Cop26 forum: Student competition winners

The CDT are delighted that three of our students were among the winning entries in our College-wide competition inviting students to submit a creative response to climate change and related issues of sustainability.  

Students were asked to consider climate change and the impact that it is having and will have, both in terms of the global context and at a more local level.  They were encouraged to respond to the 2021 IPCC report, which was unequivocal in placing responsibility for climate change with human action. We suggested reflecting on how the COP26 global conference in Glasgow, which has been described as a “pivotal moment” for change, could also be seen as a point from which to reflect on our agency as individuals, our relationships, and responsibilities to the broader communities, including that of the university, to which we belong.

Entries took many forms: creative writing, visual arts, film, digital projects and essays. The judges were delighted and surprised by the entries from across the College, and each winner will receive a £100 cash prize from their school

Below are the winning entries from our students.

OLIVER BOCK BROWN: This short story arose from thinking about the increasing droughts that some areas of the planet are seeing as a result of climate change. I wondered what this could look like in a future where droughts become even worse, and water becomes one of the most precious resources around. I was interested in how this might play out for a small community struggling to get by on meagre government assistance, living outside of the elite cities that have access to more advanced water capture technology. Read Oliver's entry here 

CHERRY JACKSON: As many others have expressed, I am also dissatisfied with the inertia surrounding climate change by our "world leaders" and big companies. We all know what to do; we just need to do it. So instead, I wanted to focus the attention on the promotion of underrepresented voices, and how here at Royal Holloway, the voices of minorities should be amplified and that minority groups should be co-authors and co-agents in attempt to attain a greener future for us all.
Read Cherry's entry here

REBECCA HARTLEY: I have a background in politics and an interest in geopolitics. My feelings on climate change are dominated by fear, as I’m sure it is for most people. I think the topic of agency is particularly important in climate change as we grapple with our own sacrifices to be ‘greener’ while we watch state actors and large corporations at events such as COP26 with our futures in their hands. Unfortunately, this has usually been with very little faith in the outcome. Of course, time remaining is the major theme in this COP26, and I wanted to convey this.
See Rebecca's entry here   This is an environmental take on Dali’s ‘The Persistence of Memory’. In Dali’s nightmarish style, I show the agency ascribed to time in the discussion of climate change by political actors. The face is covered by a clock to signify a blindness to the flooded background of Dali’s landscape. The agency that has been ascribed to time has blinded the face from recognising its own power in the encroaching situation. The digital clocks are counting down and the forlorn landscape foreshadows the worst impacts of climate change. While we watch clocks tick, we allow our habitat to ‘melt’ before us