Eco Design Challenge

To explore what design can do to reduce our ecological footprint, Dott has engaged schools across Cornwall in an Eco Design Challenge.

This challenge asks Year 8 pupils in Cornwall: ‘What is the size of your school's ecological footprint and how could design make it smaller?’ 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. Led by Matt Hocking of Leap Media, the project aims to encourage creative thinking, raise environmental awareness and throw innovative ideas into the way we approach a more sustainable future.

Update:

9th July 2010: The Grand Finale

Congratulations to St. Ives School for winning the Dott Cornwall Eco Design Challenge 2010! A big well done to all of the schools that took part throughout the competition!

A gripping Dragon’s Den-style final of Cornwall’s Eco Design Challenge has seen pupils from six schools across the county give top-class presentations of ideas to make themselves greener. It also gave a national judging panel the unenviable task of choosing winners and allocating a £20,000 prize pot. This judging panel was made up by Dick Strawbridge (TV personality/Eco campaigner), Benedict Arora (NESTA), Lesley Morris (Design Council), Matt Barton (Cornwall Council) and Andrea Siodmok (Dott Cornwall). Cornish Educational Consultant, Storyteller and Film-maker, Will Coleman presented the awards.

For ten months the youngsters from Bodmin, Budehaven, Sir James Smith in Camelford, Penrice in St Austell, St Ives and Wadebridge have pitted their wits amid the keen competition of thirty four secondary schools which embarked on the Design Council’s Challenge.

But the final at University College Falmouth’s Tremough Campus saw a scheme by St Ives School for turning their run-down 1970’s art block super-green with photovoltaic panels, better use of natural light and the involvement of the whole community inspiring the judges to award them £6,700 towards getting their project underway. The winning team were made up Calum Parson, Bridget Allen, Billy Goulden, Alastair Manley and Daniel Hopson.

Others were close on their heels, and Wadebridge School’s Cycle Safe plans to get people out of cars and onto their bikes won a £4000 injection from the judges. They will be buying secure bike lockers and racks to set in pride of place at the front of their school building. But they also have ambitions to create a Zero Impact Week across the Nation and a website for finding the safest cycle route to school.

6th July 2010: Presentation Workshop

The finalists in the Dott Cornwall Eco Design Challenge were invited to attend a presentation skills workshop. Will Coleman got the pupils to present an imaginary object to the rest of the group using one word and their demeanour. Throughout the session the presentations got more complicated building confidence and imaginations.

2nd July 2010: First Round Judging

Congratulations to Bodmin, Budehaven, Penrice, Sir James Smith, St Ives & Wadebridge for getting through to the next round. The judges found it incredibly to narrow the schools down to five finalists. They eventually decided on six, as it was too hard to separate two schools apart.

The final ‘Dragons Den’ style judging will be help on Friday 9th July. The project team are putting on a presentation skills session this Tuesday to hopefully calm some nerves.

A big thank you to the eco-design mentors (Sebastian Conran, Sophie Thomas, Joe Ferry etc) for helping schools with their projects. Thank you to everyone who took part, you all did yourselves proud!

Click here to read the latest article about the Eco Design Challenge.

10th March 2010: Design in the Making

17th March 2010: Teacher Inspiration Day

The second Inspiration Day video of Matt Hocking of Leap Media, presenting what the function of design and the Eco Design Challenge is.

Teachers and designers were brought together to the conference, posing the question of how we can better teach the subject of sustainability in schools. After the event, teachers could enlist their schools into Dott's Eco Design Challenge project. In the image above, ReZolve Kernow Managing Director Jon Rolls demonstrated the Recycler lesson plan with a discussion about the time it takes materials to decompose.

31st September 2009: Pencil Concepts

These are the original sketches of the Eco Design Challenge characters, before going to the next stage.

NESTA is the largest independent endowment in the UK. Its mission is to support innovation to drive economic recovery and solve some of the UK's major social challenges. NESTA is a world leader in its field and promotes innovation through a blend of practical programmes, policy and research and investment in early-stage companies. NESTA are providing a prize fund to allow schools to develop and implement their ideas.