Future Leaders Gather for One Voice Summit
Every autumn, the most inspiring young minds gather for the One Voice Summit. On Friday 7 and Saturday 8 November, Dulwich College Shanghai Pudong welcomed 99 students from 12 schools for two days of collaboration, reflection and action.
This year's summit focused on two important themes:
- When the Taps Run Dry – How can we rethink our relationship with water?
- Responsible Advocacy – How can we use our voices for good, not harm?
Through keynote talks, lightbulb discussions, workshops and engaging questions, students explored how they could make a positive difference in their schools and communities.
What is One Voice?
Started in 2018, One Voice is a fully student-led summit that gives young people a shared space to discuss global citizenship, identity and wellbeing. It shows how student agency, ethical thinking and responsibility can lead to meaningful change.
Each year students choose themes that encourage thoughtful discussion and real action. Although the topics change, the purpose remains the same: helping students understand how their voice can shape their community.
Most events across schools are competition-based. One Voice is different because it invites collaboration and teamwork and helps us design actionable change.
Natasha, one of the student leaders, has taken part in One Voice for three years. She has seen how ideas become real outcomes, including new ramps and automated doors added to her campus after previous discussions about accessibility. It showed that student voices really can reshape our environment.
Why students lead
Students design almost every part of One Voice. They create the agenda, invite speakers, lead discussions and run workshops. A key feature is the formation of lightbulb groups. These small mixed-school teams stay together throughout the summit, creating a safe space for honest conversation and shared understanding.
I feel like I get a lot out of being a lightbulb leader. It gives me the perspective of being on the other side. You learn a lot more about the issues when you're presenting them to others, because you need to develop a very deep understanding.
This year, Yashvi and her partner helped their group explore water issues in simple and relatable ways, such as digital water footprints and the impact of fast fashion. This made the issues feel less distant from life in Shanghai and encouraged students to identify which aspects of water-related issues they could directly impact in their own lives.
Keynote speakers
- Garvita Gulhati, India's 'water girl', spoke about her work leading Why Waste?, a youth organisation that has partnered with 500,000 restaurants and saved more than 10 million litres of water.
- Ziad Ahmed, head of Next Gen at United Talent Agency, shared his experience as a young social entrepreneur and encouraged students to advocate with care and integrity.
Student activities
- Lightbulb groups: Students explored the summit themes through structured discussions and activities that encouraged curiosity, empathy and responsible decision-making.
- Workshops: On Saturday students from attending schools led interactive workshops on topics they found important. Some connected to water and advocacy, while others chose issues that they deemed very important and relevant.
- Action Plan Challenge: Students took part in structured sessions that helped them explore the two themes in more detail and consider solutions they could introduce at home or at school.
- Marketplace: In the Marketplace, students presented their service projects to each other through posters, displays and conversations. This inspired new ideas and encouraged collaboration between schools.
Impact
The influence of the summit continues long after students return home. Many project ideas begin in lightbulb groups and grow into real initiatives.
One example comes from Cynthia, a student from Dehong Shanghai: "Exchanging ideas with students from other schools gives me new inspiration. Last year we created a uniform recycling project and this year I shared how it has grown."
This year's discussions sparked fresh ideas, including water-saving campaigns, sustainability projects and new approaches to student advocacy.
At Dulwich Pudong, the summit continues to inspire meaningful change. From improving accessibility on campus and eliminating disposable coffee cups to developing new student-led projects, One Voice shows how character education becomes lived practice. It helps students lead with compassion, confidence and purpose as they Live Worldwise.
This year's One Voice Summit again proved itself as a successful way for all students to share their voices and to promote what is important to them. We look forward to seeing how our students will continue to change the world for the better.
