At the start of March I spent a day with sixth form students at The Lakes School, Windemere. We have been working on developing a new series of workshops based around highlighting Green Careers and the importance of considering sustainability in future job roles for young people. This new workshop series has a variety of different tasks but the one we worked on during this day is called ‘Another Way – Innovate for a Greener Future’
The first part of the workshop is all about how businesses can be more green, thinking about how they can be more considerate of social and environmental profit as well as economic. We looked at some great companies who lead by example and then discussed what other environmental issues could be tackled by new businesses.
The group then started work, they got into teams and had to develop an imaginary start-up that was going to solve an environmental problem. They could tackle any issue they were passionate about, from reducing pollution issues to creating new products from old. The ideas were flying! Within each group they were expected to develop a presentation that showed off their idea, how it would work and have a basic business plan. They presented their ideas to the rest of the group and we were able to ask questions about their plans and decide whether we thought they were good ideas! One team proposed making single use cups and food containers from seed paper to reduce littering (and create designated wildflower areas), another wanted to use discarded fast fashion to make house insulation, but my favourite was using tents from festivals to make clothing that was fashionable and practical because it would be water proof!
The final part of this workshop was a discussion aboutwhat we mean by ‘Green’ careers and how it is possible to make any career green if it is something you are passionate about. It was wonderful to hear ideas for future careers and consider the challenges of some roles to be more green.
Overall, it was a great day! The ideas students came up with for helping to fix some of the environmental challenges we face were fantastic, and I actually hope we see a few of them in reality in the future.
Written by Elli Clarke
