On Thursday 24 June Year 11 were treated to a panel of very accomplished alumnae speaking at the Sustainability Forum as part of the Year 11 “Our Bright Futures” Enrichment Week designed by Ms Cagnino.

The panel included:

Laura Adams – Responsible Business and CSR programmes in business Consultant (formerly Co-Op and Jaguar Land Rover)

Grace ter Haar – Global Sustainability Manager at Unilever

Emily Bolton – Climate Change Officer at Cambridgeshire County Council

The panel all spoke brilliantly and passionately about their roles and the complexity of the range of issues included under the sustainability umbrella.  

The discussion covered many topics including the challenge of climate change, the responsibility of large multinational businesses to be a force for good, the role of the public sector, government and policy, how the current model of capitalism will have to evolve, true sustainable development as part of society as a whole, the importance of carbon capture, how organisations and government can engage and capture the interest of the young via social media, the value of a change of approach to treating the environment as a natural capital asset rather than a free resource to be exploited, the power of the role of the individual and voting with your wallet and likely changes to the workplace, commuting patterns and business travel following the pandemic. 

“Sustainability is a broad church including people, planet and prosperity and businesses have to be part of the solution” – Laura Adams

The Year 11 Students asked some fantastic questions and came away with lots to think about. Thank you so much to Ms Cagnino, Head of Year 11, for arranging the programme, Mr Livings, Head of Geography, for acting as Chair and Mrs Truman, Alumnae Relations Officer, for assembling the speakers.