By Viggo Stacey, The Pie News

"Students are driving the sustainability agenda by looking for specialised courses and want to make a good impact on the global environment, a panel of experts said.

“[Students] really want to understand the environment”

“My impression from working with pretty much all the Australian universities and Auckland in New Zealand is that our students really want this,” said Brad Dorahy, founder and executive director at CISaustralia.

“They really want to understand the environment. They really want in the main to make a positive impact.”

“We’ve been talking a lot about aeroplanes and carbon footprints… Kids are really passionate,” said John Hardy, co-founder of the Green School Bali catering for K-12 students, as he relayed a story of a UK student who travelled to the school in South East Asia by train.

“The student said to his father, ‘dad, I can’t go to the green school on an aeroplane’. He travelled the Trans-Siberian railroad overland all the way to Bali.

“It took two and a half weeks for him to get to school. And he lived near the school and only rode a bicycle,” Hardy said.

“Our students are really into the engagement and that engagement can [be] wide-ranging,” agreed vice provost and dean, Global Affairs at UC Davis, Joanna Regulska."

Read the full story at The PIE News website.