THIS summer saw the third annual Sustainability Conference, now known as Innovation Camp, take place at Haberdashers' Monmouth School, bringing together 120 young people from every primary and secondary school across the Monmouth cluster to explore one simple question:

How can young people help shape a resilient future for Monmouth?

The day marked the latest step in a journey that began three years ago.

The first event, in 2024, was hosted by Kate Humble and brought hundreds of young people together for the largest Climate Fresk ever delivered in Wales, helping them better understand the environmental, economic and social systems that shape the places where we live. The event also opened a much wider conversation through hosting the ACE Festival (Action on the Climate Emergency Monmouth) and welcomed the Future Generations Commissioner for Wales to recognise the work schools across Monmouthshire had undertaken to raise awareness of tropical deforestation and its links to the food we eat.

The following year, Haberdashers' Monmouth and ACE Monmouth worked together to help young people create a Youth Charter for Monmouth. Rather than asking pupils what they were worried about, they were invited to imagine the future they wanted for their town. The result was a shared vision that captured their ideas and ambitions for a healthier, more resilient Monmouth.

This year's Innovation Camp was about turning that vision into action.

Working in school teams, pupils selected one of the Charter's ambitions and developed practical SMART projects that they can now take back to their own schools and communities.

Whether their ideas focused on biodiversity, food, freshwater, transport or oceans, the emphasis throughout the day was the same: helping young people work together, think critically and turn ideas into practical action.

Perhaps the most remarkable part of the day wasn't the projects. It was the conversations.

Alongside teachers and facilitators were the Innovation Camp Elders - local people who had given up their time to support the young people. Local ecologists, food system experts, councillors, environmentalists, business owners, educators, communicators, and community volunteers all came together to listen, ask questions and share their

experience. Even the Abergavenny Food Festival joined the discussions. Critically, adults were encouraged not to lead the conversations but to simply join them.

While the young people were developing their ideas, senior leaders from across Monmouthshire were doing the same. Representatives from Monmouthshire County Council, Monmouth Town Council, the primary, secondary and independent school sectors, together with national sustainability experts, met to explore how this level of collaboration could be supported beyond a single event and become part of how the community works together.

The discussion included Paul Matthews, Chief Executive of Monmouthshire County Council; Councillor Mary Ann Brocklesby, Leader of the Council; Catrin Maby, Cabinet Member for Climate Change; Melvyn Roffe, Head of Haberdashers' Monmouth School; Hugo Hutchinson, Head of Monmouth Comprehensive School; Sue Marles, representing the primary cluster; Adrian Greet from the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership; Andy Middleton and colleagues from ACE Monmouth.

One exciting idea to emerge from the partnership is a new Climate Fresk programme that is now being piloted across the Monmouth cluster.

Sixth form students from Haberdashers' Monmouth and Monmouth Comprehensive are being trained as Climate Fresk facilitators and have begun trialling workshops with Year 6 pupils in local primary schools. Early feedback has been encouraging, suggesting the model develops leadership and communication skills in older students while helping younger pupils better understand the connections between nature, food, communities and the environment.

The ambition is that, over time, every Year 6 pupil in the cluster will have the opportunity to take part, creating a sustainable model where older students help prepare the next generation.

Although Innovation Camp has been hosted by Haberdashers' Monmouth School, it was never intended to belong to one school.

From the outset, the aim was to use the school's facilities, organisational capacity and resources, alongside seed funding from ACE Monmouth, to create a forum where schools, councils, community organisations and young people could work together around shared challenges. As the initiative develops, leadership is increasingly being shared across the Monmouth cluster so that it becomes something owned by the community rather than by any one organisation.

Chloe Constable, founder of The Grange Project, an 80 acre rewilding initiative in rural Monmouthshire, and a member of ACE Monmouth, attended the conference and reflected on its impact:

"ACE Monmouth exists to promote awareness of the climate crisis, enhance connections across our community and support those taking action for a regenerative future. We're delighted to support Innovation Camp as it epitomises these values in action. The energy in the room was tangible, and we cannot wait to celebrate these youth-led projects and help promote the critical role of elders in shaping a thriving and resilient Monmouth."

In a town that has experienced both extreme flooding and periods of extreme heat in the last year, building strong local relationships feels increasingly important. Whatever challenges lie ahead, communities that know one another, trust one another and work together are better placed to respond.

Melvyn Roffe, Head at Haberdashers Monmouth School, said: “Now we are seeing the impact of climate change on our own community we need to come together to manage and reverse its effects as a matter of urgency. Innovation camp was an important opportunity to develop an inter-generational approach to help turn things in a better, more sustainable direction”.

Innovation Camp became a flagship example of Haberdashers' Monmouth School's sustainability leadership, playing a significant role in the school winning two schools sustainability awards. The initiative also attracted interest from WWF-UK, who approached the project to explore how this model of school-community collaboration could be shared more widely across the UK.

Over the last few years, young people from Monmouth have presented their work internationally at COP 30, taken their message to Katie White OBE MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Climate, at the House of Commons, developed the UK's first successful youth-led call for a Deforestation Free Champion Council, an idea now beginning to spread beyond Monmouthshire, and created a Youth Charter that is already helping to shape local action.

Perhaps the biggest achievement, however, hasn't been any individual project. It's been seeing people who don't normally sit around the same table doing exactly that.

Over the past three years the collaboration has evidenced that better ideas come from bringing different people together. Just as healthy ecosystems depend on diversity, healthy communities do too.

If you'd like to support the next generation by becoming one of Monmouth’s Innovation Camp Elders, ACE Monmouth would love to hear from you. You don't need to be a sustainability expert, just someone willing to share your experience, ask thoughtful questions and encourage young people as they develop their ideas. To find out more, please contact [email protected]