On Wednesday, teachers and youth leaders met to cut the cake to celebrate the launch of the BIG Ideas Challenge. BIG Ideas Challenge is a ready-made programme that will help young people to link every day activities such as saving energy and water, or fixing their clothes, to: the science of cutting emissions, the history and geography of access to resources, and the politics of social justice and climate change. It’s a challenge, with an amazing prize of a fantastic outdoor adventure for the best project, and resources, support, mentoring, and seed-funding to get it off the ground.
Young people, with support from Experts and a Project Mentor will plan and implement a project that reduces environmental impact in the community. The best 10 projects will get up to £250 to help get their project started. The Challenge is offered by Communities Living Sustainably in Dorset (CLS), which is supported by the Big Lottery Fund.
Emily Bullock, from CLS, says, “We know young people are full of good ideas; the BIG Ideas Challenge gives them the opportunity to come up with solutions, and then see if they really work! We’re delighted to be working with a team of Experts from: Love your Clothes, foodfutureBridport, Wessex Water, Travel Dorset, Keith Wheaton-Green, and Dorset Waste Partnership, who will help the young people to develop their projects. We’re also planning a live judging / award ceremony to showcase the projects and decide on the winning team”.
“Alison Jay, CLS Eco Schools Officer, added, “BIG Ideas works really well with Eco Schools as well as other youth clubs, environment badges for Brownies and Guides, Cubs and Scouts and D of E. The UK has agreed to meet challenging carbon emissions targets by 2025 and 2050, some of our young people could be leading the country by then, and it’ll be great to see what they come up with!”
To find out more come go to: www.clsdorset.org.uk/BigIdeas.aspx
Contact:
Emily Bullock
07507 321954
More info:
- Communities Living Sustainably (CLS) in Dorset is supported by the Big Lottery Fund for a three year period from March 2013. Dorset is one of the Big Lottery Fund’s 12 Communities Living Sustainably (CLS) programmes in England, and is the only such programme in the Southwest.
- CLS in Dorset aims to help people adapt to climate change and to live more sustainably. The project strives to act as a catalyst for action, building on the great work already taking place in the local area and exploring some innovative approaches. The programme is being delivered in Bridport, Dorchester and their surrounding areas.
CLS in Dorset has various interrelated strands of activity related to Greener Choices and Energy Efficiency; Renewable Energy; Local Food; Eco-Schools; Climate Change Adaptation with fishing and farming communities and older people.
CLS in Dorset is a partnership led by Dorset Community Action, and including Dorset AONB, , Dorset County Council, Dorset Coast Forum, Dorset Public Health, Dorset Agenda 21, Transition Town Bridport, Transition Town Dorchester, West Dorset Partnership, and WSX Enterprise Ltd as the core delivery organisations.
- Communities Living Sustainably is part of the Big Lottery Fund’s £50m Sustainable and Resilient Communities strategy, which aims to encourage behaviour change among individuals and communities so they can cope better with the environmental, economic and social impacts of a changing climate. 12 community partnerships of public, private and voluntary sector bodies have been awarded up to £1m each to deliver up to five years of community-led sustainability interventions.
4. Groundwork UK is leading the Communities Living Sustainably Learning Partnership, which also comprises New Economics Foundation (NEF), the Federation for City Farms and Community Gardens (FCFCG), Buildings Research Establishment (BRE) and the Energy Saving Trust ( EST). Research themes include “understanding change and impact” and “learning how communities learn about sustainability”. www.communitieslivingsustainably.org.uk
- The Big Lottery Fund, the largest of the National Lottery good cause distributors, has been rolling out grants to health, education, environment and charitable causes across the UK since its inception in June 2004. It was established by Parliament on 1 December 2006. Website: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
