Inspirational Plant-for-the-Planet Academies
Andover’s 10th Plant-for-the-Planet Academy (Parts 1 & 2) Empowers Children to take action on the Climate Crisis
Part one of this 10th Andover Academy for Plant-for-the-Planet, attended by six committed young people aged 9-11 on February 20th 2025, saw several ‘firsts’: the first time we had run an Academy in school holidays/ out of school time, the first time the new Academy materials were used and the first time we had run an Academy on home turf - using our newly built woodland classroom and planting in the children’s own wood. Although a little unsure how it would work given the reduced space (hence parts 1 and 2!), things worked brilliantly - despite the weather, which was very wet!
The second part of Andover’s 10th Academy took place on 6th March. There was a real buzz in the air as – despite the draws of World Book Day – 16 children, aged 9 to 11 from 3 different schools, arrived at East Anton Sports Ground to register and receive their Plant-for-the-Planet t-shirts. As with all Plant-for-the-Planet Academies, an officially recognised United Nations Youth Environment Programme, the event was free-of-charge for all the attending children.
Both Academies followed the same format, beginning with some welcoming words by Wendy Davis. After some icebreaker games, the full attention of the children turned to the presentation “Let’s Go!” given by Climate Justice Ambassadors Lily, Sophie and Natalia. Complex topics, such as sources of CO2, global warming, photosynthesis, the climate crisis and global justice were presented in a suitable way for children – and nobody could be better for the task of delivering this information than young people of a similar age.
After a question-and-answer session, the action moved to The Cabin in Harmony Woods, itself planted by 10000 local children over the past decade and just a 5-minute walk away. Here, after a refreshment break, the children worked in groups, to learn more about the global distribution of the world’s people, its CO2 production, its wealth and the impacts of the climate crisis. This ‘World Game’ activity generated insightful discussions about global justice, the imbalance of power in the global north versus the global south and the resulting impacts on people’s lives.
The role of Climate Justice Ambassadors is to take action and speak up for not just for their own futures but for the children around the world. To do this, the children need good presentation and speaking skills and the next activity was designed to prepare the participants for this. By familiarising themselves with short passages from the presentation to be given at the end of the day, by practicing delivery of these passages and supporting each other with feedback on how to improve their presentations in the future, the participants developed both in confidence and in skill levels.
After a lunch break, the children had the opportunity to take action for their future right away: They went to plant trees! They received information on how to plant trees, when to plant them and how to take care of them and in return, the participants were able to show off their newly gained knowledge about the role and importance of trees by planting 3 disease-resistant Elms – a wonderful analogy for restoration as this species was all-but wiped out in the UK in the 1960s and ‘70s. In addition to the Elm, they also planted Elder, a bountiful British native tree that benefits wildlife, the flowers providing nectar for a variety of insects and the berries eaten by birds and mammals.
Back inside and suitably refreshed by drinks and snacks, each team shared their ideas for what action they could take – whether collectively or individually – to make a difference. While a small group with representatives from each school practiced the final presentation for the evening event, the rest of the children set about planning and writing their action plans. Questions they considered included how to get the attention of the media, how to motivate adults, friends and classmates, how to organise a planting party and what would be entailed in bringing their own ideas to life.
For the conclusion of the Academy, everybody walked back to the Sports Pavilion (the Cabin is off-grid and the pavilion was an easier venue from which to deliver the audio-visuals required), where for the second of the Academies, they were joined by The Worshipful The Mayor of Test Valley, Councillor Ian Jeffrey as well as by family and friends. The children proudly presented the prepared presentation and were interviewed by the Lead Ambassadors about their action plans. Organisers and guests were extremely impressed by the children, their ideas and presentations.
An exciting day full of deep discussions, friendship, laughter and a commitment to look after our world culminated with all participants being appointed as Climate Justice Ambassadors. On February 20th, the presentations were made by our talented Lead Ambassadors; on March 6th, we were delighted to be able to invite The Worshipful Mayor to present each new Ambassador with their certificate and the book – a fitting gift for World Book Day - ‘Tree-by-Tree’, which he followed with a speech congratulating the children, explaining a little about the background of Plant-for-the-Planet and thanking everybody concerned in making the day possible.
The Academies were made possible thanks to the commitment of Andover Trees United volunteers and supporters and to generous sponsors Stannah, Abel and Cole and Hildon Water. Special thanks go to the Plant-for-the-Planet Programme Coordinator Wendy Davis and also to Lead Ambassadors and Co-Moderators Lily, Sophie and Natalia, to supporting schools Abbotts Ann, Appleshaw and Knights Enham Juniors, teachers, youth organisations and parents.
A huge thanks to all the volunteers around the venue for their help with technology, food and the tree planting event. Without their support the Academy would not have been possible.