Think Global Climate Change and Health Advocacy and…

Think Global: Climate Change and Health; Advocacy and Campaigning

Coming to the end of our preGA workshop the inspiration and passion shared between the participants has been incredible. It’s easy to forget the extent of the campaigning network within the UK. With Medsin’s Healthy Planet project and wider networks, such as the UK Youth Climate Change Coalition, young people have real influence to effect environmental change. The training provided by Medsinners Danny Hutley and Elly Pilavachi in conjunction with trainers from Germany, Australia and Norway is intensely effective at changing attitudes and teaching the skills required to come back to the UK and become a part of the climate movement.

However, where the Think Global workshop really comes into its own is in the diversity of the participants. I have spent three days getting to know individuals from China, Peru, Austria, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and even farther afield. In many of these countries awareness of climate change is poor and campaigns are weak or nonexistent.

Many participants devised action strategies to take back to their home countries, essentially planning to begin an entire youth movement from scratch. The ambition of the groups was truly inspiring. One group set a SMART target of training 50,000 students in China on how to campaign for climate change within 1 year. The collaboration and cooperation between individuals was particularly striking. Watching the Chinese, South Korean and Taiwanese delegates working together with flair and creativity provides a stark contrast to our global leaders.

Right now I’m sitting at the first ever Open Conference session held by IFMSA. The model is based on TED, opening the floor for anyone to share their own story. Guo from China, another participant from the Think Global workshop, has just taken the stage to talk about climate change in his own town.

Using the public narrative technique taught in the workshop, Guo frames his speech with a personal story, encapsulating the audience with imagery of his childhood spent running through lush green grass, so tall that he disappears under it. Guo goes on to say that now, in 2011, the Inner Mongolian grassland has turned to desert. Guo challenges the audience to care about climate change and to limit their carbon footprint during the General Assembly.

For me, this speech epitomises the success of the workshop. The knowledge, skills and tools now available to us as a Think Global network can only lead to great things. It genuinely excites me when I consider what our group will achieve when we return to our own countries.

This is what the IFMSA is really about: sharing skills and experience between medical students from every corner of the globe.