within the movement. Go to www.studentclimateproject.org.uk/forums to join.

However, the online forums are just the first step of this exciting new project. The project is going to be a opportunity for a diverse and creative range of actions to take place, all with the central aim of building the student movement against climate change. There will be a launch gathering on the 30th November to the 2nd of December at East Oxford Community Centre from 6.30pm on the Friday to 3pm on the Sunday. The gathering aims to bring students from all around the country to discuss what needs to be done to build a critical mass of students taking action against climate change, and then our ideas will be turned into action. By the end of the weekend it is hoped that we will leave with a clear idea of what it is we want to achieve through the project.

The Project is run along non hierarchical grounds and consensus decision making. It is not an organisation, but an open collection of individuals (some of whom belong to other organisations such as People and Planet) who are determined to win the fight against climate change before it is to late. The Project came about after discussions at the Climate Camp, where the clear consensus among students present was that not enough students were engaged in activism.

"With Climate Change presenting the most serious threat ever faced we simply can't sit back and do nothing", said one student present at the Climate Camp and involved in the new project. "The battle now is not to persuade people that Climate Change exists, but to ensure that the desperately required radical action is taken to ensure 90% cuts to the UK by 2030 in order to prevent runaway climate change. The government and corporations have still not proved they are capable of taking action on their own intiative, and therefore a critical mass must riseup and ensure the action required happens fast. I believe students have a key role to play in being part of this critical mass".

Anyone interested should come along to the Gathering and contribute to the project. It can be whatever people want to make it, and diversity will be key to its success.

Email  studentclimateproject@hotmail.co.uk for more information, and check out the website and forums on www.studentclimateproject.org.uk