SCOTTISH school pupils have been letting their minds get engaged with how to help the planet following a pilot session run by two Scottish charities.
Young Enterprise Scotland and educational charity, Gen+ presented the session to the primary school aged children and asked them to come up with ideas.
St Monica’s Primary in Pollock, St Saviour’s Primary in Govan and St George’s Primary in Penilee took part in the Circular Economy Challenge.
The challenge involves minimising waste and the use of raw materials by reusing, repairing and redesigning as much as possible.
The end of the project was marked by a celebration held at Glasgow City Chambers, where pupils got the opportunity to present their ideas to a panel of judges and win awards for their work.
Young Enterprise Scotland helps young people develop business, financial and entrepreneurial skills.
Gen+ is an educational charity that aims to develop meta-skills capacity in every young person and teacher in Scotland.
The two have joined forces and ran their programmes parallel as a primary pilot.
In addition to pupils working on the Circular Economy Challenge, Gen+ masterclasses helped pupils prepare for the Circular Economy Challenge tasks by developing key skills such as collaboration, communication, and resilience.
Julie Degnan, Project Manager at Young Enterprise Scotland, explained: “The Circular Economy Challenge is designed to introduce young people from P5 – S3 to the benefits and principles of the circular economy through case studies and interaction with business ambassadors.
“Pupils design a ’circular’ product or service where everything has value, and nothing is wasted.
“They’re then given the opportunity to present their ideas to a judging panel of experts.”
Victoria Vardy, the chief executive of Gen+, said: “Working with Young Enterprise Scotland on the Primary masterclasses has been a great opportunity to show primary pupils how to put meta-skills into practice.
“The circular economy event was a great opportunity for the pupils to showcase their meta-skills while pitching their ideas for products.”
Pupils who took part in the project had the opportunity to create a company, carry out market research, create a business plan and advertise their product or service with its own logo and tagline.
At a final showcase event with an audience of pupils, teachers, business ambassadors and judges, pupils took to the stage to pitch their ideas for the chance to win different awards from Young Enterprise Scotland and Gen+.
Diana Taylor, Head Teacher at St George’s Primary, said: “It’s been great to see the Circular Economy Challenge help our young people develop a skillset which will help them thrive now, in their learning.
“It will also help in their lives outside of school, and in the future, in the workplace.”
