This page may contain additional navigation below.
Students Help Organise United Nations Conference
This article is 10 months old. It is presented here as part of an historical archive and as such, the information contained within it may no longer be accurate or up to date. Readers are advised to check with the University before acting upon the information contained herein.
Students and graduates from Bath Spa University have been given key organising roles for a major conference at Windsor Castle, hosted by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and attended by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
The students are all on work placements, arranged by the University, with the Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC). ARC, a small charity based near Bath, is holding the summit of 230 religious and secular leaders next week from 2 to 4 November, in partnership with the UN Development Programme.
ARC, which was founded by HRH Prince Philip, is a secular body whose headquarters are at Kelston Park just outside Bath. It helps the world's major religions to develop their own environmental policies, based on their different core teachings, beliefs and practices.
The Windsor Castle event will involve leaders from nine faiths: Baha'ism, Buddhism, Christianity, Daosim, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, Shintoism and Sikhism. They are meeting to commit to their own long-term practical initiatives for protection of the environment.
The gathering comes just a month before the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit in December and has great significance for action on environmental issues.
The students from Bath Spa University are on a variety of degree-related placements, lasting between one and ten weeks, and all with responsibility for management of the three-day event.
For example Lucy Glendinning, who is in the third year of her Bath Spa course, Study of Religions, is organising all the delegates' security documents and accommodation. She will be front of house at Windsor Castle next week, registering them for the summit.
Lucy said: "It's a great honour to be involved in this unique event and obviously a fantastic addition to my degree. The experience should also give me a real advantage in the jobs market."
Laura Jackson, who recently graduated with a first in Study of Religions, has written most of the material on ARC's special event website www.windsor2009.org
A graduate in Theatre Production, Kim Missen, has designed everything from event stationery to table plans for a dinner where the keynote speech will be delivered by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
A Performing Arts graduate, Duncan Roe, will be in charge of the audio-visual technology for presentations during the summit.
And finally Maria Ingouville Stork (second year Creative Writing and Media Communications) will also be assisting at the conference.
Claire Powell, of ARC, said: "The Bath Spa students and recent graduates are doing an amazing job. Their help with this massive event is invaluable. As a small charity it would be really hard to organise it without their skills, commitment and professionalism.
"We are grateful to the University for brokering this mutually beneficial opportunity - both supporting a local organisation and providing students with this positive experience."
Bath Spa University is part of the Graduates 4 Business project, funded by the South West Regional Development Agency and part of a drive to promote the benefits of placements and internships to students, graduates and employers alike.
Press Release Issued 27 October 2009 by School of Humanities and Cultural Industries.
