School students already know plenty about sustainability, but they aren't often given the chance to put this knowledge into action.
The Eco Design Challenge gave Year 8 pupils from across Cornwall the opportunity to make parts of their school more sustainable by working with designers to calculate the size of their school's ecological footprint, then create ways to make it smaller.
Five schools from Bodmin, Budehaven, Penrice, Sir James Smith, St Ives and Wadebridge made it through to the final of the Dott Cornwall Eco Design Challenge, with St. Ives School winning the Dragon’s Den-style pitch with their idea for turning their run-down 1970’s art block environmentally friendly with photovoltaic panels, better use of natural light and the involvement of the whole community.
The judging panel - made up of TV presenter and eco-campaigner Dick Strawbridge, NESTA Education Programme Director Benedict Arora, Design Council Head of Design Skills Lesley Morris, Matt Barton from Cornwall Council and Andrea Siodmok, Programme Director of Dott Cornwall - awarded St. Ives School £6,700 to help them turn their project into a reality. The winning team was made up of students Calum Parson, Bridget Allen, Billy Goulden, Alastair Manley and Daniel Hopson.
Find out the latest news about what's happeneing in the Eco Design Challenge on the Dott Cornwall website
As part of Dott Cornwall, students across the county are calculating the carbon footprint of their schools and coming up with design solutions to reduce it.
As well as studying all aspects of school life, participants are also looking at the impact of journeys to and from school, school meals, water use and waste disposal. The project aims to encourage creative thinking, raise environmental awareness and throw innovative ideas into the way we approach a more sustainable future.
Watch a video of Matt Hocking from Leap Media, the design agency leading the Eco Design Challenge, explaining what it's doing in Cornwall.