Movements for Change

Three 12-year-olds in a Berlin classroom discussing activism and movements. Thank you to their teacher, Katherine Milner, for supporting their contribution.

Space Waste

By Ruby

When I look into the sky on a clear night, I see stars and stars again. That is when I ask myself what else is up there – and though it may not be the first thing that people think of, I think of a problem. Space offers so many new opportunities, and I do not think that we should waste them by creating space debris.

Movement. This word has a variety of different meanings – it can represent a mental state, but it can also represent physical movement. Though the word has a lot of meanings for me, my favourite is space debris. When you think about space, you are most likely to think of rockets, comets, and other celestial bodies like Mars, but there is far more out there than that. In space there are two kinds of debris: natural debris (comets, asteroids, and meteoroids) and artificial (man-made) debris. Natural debris has been in space from the beginning, but artificial debris first appeared in space after the launch of the first satellite (Sputnik 1). They all move through space at overwhelming speeds (approximately 8 km/s or 4.97 miles per second). Due to this speed, space debris can be fatal to functioning satellites and shuttles in space; this is because if the debris collides with the satellites, they can be damaged or destroyed. But this is not the only thing that happens when debris collides; it creates even more space debris. Additionally, it can cause great disturbances on earth when it hits a satellite that is relevant to the system. All of this could result in a chain reaction, known as Kessler syndrome. Future missions connected to space may be impossible in a few years if we carry on at the same pace as in the last few years – this would mean that we would not have the prospect of being able to build a civilisation on Mars or the moon in the future. Space debris and space technology clearly show human evolution over the past decades. If we do not change, we may lose all our technological progress – but by then it will be too late to act. Movement can be good or bad; movement can cause a problem, but it can also resolve it.

Fridays for Future 

By Zoe

Fridays for Future is an organisation,
That deals with world leaders in conversation.
Before Covid-19 they organised protests as huge as 1 million people.
Nature and oceans are treated unequal.
#FridaysForFuture got lots of attention,
But grownups are in another dimension.
78.1% is the sustainability score of the UK,
One of their biggest problems is British Airways.
Teenagers took to the streets,
“Freedom of speech is non-negotiable”, Greta Thunberg Tweets.
No pollution is what professionals say,
But politicians still have their way.
Donald Trump wrote his opinion,
In a type of dominion.
Most children and adults disagree,
But that does not count for all people who have a degree.
To save our world we must act.
To save our world we must work together!

We need to change!

By Carla 

We can choose to change. 
We can choose to shape the future. 
We can choose to design appealing public spaces, 
Making architectural buildings that inspire, 
Changing cities to make them impressive, 
Building a powerful community,
Creating attractive building yards,
Changing rooftops to vertical farms,
Your balcony into your secret spice farm, 
Making buildings that are notable, creative, and crazy, 
Choosing how green it is. 
Choose to care about where you live. 
Courageous architecture that dares to break new ground,
The heart of a city being green. 
It’s not about money, 
It’s about love and passion creating our future. 
We can change,  
But only if we choose to.