STUDENTS from St Brigid’s Catholic Primary School were selected to take part in this year’s Ipswich Youth Sustainability Summit in a move to develop a more liveable city and sustainable future.

Year 5 teacher Kim Emblen-Reeves said 18 St Brigid’s students (nine from Year 5 and nine from Year 4) attended the full day forum with a focus on student leadership and collaboration.

“The chosen students prepared an expression of interest prior to the summit to show us that they are passionate about caring for the environment and are interested in sustainability issues,” she said.

“We heard from Sacred Heart Booval and Springfield Central State schools about projects they had undertaken and how they were making a difference in their schools.

“Students explored ways to be more sustainable at school and home, they learnt more about our local environment and together we created an action plan for next year and are excited to share this with the school.”

Cr Russell Milligan said the Youth Sustainability Summit aimed to spark sustainability projects for students from Years 4 to 6.

“More than 200 students from 14 schools were involved in this year’s summit,” he said.

“The theme was, Working Together for a Brighter Future and the summit featured Ipswich student champions who share sustainability projects their classes and friends have been working on.

“The summit also offered schools a chance to engage with a diverse range of local organisations which can help them achieve their goals, leaving them inspired to be sustainability champions within their own schools.

The information sessions included a morning tea and lunch for the students.

“It was a special day out where they could build on relationships and learn about ways to improve our environment.”