TSL 2027: make an El Niño response worth debating

Editorial overview

The Trust for Sustainable Living runs the International Student Competition alongside student debates as part of its sustainability-education work. The current question asks how world leaders should respond to an era of extreme weather shaped by El Niño. That framing is large, but the strongest student response will probably not try to solve every climate problem at once. It will choose a standpoint, understand the weather issue and communicate one consequential idea with precision.

The current brief accepts multiple media rather than treating the competition as essay-only. A student can submit writing, art, music, video, poetry, a letter, a story or another permitted form. This freedom is the competition's most distinctive feature and its main trap. Choosing a medium because it looks impressive can weaken the argument; choosing one because it lets the student think and communicate more clearly can make the response memorable.

CompeteMap's view is that the contest suits students with a genuine perspective on environmental responsibility, including younger entrants who may express that perspective more powerfully through image or story than formal policy prose. Research still matters. Creative freedom does not remove the need to understand El Niño, distinguish it from climate change and decide what leaders can realistically do. The useful preparation is a conversation between evidence and voice, not a generic catalogue of disasters.

Quick Facts

For current dates, eligibility and registration details, see the TSL International Student Competition 2027 competition page.

Review Evaluation

Rated Intermediate. Strong responses combine a distinctive point of view with real topic understanding and disciplined communication within a short written, visual or time-based format.

The brief and submission path

Checked on 2026-09-12: registration opened on 10 September 2026 and all entries are due by midnight UTC on 1 March 2027. Finalists and Honourable Mentions are scheduled to be announced on 1 May, with top award notifications later in May and debates on 1–2 July.

The competition is open worldwide to students ages 7–18 in primary and secondary categories. Schools, homeschools and individual students use a Teacher Champion; a parent or guardian may take that role when a school does not participate. The Teacher Champion creates the Submittable account and coordinates the upload.

Written entries may be up to 600 words, while video or audio pieces may run for up to three minutes. Non-written entries need a short explanation. The student's name and school should not appear inside the uploaded work because judging is anonymised.

Understand El Niño before choosing a position

Begin with reliable scientific explanations of El Niño and its uneven regional effects. It is a recurring climate pattern in the tropical Pacific, not a synonym for every extreme-weather event. A response becomes more credible when it recognises that drought, flooding, heat, agriculture and public-health impacts differ by place.

Then decide which leaders the student is addressing. “World leaders” might mean national governments, city mayors, international institutions, education systems or disaster agencies. A specific audience makes recommendations more concrete. What decision should change before the next event, who has authority to make it and which communities should shape the response?

Research should create choices rather than fill a bibliography. Compare two possible policies, notice a trade-off and decide what principle guides the recommendation. Younger students can work from a local observation or story; older students may engage more directly with adaptation finance, forecasting, food security or climate justice.

Let the idea choose the medium

An essay works when the student needs a sequence of evidence and reasoning. A letter can create a direct relationship with a decision-maker. A story can make unequal consequences visible through character. Visual art can hold several meanings at once, while music and video can build emotional momentum quickly.

Ask what the audience must understand, feel and remember. Then test whether the medium helps all three. A three-minute video burdened with long captions may be an essay in disguise. A poem that relies on a separate explanation for every image may not yet communicate independently.

Make a rough prototype early. Read the piece aloud, storyboard the video, photograph the artwork at upload size or play the music for someone who has not heard the explanation. Ask what message arrived. Revise the work rather than coaching the viewer toward the intended answer.

What the judging language tells us

Official judging considers understanding of the topic, originality, inspirational power, and communication in the chosen medium. Unique perspectives and the potential to contribute constructively to national or international debate score highly. The phrase “constructive debate” matters: outrage can create energy, but the response should give other people something they can examine, discuss or act upon.

Checked on 2026-09-12: the 2026 competition received 2,710 entries, and Jaisha Vipin's Another Pattern received the Grand Prize and was published on TSL's official homepage. A published top response is useful as evidence of the organiser's taste, but it should not become a template. Read it to notice how a personal creative decision carries the theme, then return to the student's own subject and medium.

Judges take age into account, so younger entrants need not imitate adult policy writing. A clear, original response at the student's own developmental level is more persuasive than borrowed sophistication.

Keep the work original and disclose tools

All submitted work must be the student's own. The current brief allows generative AI as a functional support tool in research or process, but not as a hidden author of the submitted piece. Any use must be acknowledged in the bibliography with the system, publisher, URL, purpose and prompts.

The safest approach is to keep source notes, sketches and drafts. Students should be able to explain why each creative decision exists and how the work changed. Adults can help interpret rules, discuss sources and check technical files, but the voice and creative choices must remain with the student.

Use a bibliography whenever sources informed the work. Visual and musical responses still make factual claims, even when those claims are communicated through symbol or sound. Attribution protects originality and shows respect for the communities or research represented.

From entry to debate

The top two performing primary and secondary students from each participating country are invited to the International Student Debates. This pathway explains why communicative potential matters alongside the submitted artifact. A strong entrant should be ready to discuss the idea, listen to alternatives and refine a position in conversation.

Do not make debate selection the only measure of value. The process can still help a student research a global issue, complete an original work and learn how a public audience interprets it. That is a substantial outcome even without a certificate or invitation.

A practical preparation sequence

Spend the first phase understanding the brief and collecting a small number of trustworthy sources. Write a one-sentence answer to the question and identify the intended audience. Produce two quick versions in different media if the choice is unclear, then select the form that communicates most naturally.

Develop the work through feedback from people who do not already know the idea. Complete the bibliography and any tool disclosure, remove names from the file and check word, duration, format and size limits. Give the Teacher Champion enough time to upload before the cutoff rather than treating the portal as a single instant step.

Key Takeaways

Narrow the global brief to one audience, decision and point of view. Learn enough science to avoid using El Niño as a vague symbol, then choose the medium that best carries the idea. Keep evidence and creative voice in balance, document authorship and disclose any AI support. Aim to produce a response that another student could question, remember and debate.

Sources checked

• https://trustforsustainableliving.org/take-part/international-schools-essay-competition-and-debate/the-brief
• https://trustforsustainableliving.org/take-part/international-schools-essay-competition-and-debate/how-to-enter
• https://trustforsustainableliving.org/take-part/international-schools-essay-competition-and-debate/faqs-essay-competition
• https://trustforsustainableliving.org/