UNIVERSITY students in Devon and Cornwall staged a protest this week as part of a national campaign to end fossil fuels.
Starting Monday (Nov 7), the students occupied the Chapel lecture theatre at Falmouth University's Penryn campus for nearly three days before being given an ultimatum by the university, stating they could meet with management if they agreed to leave the space.
The protestors, who were part of End Fossil - a wider group operating nationwide - had four main demands that they wished to be met.
Their first demand comes straight from End Fossil who want to nationalise the fossil fuel industry, with the student protestors pushing for the university to release a statement in support of that goal.
The next three demands were specifically for Falmouth and Exeter universities and centred on both implementing people's assemblies, instal an ethical careers policy, and 'climate' the curriculum.
Phil, 22, a student at Falmouth University and one of those taking part in the protest told The Packet: "We're part of a movement called End Fossil, which is an international movement of decentralised students in over 20 countries around the world.
"It's because students are terrified of the future and climate emergency and we need tangible action now, there's no way that we can wait and see.
"That's why people have been taking direct action and occupying, in order to achieve that.
"They haven't explicitly agreed to our demands but, after meeting with the governors, we are quite confident that they're going to begin to take the right moves, and that's going to be taking a lot more of the student voice into account.
"The main take away is that the university is now taking action towards people's assembly, which will allow us to discuss our other demands in a proper democratic way which will include all students, all staff, and even local people as well.
"We're really glad with the outcome so far, but we're definitely going to keep the university accountable."
A spokesperson for Falmouth university said: "Following positive discussions with the small number of students involved in the demonstration, the protesters vacated the space on Thursday morning.
"This week at the COP27, the Secretary General of the UN warned the world that we are rapidly heading towards irreversible climate chaos.
"At Falmouth University, we are taking steps to address the climate crisis and we understand the depth of feeling on this issue in our student community.
"Our Sustainability Policy sets out our route to net zero and we are investing in our campuses and infrastructure to reduce our carbon impact.
"In addition, we believe that we can have the greatest impact when we equip our students with the skills and knowledge to make a difference in the businesses and industries that they will shape in the future.
"We are therefore in the process of embedding learning about sustainability into every one of our undergraduate courses – a process that will be completed by the end of next year."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel