Councillor Nancy Platts joined a digital surgery with Hove Park Academy as part of The Politics Project to discuss COP26, local environmental policies and the relationship between politics and the environment.

The aim of each digital surgery is to build a relationship between young people and their politicians. The idea is to start conversations between students and politicians that are not just formal Q&As.

Before the event, students had undergone three hours of lessons using The Politics Project COP26 resources. They had learnt what a councillor does and had prepared questions.

Despite a few tech problems, the session got underway with the students asking lots of questions first.  Then it was Nancy’s turn to ask the students questions and gather their views.

Students were interested in why Nancy had gone into politics and wanted to explore the route to becoming a politician. Nancy explained how she had been working in the voluntary sector on campaigns to help people on low incomes and that going into politics seemed like a natural step to make positive change happen.

The discussion moved onto climate change and the environment and Nancy said that she had supported the youth climate strikers and was pleased to work with a Green Councillor to put forward a motion on the Wellbeing of Future Generations.

In reply to Nancy’s questions about what would help to tackle transport emissions, the students felt that cheaper bus tickets and more buses to reduce waiting times would make a real difference. They also like the idea of electric scooters to reduce pollution.

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Image: Element5Digital via Unsplash