At the end of June, University of Bath hosted an inspiring Climate Ambassadors partnership event welcoming students from schools across the South West for an immersive sustainability learning experience.
Run by the West of England STEM Ambassador hub and Graphic Science, this event was the culmination of a longer 'Sustainable Transport Challenge' project. Attending students were able to show off their innovative projects from this challenge which explored environmentally and socially friendly ways for people to journey across the globe to places of environmental significance.
The event was one example of the ways in which the Climate Ambassadors initiative mobilises climate and sustainability experts to engage with young people and educators, and to promote and support green skills development. Supported by the Climate Action Framework, this work aids the University's ambition to form meaningful and impactful partnerships with local community organisations that enable a wider societal shift to sustainability.
As a local leader and civic institution, this initiative also supports students and early career researchers to disseminate their research to wider audiences, and helps them further develop communication and engagement skills.
University of Bath students have already signed up as Climate Ambassadors and attended this event, taking the opportunity to share fascinating insights to their work including a group from AAPS Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Automotive Propulsion Systems who shared research work on batteries, vehicle testing, electric motors, electromagnets, how to make liquids flow up instead of down, and autonomous vehicles.
PhD student Jess Westlake is researching biodegradable plastics for food packaging and signed up to be a Climate Ambassador this year. Having taken part in the event exhibition, she said "I wanted to get involved with the Climate Ambassadors scheme after hearing about it through the Doctoral College. I think it is important to get the younger generations interested in tackling climate related issues so that we can get more people involved in this vital sector in the future. This first event was on sustainable transport, which is not related to my research, but the school children were interested in what I shared with them. I was able to discuss their sustainable projects with them as well and it was great to see their work."
Pete Phelps, Climate Action Project Lead, said “As an anchor institution in our community, it’s vital for University of Bath to forge partnerships such as this one with Climate Ambassadors to maximise the impact we can have. Acknowledging that we’re on our own journey to net zero, we also hold a unique position to support others on their journeys. This partnership is additionally rewarding in that it connects our climate experts in an inspiring project to empower change makers of the future.”