A RIPON Grammar School student has been chosen to represent the UK at a major international youth conference on climate change.
Darcey Joia is one of 15 talented sixth form students selected from hundreds of candidates from countries as diverse as Lebanon, America, Morocco, India, Brazil, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands, Colombia, Botswana, Peru, Indonesia and the Philippines.
As international Junior Advisory Board ambassadors – chosen for their extraordinary profiles and commitment to excellence, innovation, human values and ethics – they will take part in a series of workshops in Spain with top research professors in climate change and international relations.
Now in its eighth year, the annual five-day event is based at Spain’s IE University, which has campuses in both Madrid and Segovia.
Darcey, 16, from Knaresborough, will be tasked with exploring how higher education, within the context of international relations, can help provide solutions to the problem of climate change, and will present her ideas to a panel of experts.
She explained: “I was very keen to apply when I learned about the topic being covered. I feel quite passionately about the climate crisis, the way our world works, how ecosystems thrive and organisms co-exist. That’s what I’m interested in studying at university.”
Concerned about the erosion of habitats and wildlife, she added: “I am also worried about the disproportionate effects climate change has on people around the world. It’s really important we all try to do what we can to help.”
JAB team representative Laura Alvarez said: “Darcey’s application shone through the crowd as outstanding and inspiring. We were impressed by her creativity, earnestness and dedication to international education. Last, but certainly not least, she was selected for her leadership potential.”
In her application, Darcey had to include her CV, along with a video interview and an essay discussing specific questions about the climate crisis and the opportunities to solve it within education.
Ms Alvarez added that it was difficult to pick just 15 students from the amazing applications received from more than 350 candidates across fifty countries: “As well as their extraordinary profiles, students were selected for their academic merits and their mastery of different disciplines.
“The talent-based advisory board’s objective is to build a snapshot of these young people’s current vision of the academic world and consider possible improvements in the field of university education.”
In addition to her all-expenses paid trip, Darcey has been offered an 80 per cent scholarship should she wish to study at the world-class IE University.
*The IE University JAB conference will be held on April 12th to 17th.