Sussex Climate Conference
Join us on 17 September 2026 if you鈥檙e a sixth form or college student and you鈥檙e passionate about climate justice. Teachers can also register students and themselves.
What to expect
Explore the biggest threats to climate justice and the initiatives being used across different sectors to tackle climate change.
This one-day conference will be held in person at our campus in Falmer. Led by academics across a range of different subjects, you can expect:
- thought-provoking academic sessions approaching climate through diverse perspectives
- a panel with the Green Party’s first Member of Parliament, Caroline Lucas
- a free lunch and goodies
- the opportunity to explore our campus
- the chance to hear from local businesses that foreground sustainability in their work.
Themes and academic sessions
The conference will be centred around three themes which will structure the talks and activities you can go to. Browse the academic sessions below and choose two to take part in.
- Environmental Sustainability
Learn about how we could change structures to protect our planet’s ecosystems and stabilise our climate. You might get the chance to become a world leader for an hour and be asked “what would you do?” in a mock United Nations (UN) climate negotiation, or take part in activities that think about food gardens and how to manage land sustainably.
Academic sessions:
- Get lost to grow: What a living landscape can teach us about sustainability
- Climate Crisis: If you were a world leader, what would you do?
- Digital and Data Futures
Find out how advanced computing, data science and AI can be harnessed to monitor, model and tackle climate change, while keeping a critical eye on the ecological footprint and the ethical considerations of AI and technology. Learn about how people are using data-driven initiatives to tackle climate change and sustainability challenges and discuss whether AI is over-hyped and what it means for climate justice.
Academic sessions:
- Nature Through the Ages: Creating a Sustainable Sussex (125,000 years in 60 minutes)
- Thirsty, Power Mad and Over-Hyped: What AI Means for Climate.
- Human Flourishing
Explore how communities can adapt, survive, and thrive on a changing planet, recognising that environmental health and human well-being are completely inseparable. You’ll take part in discussions around how entrepreneurial activities can be used to enhance nature and be a force for change or find out more about ‘Rights of Nature’ – a legal and philosophical movement that recognises ecosystems as having rights outside of current human-centred environmental laws.
Academic sessions:
- No business on a dead planet: Entrepreneurship as a pathway to nature-positive solutions
- Rights of Nature for Human and More than Human Flourishing.
Book your spot
Contact us
Email us at climateconference@sussex.ac.uk with any questions.