When Resurgence reader, Mary Patterson, emailed to share 14-year-old pupil Tamsin’s poem, we were delighted. Mary is the Education for Sustainable Development Co-ordinator at Kingswood School in Bath, UK. Thanks to the hard work of the students, governors, parents and senior management staff, who form the Sustainable Development Committee, the school holds two Green Flag awards.

Tamsin is an active and influential member of this committee and her innovative poem shows how important it is to see things from the right perspective. This poem won the 2009 Young People’s Climate Change Conference competition.

We have to see things the right way round There is no hope It is not true that It is always possible to get out of bad situations We must acknowledge that We have made many mistakes Although in the past We knew the consequences We didn’t change then even though The air grew thicker and Made the seas rise Because of our lack of care in 2009 we Have nothing left It is wrong to believe that we Can make a difference as individuals All around the world people should know that we Cannot bring back what we had Even though we Made an effort As people together we Became less and less powerful The droughts, the hurricanes, the floods Grew larger and larger And our will to make things right Disappeared completely before 2020 Selfish attitudes Make things difficult for future generations Some ways we found to create energy did not Ensure that our children can live as well as we do We must Turn Things Around

Confused? Now read the poem from the bottom up again.

By Tamsin Ireland, age 14, Kingswood School, Bath

Leadership for Change

We need new leaders if we are to realise a more sustainable future – and it was clear from our Resilience and Climate Change event that they will emerge from the grass roots. We want to hear your stories about the leadership that inspires you to share with your fellow Resurgence readers on this - your - page.

We are giving away copies of Only Connect: an anthology of articles from ten years of Resurgence to ten readers who offer us their insights on this subject. Email: [email protected] by 28th February with “Leadership for Change” in the subject headings.