Institute students organise Climate Kick-Start 2022 outreach event

The London Schools' Climate Kick-Start 2022 event was held at the London Stadium earlier this month as part of COP27 and the Mayor’s Let’s Go Zero 2030 campaign.

Sakshi Surana, a fourth-year undergraduate student, and Michael D’Aprix, a PhD researcher, organised the UCL Institute of Archaeology student outreach table, showing over 240 school students, aged 13-18, the innovative and diverse approaches of archaeology that are taught as part of both the Institute of Archaeology's undergraduate degree programmes, which are accredited by the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, and postgraduate degree programmes. 

Their table at the event displayed artefacts collected directly from the Thames so that the student participants could experience archaeology first-hand with object-handling sessions, as well as viewing some of the physical manifestations of heritage. 

Sakshi and Mike also talked to students about some of the career opportunities and cutting-edge innovations in the profession. They highlighted the links between archaeology and climate change, covering topics including recycling and reusing built heritage to lower emissions from construction, as well as understanding historical and ancient sustainable practices, and the ways archaeology can potentially contribute to the mitigation of some of the negative effects of climate change. They also addressed the fact that archaeology still needs to grow and develop strategies in order to reduce the impacts of the climate crisis on our global heritage. 

Read more

• London Schools' Climate Kick-Start
• Mayor launches Climate Kick-Start to inspire pupils into green careers
• UCL Social & Historical Sciences reflections on COP27