Nottingham Science City Youth Parliament
Forty young people across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire came together to discuss social, ethical and medical aspects of genetics research as part of the European 2Way project funded by the European Commission.
Preparation for the two-day conference began on the 14th October, where young people across Nottinghamshire were invited to take part in an afternoon of taster sessions and briefings. One session, 'Careers Speed-Networking' was run by Ignition*'s own Hasmita Chavda, and Ignition* Creative Spark, Josiah Ford, took part as one of the networkers. Here's what Josiah had to say... 'My involvement with the Nottingham Science City Youth Parliament Briefing Day, was interesting to say the least. It was a totally new experience for me. I was helping as part of the session run by Ignition* aiming to help motivate and encourage college and university students to invest in STEM subjects. I was one of four representatives who had all utilised STEM subjects in their lives. I was unique amongst the four as I am only a Year 12 student myself. So everyone I was talking to and trying to inspire were much older than myself. At first it was a little odd but as the sessions went on and people started to ask some rather challenging questions, it felt quite interesting to have people much older than myself listening to what I had to say and were genuinely interested in my story so far, and where I wanted to take these subjects in the future. I thought that all of my sessions went quite well and afterwards one woman told me that my story had inspired her and her group and that is what really made it worth my while. I feel it was good for me and has really boosted my confidence in talking to new people and telling my story to others. I do feel that me along with the other three representatives we really did help to show the students where STEM subjects could take them and how important they will be in the future." Another Creative Spark, Courtney Williams, took part in the actual Science City Youth Parliament 2-day event on the 4th and 5th November. Here is Courtney's account of the events: "Is aggressive behaviour rooted in our genetics? What are the limits of genetic testing? In the future, will medicine be tailored to everyone individually, and how prominent will the role of stem cell therapy be? Exactly where should funding be directed? These were just some of the questions tackled by students in Nottingham's Science City Youth Parliament on the 4th and 5th of November. After a day and a half of preparation in groups discussing each of four issues - genes and aggressive behaviour, personalised medicine, stem cell research and genetic testing - the students took these issues to a forum in the city's debate chambers. This culminated in voting on resolutions, which two representatives from the Science City Youth Parliament will take forward to the European Youth Science Conference, due to take place in Brussels in December. As part of Ignition*'s support of the event, Ignition* Intern Hasmita Chavda and Creative Spark Courtney Williams helped to facilitate discussions in the genetic testing group. Following the two days of intense debate, this group (the only facilitated by young people) was chosen as the best! Thanks go out to all the people who made the Parliament possible, but especially the young people who really made it a great success." Further information can be found here: http://www.nottinghamyouth.co.uk/sciencecity
