by Nick Norwood
14 years old
The American School of Doha Roots & Shoots
Doha, Qatar

In March, youth from around the world gathered in Düsseldorf, Germany to tackle global issues at the 2008 Global Issues Conference. Among them were Roots & Shoots Youth Leadership Fellow, David Chase—and me!

Organized by the Global Issues Network, the Global Issues Conference is an annual gathering of students and teachers from around the world, who come together to discuss the most pressing issues, such as this year¿s issue: sustainability.

For three days, participants heard from six different keynote speakers. This year's speaker line-up included David!

Participants also take part in smaller workshops, often run by young conference participants. The goal of this year's conference was for students to write sustainability action plans on what they will do when they return to their schools.

"It was so inspiring to see these students taking what they learned at the conference and crafting concrete plans for how they would better their communities when they returned home," David said.

One of the schools represented at this year's conference was the American School of Doha (ASD) in Qatar, which is also part of the Roots & Shoots network. I'm a student at ASD, and the entire school is taking steps to become more sustainable and environmentally friendly by offering students two classes, a global issues class and a Roots & Shoots class.

The Roots & Shoots class focuses on local environmental problems and does several projects to fix problems in the community. Students also learn about reducing, reusing and recycling the school¿s waste and the effects of planned obsolescence and perceived obsolescence. The goal of our class is not to have all the students make huge changes in the world, but to make one small change, because if everyone made one small change the world would be a far greater place to live in.

The ASD students' Roots & Shoots projects include making booklets out of one-sided paper, asking students to use lunch boxes instead of paper bags and convincing students not to use plastic cups in the school. Some students are working to convince local hotels to be more environmentally friendly. One student has even convinced a local supermarket to replace their plastic bags with reusable bags. For my part, I am helping to start a recycling program in a neighboring school.

The American School of Doha is a perfect example of how young people can take action in their own community to make a global impact.

Want to learn more about the Roots & Shoots members at the American School of Doha? Look them up in Find a Group and send them a message.