Eco Week at Concord 2025
Concord marked our Eco-Week with a range of events including the inaugural Sustainability Careers Conference, organised by Concord alumni for current students. Cheryl reports on the week and the conference.

On the Saturday 23rd November, 30 familiar faces flew in from Switzerland, Scotland and across the UK to attend the inaugural Sustainability Conference—former Concordians with expertise in fields such as to Medicine, Arts and Culture, Finance and more visited with the aim of engendering awareness of the world of Sustainability.
There has been a huge increase in focus towards sustainability from businesses worldwide led by legislation, investor pressure and consumer demand, and almost every major company now has a sustainability strategy. According to Anastasiia Rudkovska, the event took place with the goal of bringing alumni and current students together to explore these opportunities and not only take sustainability seriously for ethical reasons, but think ahead and keeping our students up to date with international labour market trends.
A presentation by the heads of Eco Club introduced the importance of sustainability on an environmental level and career-focused sustainable development, explaining why students should be actively interested. Beyond images of pollution and natural disasters lie a diverse array of career opportunities, which were introduced during keynote speeches sharing anecdotes from Faizul Shari and former Student Futures Officer Helen Povey. These opportunities were further divulged in breakout rooms tailored to students’ interests, where speakers presented deeper insights into specific career paths. Students then had the opportunity to network with alumni outside of their breakout rooms, sharing any and all specific questions and simply having pleasant conversation with their seniors. Overall, the event was a resounding success—with tea and cakes in hand, the opportunity to practice networking proved to be quite popular amongst students and alumni, with eager faces crowding the hallways.
The Sustainability Conference marked the end of Eco Week, which annually hosts a variety of other events, one of which were the eco-based society discussions. The world of sustainability extends to all fields and society heads held discussions across the week explore such links, boasting a variety of subjects which range from Engineering to Law to Biomedical Illustration. Still, the most notable event is undoubtedly Earth Hour, an intimate concert running on no electricity besides battery powered candles which light up the venue. On the Thursday 21st November, the concert was held alongside the UNICEF bake sale, with treats baked and prepared by members of Outreach, an initiative organised and lead by the Eco Monitors. With students and staff alike in attendance, both the concert and bake sale were undoubtedly successful—the vocal and instrumental performances delivered by our talented students cultivated a lively atmosphere amidst the audience. Overall, the events which took place throughout the week provided insight into working towards a more sustainable future, further engaging students in meaningful conversations about improving their impact on the environment.
by Cheryl