Category: Engineering Our Future people

Happy Avonmouth: creating pathways to possibility through community, skills and partnership

Author engineering | Posted on

As a busy summer of projects draws to a close, we have had the opportunity to reflect on a very special weekend of community engagement in Avonmouth – and, importantly, on some of the connections and opportunities that have continued beyond the events themselves.

Earlier this year, UWE Bristol joined Avonmouth CE Primary School, Avonmouth Community Centre, The Bristol Port Company, SevernNet and a wide range of local employers and organisations for two connected events: Pathway to Possibilities, focused on employment, training and skills, followed by Happy Avonmouth Day, a community festival celebrating the people, history and future of the area.

Supported by UWE’s CATE Public/Community Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Fund, together the events created a weekend of opportunities – connecting residents with the industries on their doorstep while bringing together skills, education, sustainability, heritage and community celebration.

Creating a Pathway to Possibilities

The weekend began at Avonmouth CE Primary School with Pathway to Possibilities, developed with The Bristol Port Company and other local partners to bring employment and training opportunities directly into the community.

Avonmouth and Severnside are home to a significant concentration of businesses and employment, but living close to these opportunities doesn’t necessarily mean knowing what is available or how to access it.

Employers, training providers and organisations including The Bristol Port Company, Nisbetts, BCA, V Clean Group, Molson Group, Laundra, Women’s Work Lab, the Civil Service, Day Aggregates, FareShare South West, Smart Works, Co-op, SevernNet, Weston College and UWE Bristol, among others, came together to talk with parents, carers and local residents about employment, apprenticeships, training, upskilling and career support.

Darren Jones MP highlighted the importance of this approach:

“These interventions from The Bristol Port Company and other local organisations are so important to be able to show people that there are real opportunities for great jobs in and around the Avonmouth area.”

David Brown OBE, CEO of The Bristol Port Company, described it as being about “putting one foot in front of the other” – helping people take their first steps towards opportunity.

And those conversations have continued beyond the event. In the months since, we have heard of attendees progressing into both new employment and apprenticeship opportunities following connections made through Pathway to Possibilities.

Sometimes the first step towards a new career is simply discovering that an opportunity exists.

Celebrating Avonmouth – past, present and future

The following day, over 300 people joined Happy Avonmouth Day, a free community festival at Avonmouth Community Centre and the surrounding area.

Local organisations, businesses and residents contributed activities, stalls, music, dance, food and entertainment, alongside port tours, an artisan market, children’s activities, health activities and local history.

The setting had particular significance. Avonmouth Community Centre was once the local school, before Avonmouth CE Primary School moved to its current site. This provided a natural opportunity to explore Living Histories, bringing memories, images and stories of Avonmouth into the building.

This connected with arts-based work led by UWE’s Dr Judith Aston exploring a just transition for Avonmouth and the relationship between business, community and environment. It allowed us to look backwards and forwards in the same space – exploring an area that has long been shaped by industry, people and place.

Looking to the future also meant thinking about sustainability.

UWE’s Inspire Green Futures resources introduced families to green careers and skills, with Josh from the Inspire Green Futures team running UWE’s stall and hands-on renewable energy activities at Happy Avonmouth Day.

This linked with wider UWE work led by Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers around green skills, sustainability, circular economy and decarbonisation, and our ongoing relationships with SevernNet and organisations across Avonmouth.

As industry changes, the aim isn’t simply to tell communities that a green transition is happening around them, but to help local people see where they might fit within it.

[PHOTO: Josh/Inspire Green Futures]

Creating opportunities for students

The benefits extended back into UWE too.

Two School of Engineering students supported Pathway to Possibilities, gaining experience of working with employers, community organisations and residents and seeing first-hand how a university can connect people with education, skills and employment opportunities.

Support from the CATE Student Internship Fund subsequently enabled student involvement to continue into communications and dissemination, helping capture and share the impact of the project beyond the events themselves.

UWE as a connector

Perhaps the biggest achievement of the weekend wasn’t any individual activity, but the network behind it.

A primary school, community centre, university, major employers, training providers, voluntary organisations and residents all brought something different. The Bristol Port Company played a particularly important role as a sponsor and organiser, while Avonmouth Community Centre, Avonmouth CE Primary School and SevernNet helped ensure the events were rooted in the community rather than simply delivered to it.

For me (Sarah Behenna), the project also brought together two parts of my own work. Alongside my role in UWE’s School of Engineering, I am Chair of Governors at Avonmouth CE Primary School. Pathway to Possibilities grew directly from conversations about what local families needed, while my UWE role enabled me to draw on relationships with employers, education and training providers and colleagues across different disciplines to help respond.

Dr Laura Hobbs, from UWE’s College of Health, Science and Society, also brought public engagement and evaluation expertise to the interdisciplinary team, helping us think beyond attendance figures to the relationships and longer-term opportunities created.

That feels particularly relevant several months later. The value of community engagement isn’t necessarily captured by how many people walk through a door; a conversation that helps someone discover a route into employment or training can have an impact long after an event has finished.

The CATE Public/Community Engagement and Knowledge Exchange Fund award provided support to make these connections possible, while partners contributed their own time, expertise, resources and networks.

Together, Pathway to Possibilities and Happy Avonmouth Day demonstrated what place-based public engagement and knowledge exchange can achieve when universities, businesses and communities work together rather than simply alongside one another.

And seeing some of those initial conversations beginning to translate into new opportunities is perhaps the most rewarding impact of all.

UWE Bristol’s contribution to Happy Avonmouth was led by Sarah Behenna from UWE Bristol’s Science Communication Unit/School of Engineering, working with an interdisciplinary UWE team including Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers (Centre for Environment, Society and Resilience/School of Engineering), Dr Judith Aston (School of Arts) and Dr Laura Hobbs (College of Health, Science and Society), alongside Avonmouth CE Primary School, Avonmouth Community Centre, The Bristol Port Company, SevernNet and a wide network of local employers and community partners.

Over 1,500 visitors at the School of Engineering Family Fun Day!

Author engineering | Posted on

The School of Engineering welcomed more than 1,500 visitors to its annual Family Fun Day, bringing together families, local communities, staff, students and industry partners for a day packed with hands-on engineering activities and discovery.

Visitors of all ages had the opportunity to experience engineering in action through a wide range of interactive activities. From building and testing wind turbines and trying out flight simulators to watching spectacular liquid nitrogen demonstrations and exploring the ExplorerDome planetarium, there was something to spark everyone’s curiosity.

The event also celebrated the creativity and innovation of young people from across the South West through the Leaders Award competition. Shortlisted inventions were displayed throughout the day, giving visitors the opportunity to explore the imaginative engineering solutions developed by local school pupils.

For older students and their parents and carers, Degree Apprenticeship talks offered an insight into alternative routes into higher education, helping visitors discover how they can gain valuable industry experience while studying for a degree.

The Family Fun Day is an important part of the School of Engineering’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of engineers and demonstrating how engineering touches every aspect of our lives. By providing opportunities to experiment, ask questions and engage directly with engineering research and technology, the event aims to encourage more young people to consider engineering and STEM careers in the future.

Events of this scale are only possible thanks to the enthusiasm and dedication of a huge number of people. A sincere thank you goes to the School of Engineering staff, students, volunteers and partners who generously gave their time and expertise to create such an enjoyable and inspiring experience for every visitor.

Take a look at our highlights video below to see some of the fantastic moments from the day and the incredible atmosphere created by everyone who joined us.

Thank you to everyone who attended, we look forward to welcoming you back next year!

Building a Greener Future: UWE Bristol Brings Together Sustainability Researchers

Author engineering | Posted on

In April, UWE Bristol welcomed early career researchers from across the UK for a vibrant day of collaboration and knowledge-sharing at the 3rd Sustainability Multidisciplinary Meet-Up: SHAPEing Net Zero. Hosted at the Bristol Business School and organised by Dr Jill Zhao from the School of Architecture and Environment, the event explored how research and innovation can drive an inclusive, just, and technologically enabled response to the climate crisis.

The event brought together early career researchers from over 30 universities to connect across disciplines and explore themes ranging from climate justice and community-led decarbonisation, to big data, retrofit, wellbeing, and the power of storytelling.

Spotlight on sustainable engineering and community engagement

One of the UWE researchers presenting at the event was Sarah Behenna, Project Coordinator in the School of Engineering and Science Communication Unit. She shared work from the award-winning public engagement programmes led by Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers and Dr Laura Hobbs, focused on engaging underrepresented children and young people in sustainability through the use of Minecraft.

Sarah’s presentation, titled “Empowering Youth: Communicating Sustainability and Green Skills through Minecraft”, explored how the platform is being used to introduce young people to engineering principles, sustainable development goals, and green career pathways. By designing their own sustainable communities in-game, participants gain hands-on experience of building a better future—while having fun and learning STEM skills in the process.

Forging partnerships and new ideas

Also attending from UWE Bristol was Dr Iwona Gajda, Associate Professor of Environmental Engineering and a mentor on the Women Like Me/Women in Industry programme. Dr Gajda joined discussions on interdisciplinary approaches to climate action, bringing her expertise in circular economy and environmental systems.

A key strength of the event was the space it created for building new relationships and sparking collaborative ideas. During the day, Sarah connected with several researchers, including Dr Lui Tam from Cardiff University, and together they began developing a potential future grant bid – demonstrating the immediate impact of cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary networking in driving forward collaborative research.

Looking ahead

Events like SHAPEing Net Zero underline the importance of empowering the next generation of researchers to lead change across academic, policy and community settings. With sustainability, equity and engagement at the heart of its ethos, the British Academy and UWE Bristol is proud to support early career researchers as they shape a more just and resilient future.

A big thank you to Dr Jill Zhao for her vision and dedication in creating and delivering such a valuable and inspiring event.

Green Futures workshops reaches over 2000 young people in first 3 months

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

Engineering’s Inspire Sustainability team are leading on a new exciting project to inspire local children into green jobs (thanks to funders the West of England Combined Authority). Last year they recruited 48 local people in green jobs to feature on a top-trump card pack and hot off the printing press in February – the cards went straight into schools and communities!

Visiting 25 mainstream schools, five special educational needs groups and two community events since the launch- the team are are acting on UWE’s duty as a civic university to benefit the local community – raising aspirations for all young people and creating the workforce of the future to deliver Net Zero aims.

Inspiring

The Green Futures sessions have enabled young people in primary and secondary schools to discover what a green job is and how it’s relevant to their lives. They’ve explored the huge diversity in jobs (& people!) featured in the card pack, alongside hands-on activities.

The funding includes a focus on young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative learning provision (ALP) – so the team have adapted their sessions to engage these groups.

The SEND summits began in April, bringing groups into UWE’s own Prototype & Play lab. In May, that’s continuing, with groups also going into We The Curious and ss Great Britain – learning about green jobs in inspirational settings.

“Really interesting and engaging. Loved the career cards and how they showed a range of skills.”

Parent from a SEND summit

Volunteer ambassadors in green jobs are involved as well – as it’s always an inspiration to meet someone in person and for students to ask questions!

“The children loved meeting people from the cards – it really brought the session to life.” 

Teacher from St Werburgh’s Primary

If your child’s school would like to book in a session please email: engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk (we’re taking bookings from September as we’re fully booked until the summer!)

Connecting

At the end of March, the card pack launch was celebrated with the people featured on the cards, along with local business representatives, teachers and members of the local careers hub. As well as celebrating and connecting the amazing people who’d featured on the cards, the event also marked Retrofit Action Week with three speakers outlining how their roles contribute to making buildings Net Zero.

Find out more about the celebratory launch or explore the real people in amazing green jobs – their profiles feature here and include lots of interesting facts (including earnings ££), career routes and inspirational quotes. Look for UWE representatives – Glenn Lyons, Laura Fogg-Rogers and Roger Griffith.


We’re not just connecting with schools and businesses – we’re also going into communities. We’re joining in with local events and leading our own events in community centres – like St Paul’s Green & Healthy Careers Fair on 19th May – read more and get a ticket to come along.

Want to find out more?

More information about the Inspire Green Futures workshops can be found on the website.

The project is led by Laura Fogg-Rogers and Louisa Cockbill at UWE. Who worked alongside – My Future My Choice, the Natural History Consortium and Graphic Science, the STEM ambassador delivery partner for the SouthWest – to recruit people for the cards and now to deliver to thousands across the region.

School of Engineering outreach activities featured in UWE Bristol’s Sustainability Report for 2021-22

Author katcorbett | Posted on

UWE Bristol declared a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2020 and has since made a number of commitments in its 2030 Strategy towards tackling the environmental crisis. These include being carbon neutral by 2030, reduce water and energy use, cut waste and single-use plastic, support biodiversity, sustainable travel, and climate related research, and work with students to address climate change and environmental challenges through teaching, learning and curricula. UWE Bristol regularly publishes reports where it shares the progress in achieving these sustainability goals.

UWE Bristol’s School of Engineering outreach team are pleased to be featured multiple times in the university’s latest Sustainability Report!

We Make Our Future Planetarium Shows

The We Make Our Future Planetarium show features prominently in the report’s section about Research and Knowledge Exchange for Sustainable Development.

We Make Our Future sets out the idea that to achieve net zero and a low carbon global economy, everything we make, and use will need to be completely re-imagined and re-engineered. It aims to show that the digital revolution is boosting the potential for engineers’ design thinking to optimise not only the development process but also the potential for collaborative citizen engagement.

The show has been designed with planetarium experts Explorer Dome and was part of the DETI Inspire programme. The show was featured at COP26 in Glasgow in 2021 and has since been touring schools around the west of England thanks to funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Whilst there are currently no funded shows available, schools can still book them directly through Explorer Dome. More information about the show, and how to book it is available on our Digital Trailblazers webpages.

Dissemination activities for education for sustainable development

With the publication of the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Guidance by Advance HE and the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) in 2021–22, Education for Sustainable Development received significant – and well-deserved – national attention.

Venkat Bakthavatchaalam, Laura Fogg-Rogers and Georgina Gough from the School of Engineering actively supported the dissemination of this document with a presentation at the 2022 Dresden Nexus Conference on the topic of Development and evaluation of a successful method to embed Sustainable Development Goals in engineering curriculum.

Another dissemination activity featured in the report is the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) Inspire outreach programme, which engaged children in primary and secondary education across the West of England, with a focus on disadvantaged areas.

Using curriculum-linked engineering outreach and careers support, it connected children with real-life, diverse engineering role models to widen participation and aspirations for STEM careers.

The Inspire programme was led by Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers, Senior Lecturer and Researcher at UWE Bristol, with support from Graphic Science, the STEM Ambassador hub of the West of England, and in collaboration with the Wessex Inspiration Network and Future Quest, leaders for Higher Education outreach into secondary schools of the region.

Free event on collaborating with communities using data and AI to create more inclusive cultures

Author katcorbett | Posted on

The UWE Bristol Turing Network is collaborating with Bristol University’s Jean Golding Institute to create a family-friendly public event at the Bristol Beacon on 8th June, which forms part of Bristol Data Week. The public is invited to join the conversation around ChatGPT, protecting vulnerable communities, and creating a sustainable future.

Data is all around us, from our smartphones to our supermarkets, but how can we use it for good? How do we use ChatGPT and AI to create a fairer future for all? How can data from the past shape our future? This is an opportunity for members of the public to join the Jean Golding Institute and UWE Bristol’s Turing Network to connect, collaborate, and create with data and AI.

This is an great opportunity to explore alongside scientists and local representatives how communities could use data and AI like ChatGPT to tackle key issues including inclusivity, protecting the vulnerable, and climate change.

The event will also delve into the latest advances in Data-intensive research, and Artificial Intelligence, with inspiring speakers and interactive exhibitions.

There will be plenty of opportunity to network, socialise and interact with the Bristol data and AI community and the event also offers a complimentary lunch.

Find out more and book your free space via the website

Join Us at our Green Skills Fayres in the South West!

Author stephmartin | Posted on

What are Green Skills Fayres?

The Inspire Sustainability team at UWE Engineering have organised several Green Skills Fayres to take place at three schools in the South West on the 24th and 30th of November, and 2nd of December. We are looking for people working in green jobs to join us in inspiring secondary school-aged students (11-16) at Hans Price Academy in Weston-Super-Mare, Bristol Brunel Academy in Speedwell, and Digitech Studio School in Warmley. We want to inspire young people to develop green skills that they can take with them into their future careers.

What are the Green Skills Fayres?

Anyone in a green job will have the opportunity to discuss how your work contributes to sustainability, the green skills that you’ve developed, and how you apply these to your job. You will be provided with a table to display items relevant to your job to engage young people and spark conversations. STEM ambassadors are also encouraged to bring along any promotional material and invite students to visit your place of work in future if possible. Afterwards, groups of students will have the opportunity to share the green skills and careers that most interest them and how they could develop these.

Read more here: Inspire young people at a Green Skills Fayre – Graphic Science

Woman writing the word career on a wall while standing on a step containing educational graphics.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people who either work in the fields of or have green skills related to climate science, decarbonisation, and climate adaptation. Green skills are skills that are needed to support a sustainable society and are, therefore, broad. These could include skills relating to research, technical aspects, operational management, and monitoring, as well as soft skills, such as creativity and resilience.

If you would like to get involved in the Green Skills Fayre, then please click the button below and fill in the form to register your interest!

take part in the green skills fayre

How can we support young people to develop green skills?

Prior to the fayres, we will be leading assemblies for young people to get them to consider what green skills they could develop from the subjects they are studying at school, and how they might apply them in different jobs to help the West of England reach its goal of net zero carbon emissions.

We will also be providing workshops that tie-in to the Green Skills Fayres and allow young people to have a go at digital engineering, scientific research, undertaking a green audit of their school, establishing an eco committee, debating sustainability topics, and developing creative communication campaigns.

Engineers meet to inspire the next generation

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

On Tuesday 13th September, Engineers across the West of England gathered at UWE Bristol to glean insights into how to ‘Inspire young people in Engineering’.

The 20 diverse engineers were led through the “how to” of engaging & inspiring children by the science communication experts from local Bristol planetarium company, Explorer Dome.

Explorer Dome have been travelling throughout the country for over 20 years, providing children with a science experience inside their awe-inspiring inflatable planetariums. They drew on this wealth of experience at the training session, to guide the engineers through the basics, with plenty of examples and opportunities for the engineers to ‘have a go’.

Attendees reported an overall increase in confidence in delivering engineering outreach to children and said the following:

“Great top tips! [I have a] better idea of how to interact and communicate science with children.”

“Presenters know what they’re doing! Inspiring and I hope I can be a good communicator like them someday.”

“Really helpful content and activities.”

With more diverse representation recognised as an important factor to increase the numbers and diversity of engineers joining the workforce, it was great to have so many female engineers present (13 out of 20 attendees), as well as engineers from range of ethnic backgrounds. Thanks to everyone who joined us and we wish you the best with your school outreach!

What’s next to inspire the next generation of engineers?

This training was funded as part of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s public engagement grant scheme – Ingenious – secured by UWE. This Ingenious funding will also be used to extend the impact of Explorer Dome’s ‘We Make Our Future’ show – a show all about engineering a sustainable future.

The show was was originally developed in 2021 as a collaboration between Explorer Dome and UWE Engineering’s outreach team, with initial funding from the Digital Engineering Technology and Innovation (DETI) initiative. Now Ingenious funds are enabling the team to take ‘We Make our Future’ into schools in areas of socioeconomic deprivation in the West of England.

The team is also extending some of the content of the show – adding in videos from local engineers, to showcase the breadth of people in engineering and inspire the diverse and socially conscious engineers of tomorrow. 

Some of the engineers seen at training this month, may well become those inspirational role models showcased inside the planetarium in the coming months!

Additional Information

UWE Engineering

You can find out more about UWE Engineering and the activities of the Outreach team on the UWE Engineering our Future website.

Explorer Dome

Explorer Dome is an internationally known, vibrant, popular science outreach organisation.
They travel across the UK presenting live science shows for schools, festivals and special events. Hands-on demonstrations and stunning visuals combined with knowledgeable, enthusiastic and professional presenters: Explorer Dome is presenter-led, lively, interactive and fun!

Royal Academy of Engineering – Ingenious: public engagement awards

Ingenious is an awards scheme for projects that engage the public with engineers and engineering while providing engineers with skills and opportunities in public engagement.

They prioritise projects that reach diverse and underrepresented audiences including communities in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and that engage with engineers and people of different genders, ages and ethnic backgrounds.

DETI

DETI is funded by the West of England Combined Authority; it is transforming engineering for the digital era and inspiring the next generation of engineers. It is helping identify the technologies that will drive innovation in developing sustainable products, systems, businesses, infrastructure and transport that underpin a net zero environment. It is creating a new, diverse engineering community and systems to investigate, develop & demonstrate the advanced digital technologies and skills needed for the sustainable products of the future.

Digital Engineering Technology & Innovation (DETI) is a strategic programme of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA), delivered by the National Composites Centre (NCC) in partnership with the Centre for Modelling & Simulation (CFMS), Digital Catapult, the University of the West of England (UWE), the University of Bristol, and the University of Bath. WECA funding of £5m is match funded by the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and industry.

Lego Robots deployed in the community

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

Guest blog by Wing (Natalie) Leung, 1st year Robotics student at UWE Bristol. Natalie describes delivering the Lego Mindstorm session that Luca Caruso (another intern) and herself designed and developed during the course of their internship.

This was the first time the Lego Mindstorms session was run – thank you so much to the old library community STEM club for inviting us to deliver these sessions!

Children from different age ranges were fascinated by our cool robots and had the opportunity to get hands on, building their robot from scratch and programming it to complete the task.

In the 1st session, the engineer design process was introduced to the kids through the fun design and building activity. They were challenged to solve the real-life application of buying from a warehouse – their task was to design a warehouse robot that helps the workers deliver the boxes to the right place.

Children built their cars using the instructions and then got creative in designing a carrying mechanism to transport an item safely from a designated start point to the endpoint – the challenge. They needed to think like an engineer. And carefully consider the number of pieces they used as sustainability and cost are also important.

In the 2nd session, children got to learn some simple programming. A program was provided, but they needed to figure out how to make it quicker to win the little competition. We introduced them to simple coding blocks like movements and if-statement, then they were able to understand the code and change some parameters to increase the speed without crashing.

These sessions were a perfect introduction to robotics and taster of engineering. The kids learnt simple robotic concepts like path planning and sensors, all whilst having fun playing with the robots.

Parent’s feedback was that they had never seen their kids being that focused on something.

The DETI Inspire team hopes to deploy more Lego Mindstorm sessions in the next academic year….watch this space to find out more!

UWE’s Engineering Family Fun Day a Great Success!

Author engineering | Posted on

Families from around Bristol recently came to UWE’s brand new School of Engineering building to enjoy a range of free science and engineering-based activities.

The families that came to the event explored different aspects of engineering such as coding and robotics through LEGO Mindstorm and Pepper (our humanoid robot), digitally engineering solutions to citywide problems through Minecraft, designing the best wind turbine blade in our craft activity, and other stations featuring, eco-houses, crafting and a free planetarium show from Explorer Dome.

The visitors to UWE’s new Engineering building were wowed by the space available to student engineers and also by an exhibition of children’s inventions. The inventions were submitted to the Leaders Award competition – a nationwide scheme that encourages children to solve problems using engineering thinking.

The event was a perfect opportunity to inspire younger children to think like engineers whilst having fun along the way, as well as introducing them to technology that they may not have been able to interact with otherwise. One 13 year old visitor exclaimed how much she loved the fun day saying one day she “would like to come here herself (UWE) and learn more” whilst another couldn’t wait to get home and try to make their own robots.

We would like to thank all the staff of UWE, helpers, and students that made this event happen for making it an amazing day!