The Launch Party

On Tuesday, my boss cried.

And it wasn’t completely my fault.

You see, Lucy and I were invited to the Wildscreen ARK launch party on the 20th February, and it felt like a whirlwind. From the buzzing excitement Lucy felt when she saw Chris Packham (I definitely recognised him, of course I did - sorry, Jacob), to the heartfelt speeches by Lucie Miur, chief executive of Wildscreen, and Charlie Whittaker, programme manager of Wildscreen ARK, I can wholeheartedly say it was a rather emotional night.

We were all there to witness something groundbreaking - Wildscreen ARK, the world’s biggest online nature hub, co-created by young people for young people! Having spent a 3 month internship at Wildscreen, I got to see - and even add to some of the data behind the scenes, so I was filled with a sense of pride seeing what came out of it in the end. I can’t count how many times I said “Oh my God, I did that!?”

As the evening unfolded, my personal highlight was absolutely catching up with the people I worked alongside. They’re all incredible and the conversations were really enjoyable; I mean, what other networking event would contain an argument about which animal is best, or whether having an octopus as a goalie in an all-animal football team is cheating?

I don’t think so! What do you think?

The Announcement

Now we reach the part of the night relating to the first line: why did Lucy cry? After the talks ended, the Wildscreen ARK announcement video was played for all to see - which you can watch here (I’m in it, no autographs please), and it truly showed the good things that can come out of the internet. The educational, genuine part isn’t something you tend to see publicised very often. If the internet’s in the news, it’s always about banning phones, or how it’s terrible for your mental health, but this changes everything.

Wildscreen ARK provides a safe space for young people, fuelling an interest in both nature, conservation, and green careers, contrasting very heavily with what we’ve been exposed to at Inclusive Change. Lucy has personally seen how bad the internet can be, and the darkness it can stoke, which is why Wildscreen ARK is so important. 

It gives a sense that something good can come out of social media, that there’s hope within all of the despair. And that’s why Lucy cried. It showed that despite all the deplorable things you can find online, something wonderful can come out of it. Having only heard the stories, I can only imagine how powerful the emotions she must have been feeling were.

The Castle Conference

As we left the event, there was a clear glimmer of hope. There was a sense of renewed purpose - a shared determination to continue Inclusive Change’s work in fostering digital wellbeing and mental health awareness for young people online.

Which leads me quite nicely into the Castle Conference. Inclusive Change at Work CIC, having partnered with Digital Safety CIC, are bringing the Castle Conference: Digital Wellbeing for Young People to Bristol.

Bringing an array of speakers together, the Castle Conference will take place at Leigh Court on 25th April, and will approach topics such as online safety, mental health, social media, neurodiversity and wellbeing, addiction, and more. 

If you want to get involved and see why the Castle Conference is so important, especially when it comes to digital wellbeing, then make sure to book a seat at [https://icaw-cic.com/] - standard tickets are just £9.00 to cover the costs of breakfast and lunch on the day.

In the end, it all came down to this - recognising the power that we hold to shape the digital landscape for the better. And with platforms like Wildscreen ARK leading the way, there was hope for a brighter, more compassionate online future.