UniSey hosts its first Whole Earth Exhibition |16 March 2016

The University of Seychelles (UniSey) in partnership with the University of Bristol, UK hosted the Whole Earth Exhibition last Thursday and Friday at the Anse Royale campus.

The objective of the Whole Earth Exhibition was to showcase and promote sustainable development particularly among young people.

The exhibition provided an opportunity for students and young people in general to discuss with their peers and lecturers about the future of the planet, try and find solutions to challenges that Seychelles faces especially in areas such as climate, energy, fresh water, oceans, agriculture, human rights and economic rule-making.

The Whole Earth Exhibition was launched in autumn 2015 in the UK. It is one of the many activities of The Hard Rain Project that was established in the UK in 2006. The Project highlights the world’s challenges such as climate change, poverty eradication, human rights and the sustainable consumption and production. Its philosophy is based on the premise that the future belongs to today’s young people and that students and universities everywhere can play a major role in making our society more sustainable. This year, UniSey has taken part in the Project by organising its own Whole Earth Exhibition.

The acting Dean of the Faculty of Science and Humanities, Joëlle Perreau, mentioned that “the Whole Earth Exhibition has been to numerous universities around the world; in Asia, Europe, America, Australia, Africa, North and South America. The Lancaster University, University College of London, University of Wales, Leeds University, Umeå University in Sweden, University of the South Pacific are among the many that have hosted the exhibition before us. UniSey is indeed very proud to be among such top universities.”

She said that “the exhibition is aimed at reaching over a million students in universities across the world. Its purpose is to sensitise and educate the youth and the public in general on the role that each one can play in order to make society and the world in general more sustainable. ‘Whole Earth’ is an invitation to students around the world and to the general public to articulate the kind of world they would like to live in”.

To conclude, Ms Perreau thanked everyone who had helped make the Whole Earth Exhibition a reality. A special mention went to Vijay Construction for sponsoring the scaffolds and for assisting with the mounting and dismounting of the exhibition.

One of the third-year BSc Environmental Science students, Andrew Souffre, explained that the Whole Earth Exhibition is laid on a 60 x 1-metre long display and is divided into six sections. The sections cover topics such as what is the Whole Earth Exhibition; a brief history of the concept of sustainable development; the issues faced by mankind by the impact of climate change and poverty; and the effects of overpopulation and many more. It suggests possible solutions to these problems.

“Our hope for you all today and for everyone coming to see the exhibition is to get you all thinking about our future; what kind we want and why it is important for each one of us to do our very best to ensure that we get there,” Andrew said.

The third-year BSc Environmental Science students with the assistance of their lecturers and the Year 1 and Year 2 students organised the Whole Earth Exhibition as part of their Governance and Stakeholder Engagement module. The students were allocated to each of the six sections of the exhibition to explain and guide the viewers.

During the ceremony, a group of students from the Anse Royale secondary school Wildlife Club performed a poem and song entitled ‘Earth’.