Climate march with result in Spes Nostra Kuurne

15 October 2020 - Interview with teacher Ruth Beckers, teacher and MOS walker at Spes Nostra in Kuurne

In January 2019, the news was dominated by one theme for weeks: the climate marches. The young Swedish Greta Thunberg put the issue on the global map with her school strike and in Belgium Anuna De Wever convinced a lot of young people to go to Brussels on Thursdays to demonstrate. Spes Nostra also mobilised its pupils, but in its own municipality. And with results, because of the 50 climate demands the pupils made to the municipality, quite a few have been realised.

Climate march

Climate marches were the topic of the day in 2019. Also at the secondary school Spes Nostra in Kuurne, teacher Ruth noticed a lot of concern among pupils and teachers. Many wondered what global warming meant for their future and during the lessons a lot of attention was paid to the climate issue. Ruth noticed that the climate marches were very popular among the pupils, but that they did not dare to play 'climate truant' because the school registered this as an illegal absence.

At a meeting of the MOS working group, the idea of organising a climate march of their own in Kuurne was put forward. The pupils were very enthusiastic. But what was also immediately clear was that they did not want to do just any climate march. There had to be something in return.

Each class formulated 2 climate demands for the municipality. In total, the pupils made 50 signs with slogans to reinforce the demands. On 12 February 2019, the pupils and teachers marched through the streets of Kuurne with a lot of noise. The arrival was planned at the town hall. There they were received by the mayor and the aldermen. The signs were planted on the lawn in front of the town hall, so that the climate requirements were visible to everyone. Each time the municipality realised a proposal, the corresponding sign was removed.

Some examples of the climate requirements:

Encouraging green facades
More trees in the streets and on the market square
Koning Albertstraat = bicycle street
Expansion of the heat network
Solar panels for public buildings
Free tree for every citizen
A car and bike sharing system

Youth in action

The practical organisation of the climate march was quite a task. The pupils of the MOS working group played an important role in the realisation of the climate march: they requested permission from the police and the municipality, made sure that the streets were free of traffic, directed class groups and took care of almost all communication. Only the meetings with the mayor and the police took place in the presence of a few teachers.

The action could count on a lot of enthusiasm. No fewer than 488 of the 630 pupils ultimately took part in what can be called a very successful climate march. On the other hand, the school also found it important not to make participation in the climate march compulsory. Students who did not want to participate could stay at school.

Impact

Various climate requirements have meanwhile been met by the municipality of Kuurne. For example, there are more green facades, Koning Albertstraat will soon become a bicycle street, and from now on you can share a car and bike.

And there are many more great plans for the future. Solar panels will be installed on public buildings, including Spes Nostra, and the heat network of IMOG, the Intermunicipal Association for Public Health, will be expanded. The school will also be connected to this heat network. And of course MOS is very excited about this.

A report by Something Blue (2021)