Bangkok Patana School was proud to host the FOBISIA Student Sustainability Conference, welcoming 145 students from 16 international schools across the region for two inspiring days of collaboration, innovation and environmental action. The conference brought together young sustainability leaders to share ideas, develop practical solutions and build connections around some of the most pressing environmental challenges facing our planet.

The event opened with a warm welcome from Bangkok Patana student Ana, Co-Chair of the Student Environmental Committee, before participants heard the opening keynote on “A Green and Blue Career Path” delivered by Patana alumni Nandita Valiramani, Sustainability Coordinator at Indorama Ventures. Nandita shared her journey into sustainability work and inspired students to see how careers in science, business and environmental advocacy can intersect to create meaningful change. 

Throughout the first day, students participated in a dynamic programme designed to balance innovation with hands-on learning. The Eco Dragon’s Den preliminary rounds saw student teams pitch creative sustainability solutions to judges and peers. The brief was to help find a solution to the sizeable carbon footprint generated annually by travel for school-based events. Students proposed carbon budgets, trackers, VR and AR alternatives and a FOBISIA wide carbon credits competition, among other innovative solutions.

Alongside the pitching sessions, students engaged in a variety of practical workshops and experiential activities. These included plant-based cooking sessions, soap making using recycled cooking oil, upcycling projects with leather scraps and plastic, decorating bug hotels to support biodiversity, and tours of Patana’s outdoor classroom and solar array. These workshops allowed students to move from theory to practice, demonstrating how sustainability can be embedded into everyday choices and systems.

Day 1 concluded with a biodiversity photography walk, led by our very own environmental educator and wildlife photographer Coke Smith, encouraging students to observe and capture the natural world around them. The activity highlighted the importance of noticing and protecting biodiversity even within urban environments.

The second day began with a heartfelt welcome by Bangkok Patana Student Environmental Committee Co-Chair Veer and then an energising keynote from Jeroen van de Waal, founder of OrcaNation, whose talk “Together We Can Turn Tides” explored the power of youth leadership in protecting our oceans. Students then took to the stage to present short talks about sustainability projects already underway in their own schools, sharing initiatives ranging from waste reduction campaigns to innovative approaches to sustainable food systems. We were proud to showcase the work of two of our community action teams – Amino Insecto (Insect Protein) and Future of Good Life (Low Carbon Rice) that were showcased by April (Year 13) and Win (Year 12).

The conference culminated in the highly anticipated Eco Dragon’s Den Finals, where the top teams presented their ideas to a panel of guest judges. After an impressive round of pitches and thoughtful questioning, the judges announced the winners:

🥇 1st Place – St Andrews Green Valley
🥈 2nd Place – Bromsgrove
🥉 3rd Place – Jerudong International School (JIS)

All finalist teams demonstrated exceptional creativity, critical thinking and passion for sustainability, highlighting the power of young people to drive meaningful change.

One of the intentional features of the Conference was ensuring we “walked the talk” and made sustainable event hosting decisions. Led by our wonderful Student Environmental Committee the event featured the following green features:

• Only vegetarian snacks and lunches 
• Upcycled mini stuffed elephants as our event gift made from donated pre-loved Primary uniforms 
• No printed posters or programmes – QR and digital copies only
• Upcycled and reused photo booth displays 
• No event T shirts of unnecessary fast fashion
• Visiting teams were encouraged to off-set the carbon generated by their travel to/from the conference

Let’s hear some reflections from the Patana students involved in the Conference!

A highlight for me was meeting alumni Nandita and learning more about her journey from being a climate conscious student at Patana to advising a big company on their sustainability. This really inspired me on the possibilities our passion can create in the future. I also valued hearing the unique ideas of different students from different international schools and what they are doing  and what they find helpful to ensure sustainability. Sharing ideas on what works and discussing struggles with other schools really motivated me to keep connected to our International Environmental Committees community in the future. -Ana, Year 11

I found the conference to be very enlightening, and overall, to be a wonderful experience. Everyone was incredibly passionate about sustainability and how they themselves could contribute to the upliftment of the environment, either through reducing their consumption of single-use plastics or by raising awareness of the sustainable practices that their schools were already implementing. I only felt a sense of community, belonging, and connection with all my fellow sustainable students at the conference, and look forward to the next one! -Varsha, Year 11

It was such a pleasure to see so many students in one space that were passionate about the same thing : keeping our school as sustainable as possible. Whilst looking around in the conference halls, it seemed that each student had their own personal drive to learn and grow; some were eager to share ideas for the future of sustainability in business and others wanted to protect what we have on earth like our animals and ecosystems. Overall I was inspired by every student that attended the conference. -Martha, Year 11

Volunteering for the conference was a fantastic experience. I enjoyed the different hands-on events like the Workshops and Dragons Den competition, as well as the talks given by the visitors, and students from the participating schools. I especially loved being in an environment with over a hundred students who actually cared for and wanted to help our environment with both their innovative ideas and small steps. – Sanaa, Year 11

Beyond the awards, it’s clear the conference created a powerful sense of community among students who share a commitment to protecting our planet. Through dialogue, collaboration and shared learning, participants left with new ideas, friendships and a renewed determination to lead sustainability initiatives within their own schools and communities.