Blake Inspire Environmental Leadership Programme
Year 11 student Mathew Jamieson was selected from hundreds of applications throughout New Zealand for Blake Inspire, a week-long environmental leadership programme for young New Zealanders.
Having the opportunity to attend the Blake Inspire programme was a fantastic opportunity for Mathew, one that he encourages other young men to apply for in the future.
"To put it simply it’s an environmental leadership camp with a focus on clean energy (the carbon bill, Paris agreement, etc. - ties into global warming), New Zealands waterways (Riparian planting etc), and politics. A good understanding of these areas is really useful and it becomes quite obvious who did their study beforehand and who didn’t. I would personally recommend taking geography, biology and having an interest in politics to have the best chance of making the most of your time there.
In addition to this you can’t be shy; they put you outside your comfort zone. One of the shyest people there had to do an impromptu speech in front of all of us.
Personally for me while there we had to do a ‘policy exercise’ and they put me in the Māori party where we had to act on behalf of all Māori in New Zealand and negotiate deals that benefitted and aligned with their personal values. This really put me outside my comfort zone as I didn’t want to offend anyone, but I still wanted to try to negotiate the best deals on behalf of the Māori. There was a group of four of us but I got voted to be the leader so I had to do all the speaking which was fine, but it was more external pressure. Thankfully afterward a couple of the Māori students and teachers approached me and said they thought we did well, managing to put across their perspective and not offend anyone.
Summary of Blake Inspire 2020
Key points:
-originally was meant to be a seven-day camp during the term two holidays
-they accept 60 applicants from around New Zealand, about a third of them are male
-full-on with days often starting at 5:30am and finishing at 11pm
Key Itinerary:
Monday:
Flew into Auckland between 8-10
Left Auckland around 10:30
Arrived at Waikato Diocesan Girls School around 1
Had lunch then left for the Hamilton gardens for an icebreaker (similar to a great race)
Came back had dinner. Then learned a background to the Blake program and a few Waiata’s that we would sing to groups/ teachers as a way of thanking them for their time
Bedtime was around 10:30- earliest of the nights
Tuesday:
Woke-up around 5:30
Had breakfast etc
Had a zoom meeting with the sustainability managers from both, BNZ, and Fontera
Left and traveled to farm to see how eco-friendly farming can look
Finished up with hangi and tour of the marae, learnt about Maori customs, and their philosophy on the land.
Lights out at 11
Wednesday:
Woke up- 5:30
Meeting on corporate sustainability- with a focus on tourist businesses
Traveled to Waitomo caves, did the cave tour and black water rafting
Introduction to policy
The ‘policy exercise’ basically a mini run-through of the government- 4 hours
Lights out-11
Thursday:
5:30 -…
Leave for Raglan Harbour, do kayak tour and science activity with scientists from Niwa and Blake
Travel back and present acton plans- we had to make a plan that would benefit the community, the people that the judges deemed to of had the best action plan won a $2000 grant to help them do it. (we had people from Westpac, Niwa, and Fonterra come in to judge for this)
Lights out 11
Friday:
Wake up-6:30
Then left for national park, hiked around here with lectures in-between spots for around 2hrs
Then left for the airport
People flew out between 2-7:30pm"
By Mathew Jamieson
From the Blake website: "For young environmental leaders who want to make a difference.
This year 60 secondary school students from all over New Zealand will join us in the Waikato for BLAKE Inspire 2020 – our annual, week-long leadership development programme in partnership with the Ministry for the Environment.
Throughout the week students will work together with scientists, environmental experts, a diverse range of leaders and other like-minded students to help them develop strong leadership skills while learning about topical environmental issues and how they can take action to tackle them.
Participation, adventure and learning are all key requirements for delegates. They take part in environmental and marine science activities and visit businesses and local organisations to learn about what they are doing to reduce their impact on the environment.
Most importantly, students have lots of fun and leave BLAKE Inspire with new friends, skills and clear action plans to start making positive change within their own schools and communities."
Read the report from the Manawatū Standard:
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