THE Strathclyde Greens was one of many Scottish university societies to disappear during Covid.
After running for seven years, it officially dissolved in 2021 but was revived after Amy Kettyles, 18, a first-year politics and history student, arrived at Strathclyde in September last year and sought to reconsolidate the green voice.
Recalling the new society’s first AGM, attended by Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie, she said: “I felt really important … [we were in] an actual conference room with big tables and big screens.”
A Scottish Greens member since she was in S6, at a state school in Clackmannanshire, she said: “It’s a very important aspect of my life.”
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Kettyles was election agent for Green councillor Bryan Quinn last year. A major part of Quinn’s campaign was challenging Clackmannanshire Council’s “bulky uplift system” for waste removal.
Kettyles said previous policies caused waste to pile up in people’s gardens, as the council refused to confirm collection dates.
She also criticised the decline of public transport in Clackmannanshire, saying recent cancellations of bus routes have left rural areas “disconnected completely”. To her, effective public transport is “a major tenet of the Green vision”.
At Strathclyde, Kettyles hoped to “build an environment where young greens could come together”. This was inspired by her work at The Hub during COP26 – a community venue for young environmentalists.
However, despite receiving sympathy from students, her main problem has been “getting people to care”, joking that “more pub meetings” might help.
Her exec is planning social events this term to attract young people from all walks of life, including non-Greens.
Society members have attended Unite the Union rallies at the Buchanan Street steps, and work with local Green councillors Martha Wardrop and Anthony Carroll (former president of the Strathclyde Greens) to represent their uni.
Whether they know it or not, Strathclyde students “live in very Green areas” Kettyles says.
Unlike their English cousins, the Scottish Greens are pro-independence. “It is definitely going to happen and it’s going to be the young people who bring it forward,” Kettyles said.
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While acknowledging the SNP as the main driving force behind independence, Kettyles maintains “the Greens are one of the most important voices” in the national debate.
She said: “Greens are a global voice … but Greens in Scotland have a very viable chance. Pushing the Green vision for saving the planet is important.”
Her success in re-establishing the Strathclyde Greens has led to other students asking her advice. One Strathclyde student messaged her to ask how she might set up an Independence Society, after Strathclyde’s SNP disbanded during the pandemic.
Her final message for Scotland’s youth and Greens around the world was: “Be nice to each other!”
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