Solutions for the Planet Global Good Award
Dr Martyn Kenny, sustainability director
Our partnership with Solutions for the Planet picked up a top prize at the Global Good Awards to top another successful year. Its Big Ideas programme scooped the Best Education Project (Environmental Impact) award at a special ceremony, seeing off tough competition from Barclays, Investec, Tata Consultancy Service, Thames Water, UBS and Unilever.
Dr Martyn Kenny, Sustainability director, said: “The Big Ideas programme is a fantastic initiative, helping to tackle real-world sustainability issues and hugely enriching for both participants and our mentors, who teach new skills while benefiting from their students’ fresh thinking and original approach to business challenges.
”More than 14,000 11 to 14-year-old pupils have benefited from the scheme over the last four years, which includes sustainability workshops and mentoring from partner organisations.
Jen Baughan, CEO, Solutions for the Planet, said: “The Gold Award is fantastic recognition of the hard work put in by the Solutions for the Planet team, our business and school partners and of course all the inspirational young people that we work with each year. Support from Tarmac and our other business partners over the past four years has helped us to grow our reach and move from working with 600 to 3500 students each year. “The Big Ideas programme has been developed to introduce young people to real life sustainability challenges and, through project-based learning and business mentoring, harness young peoples’ creativity and encourage the development of STEM skills”
2018 Winners
Sea Savers from Hodge Hill College in Birmingham were named national winners of Solutions for the Planet in 2018. They impressed the judging panel with their innovative idea to revolutionise the environmental credentials of their school by removing plastic from all of their catering options. This was achieved following consultation with the school’s caterers Aspens, who inspired by their vision are now rolling out their plastic-free offering in 63 schools across the UK