Category: Outreach

Stitching confidence and sustainability: MAKERS Project supports young creatives at Fairfield Highschool

Author katcorbett | Posted on

This spring, the UWE Bristol MAKERS project proudly partnered with Fairfield Highschool, Sustainable Fashion Week’s Future Citizens Project, and the Old Library Community Hub in Eastville to deliver a series of hands-on sewing workshops that brought together sustainability, creativity, and personal growth.

Over the course of six weeks, a group of nine enthusiastic students aged 11 tto 15 took part in a practical learning journey exploring textile arts through a sustainability lens. Guided by expert facilitators and supported by MAKERS, the workshop provided a safe and inspiring space to experiment, create, and grow in confidence.

MAKING with Purpose

For the MAKERS project, which supports hands-on community learning through craft, repair and design, this collaboration was a perfect match. The students’ projects — from tote bags and pencil cases to scrunchies and hairbands — were more than creative exercises. They were learning tools. Each item represented hours of skill-building: from threading sewing machines and cutting fabric accurately to reading patterns and exploring the potential of reclaimed materials.

By working with salvaged textiles and repurposing what would otherwise be waste, the young participants also learned about the environmental impacts of fast fashion and the role they can play in shaping a more sustainable future — values that sit at the heart of MAKERS’ ethos.

Guided by a Skilled Team

The workshops were co-delivered by a dedicated and passionate team:

  • Ruth Squires, Senior Technical Instructor in the fashion sewing rooms at UWE Bristol
  • Ayat Said, Director of Science & Computing at Fairfield High School
  • Beth Cooper, Old Library Repair Café
  • Kat Corbett, Coordinator of the UWE MAKERS Project

Together, they supported the students not just to learn practical techniques, but to explore self-expression, resilience, and creativity.

“It was amazing to see how much the students grew over the six weeks,” said Ayat Said. “Not just in what they could make, but in how they saw themselves. You could really see their confidence building week by week. It was far beyond sewing — more about believing in what they could do.”

Celebrating the Journey

The series culminated in a celebration at the Old Library, where proud parents and carers were invited to view a mini exhibition of the students’ handmade creations. The event offered a moment to reflect on how far the group had come — from nervous beginners to capable makers with a genuine sense of ownership over their work.

Certificates were awarded in recognition of each student’s hard work and progress, marking not just the end of the workshop, but the beginning of a new confidence in their own creative abilities.

MAKERS Looking Forward

For the MAKERS project, this collaboration with Fairfield High School was a testament to the power of community-based, practical learning. It’s not just about making things — it’s about making change, making skills accessible, and making people feel they belong.

We’re grateful to all the students, facilitators and supporters who made this workshop such a success — and we look forward to sewing more seeds of creativity, confidence, and sustainability across Bristol and beyond.

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.

Green and Healthy Futures Fair: A Celebration of Community, Opportunity and Sustainable Work

Author katcorbett | Posted on

On Monday 19 May 2025, residents of St Pauls and the wider Bristol community are warmly invited to the Green and Healthy Futures Fair, taking place from 1pm to 8pm at St Pauls Learning Centre, 94 Grosvenor Road, BS2 8XJ.

Organised in collaboration by UWE Bristol’s Inspire Sustainability Team and Bridging Histories, this free event is rooted in community partnership and the shared goal of building fairer, greener futures. It brings together local organisations, employers, and educators to inform about practical support, training, and career opportunities — all in an open, inclusive setting.

A Fair for All

The Green and Healthy Futures Fair is for anyone thinking about their next steps – whether you’ve been out of work for some time, are exploring new possibilities, or simply want to find out what’s happening locally. The event is open to all ages and stages, and aims to create a welcoming space to ask questions, build confidence, and connect with others.

Throughout the day, attendees will be able to:

  • Explore stalls offering job opportunities, apprenticeships, and free courses
  • Receive advice on accessing support services, training, and further education
  • Enjoy warm food provided by Glen’s Kitchen from 3.30pm
  • Access free tech support from FixMyTek (bring your device for a check-up)

Free Workshops and Support

A number of bookable free sessions are available throughout the afternoon and evening, including:

  • Mock interviews (1:1 and pre-booked, 3pm–4.35pm)
  • Professional LinkedIn photos (5pm–7pm)
  • Interview skills workshop (5.15pm–5.45pm)
  • CV writing session with Babbasa (6pm–6.40pm)

These sessions are designed to support people in building the confidence and practical skills needed for job applications and interviews. Spaces are limited and can be booked when registering via Eventbrite.

Organisations attending

Attendees will have the chance to meet people from the following organisations:

All of these partners are working towards a shared vision: a city where everyone has the opportunity to develop their skills, access fulfilling work, and contribute to a healthier, more sustainable future.

How to Attend

The event is free to attend and open to everyone. To take part in workshops or book a professional photo slot, please register in advance:

Book your free place on Eventbrite

If you have any questions about the event, contact: kat.corbett@uwe.ac.uk

Event Details:
Monday 19 May 2025
1:00pm–8:00pm
St Pauls Learning Centre, 94 Grosvenor Road, BS2 8XJ
Please note: There is no parking available at the venue

Inspire Sustainability team supporting local families to low-carbon cook!

Author joshuawarren | Posted on

The Inspire Sustainability team recently worked again with a team from the Asian Energy Studies Centre at Hong Kong Baptist University to put together a low-carbon cooking workshop for local families in Barton Hill.

As part of a study project on household energy usage, the workshop provided the families with tips and tricks for lowering their bills whilst still cooking nutritious and budget-friendly meals.

Around 25 people including many young children gathered in Cafe Conscious in Barton Hill to experience the workshop, to learn and to eat together. The evening was a great success with a great community spirit.

UWE’s Inspire Sustainability team member and home cook Josh Warren showed the group a delicious and nutritious hearty veggie curry recipe, and local cook Joyce Fong made a flavourful and quick tossed potato salad.

Both dishes went down really well and demonstrated lots of tips for energy-saving, such as batch-cooking, using the microwave, and buying locally and seasonally. Most of the ingredients were even bought from the neighbouring shops and convenience stores in Barton Hill.

The project hopes to continue to bring energy-saving advice and workshops to local communities in Bristol and support families to reduce their bills.

To find out more about the project, you can email the team at engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk

Inspire Sustainability team engage children and families about saving on energy bills in partnership with Asian Energy Studies Centre

Author joshuawarren | Posted on

UWE’s Inspire Sustainability team recently partnered with a team from the Asian Energy Studies Centre at Hong Kong Baptist University to conduct some engaging workshops for students at Evergreen Primary Academy in Easton.

The workshop focused on important themes such as energy consumption, energy saving, and renewable energy, and explored with the students the various ways energy is consumed in their daily lives. They gained insights into different energy sources and the importance of saving energy. One of the most exciting parts of the workshop was the hands-on activity: “Power our Future”

Students were tasked with designing and constructing their own wind turbines, focusing on creating efficient blades to maximize electricity production. This activity not only encouraged creativity but also prompted students to think critically about design improvements to enhance efficiency. Students experimented with different blade shapes and shared their findings with one another.

The project also has been recruiting households in the community to signup to a study, providing them with incentives and practical advice to reduce their own energy bills. The team had worked with Evergreen Primary Academy to reach the families of the students involved in the workshop and offer the opportunity.

The workshop is also available to be booked for local schools through the Inspire Sustainability team. If you know of a school or teacher that may be interested in accessing free STEM workshops for their class, then please do contact the team.

You can email the team at engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk or you can check out and download the workshop materials on our Curiosity Connections website here. There are also a whole host of other free STEM workshops to choose from for a variety of age groups.

Are you an engineer? Inspire the next generation of engineers by signing up to be part of the Leaders Award competition

Author joshuawarren | Posted on

The Leaders Award ‘If You Were An Engineer…’ competition regional awards will again be hosted this year at UWE’s School of Engineering Building, and you can become a part. The competition asks school children from across the country to imagine and design creative solutions to problems, as if they were an engineer. The designs are then judged (right here at UWE!) and the winners are invited to the awards ceremony and celebration taking place this summer.

A large part of the ‘If you were an engineer, what would you do?’ competition is having school pupils interviewing real engineers and enabling them to ask the questions that matter to them. These interviews provide an opportunity for engineers to share how they use creative problem solving in their work and inspire the pupils to find their own engineering ideas.  This leads the pupils to then design their own engineering solutions to problems and submit their ideas to the competition.

The Leaders Award team are asking for real engineers to become a part of the process and sign up to be interviewed online by pupils from across the region. Giving you the opportunity to inspire the next generation of engineers and also develop communication and outreach skills.

Young people cannot be what they cannot see. Being able to engage with engineering and learn that anyone can grow up to work in the industry can have a profound effect on them. So, if you want to be involved and help inspire the next generation of engineers get in touch today!

As recognition of your involvement, the Leaders Award team will welcome you as a Primary Engineer ‘Engineer Inspirer’, and will support your involvement and provide you with recognition of engagement for your own professional development.

There’s an information flyer you can download below.

Engineer-Leaders-Award-Competition-FlyersDownload

For more information or to register interest, visit the website here, or email either engineeringourfuture@uwe.ac.uk or louisa.parsons@primaryengineer.com

Plans for prototype invention revealed at children’s award ceremony

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

On Friday 5th June, UWE Engineers revealed early plans to turn a young person’s winning design into reality.

The Leaders Award is a nationwide engineering competition (run by Primary Engineer) for young people to design inventions to solve a problem. UWE Engineering is one of the Leaders Awards partners in the South West of England and hosted this years exhibition of distinction shortlisted, highly commended & winning designs.

During the Awards ceremony, Hollie Lewis, Lecturer in Sustainable Project Management, presented plans for a UWE team to build last year’s winner Elliot James’ design, the “Smart shower”. Hollie is heading up the “Proto team” which includes Electronics Mechatronics Technical Team Leader, Steve Regester and Engineering Students: Erika Aiwekhoe, Ruth Cockroft and Naing Tun.

120 people attended the celebration event to congratulate the winners and take a look at the activities UWE Engineering’s Inspire Sustainability team had to offer. The exhibition remained up the following day for the Family Fun day, where over 900 people visited and took part in a whole range of hands-on activities.

Hollie Lewis, Proto-team lead, alongside Elliot James, inventor
Hollie presents at the Awards Ceremony
Award winners & their families viewed the competition exhibition
Elliot James and his proud family

“Smart Shower”

Last year, Elliot James, pupil at St Katherine’s sixth form, won the prize for best Year 12 design – you can see his original “SMARTH” – SMART Bath – design below. The UWE proto-team have adapted this design and are starting to build the Smart shower.

Elliot James Leaders Award design won the Year 12 category in 2023

More prototypes!

Engineers from GKN, headed up by Ian Gent, Research Engineer in Composites, also revealed a prototype machine that purifies water.

Dean of Engineering, Ramin Amali expressed at the Awards Ceremony how wonderful it is to have so many local young people participating in this Engineering competition and having their designs turned into a reality!

Engineering’s Family Fun Day

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

Over 900 people across the city were welcomed into UWE Engineering last Saturday to explore a range of different science and engineering activities. It was a wonderful day and we’ve had loads of great feedback. Watch the video to get an insight into the day.

Activities included:

  • Planetarium show called ‘We Make our Future‘ about how we can use human ingenuity and engineering skills to make a brighter future for our planet (the Inspire Sustainability team commissioned this show which Explorer Dome created and took to COP26 as well as into loads of local schools)
  • Flight and Driving Simulators – two very popular activities provided by UWE’s Digital Gallery
  • Robot building experience – was constantly surrounded by kids and adults alike building and coding Lego robots
  • Immersion in Bristol Minecraft worlds – everyone headed up the stairs to design changes to their city in the digital worlds
  • Physics in the Freezer – David Williams provided an awesome show with liquid nitrogen and magnets
  • Wind Turbine activity – some examples of wind turbine blade designs can be seen below – who could generate the most electricity?
  • Anibotics – families flocked to the animations and free giveaways David Smee and his team had on offer
  • Eco-House – Deborah Adkins had her wonderfully interactive Eco-houses on display
  • The Tinker Table – children loved getting hands on using tools to tear apart all the broken down electrical items donated as part of the UWE’s MAKERS repair cafe

Funding supports inspirational Green Job workshops for children

Author louisacockbill | Posted on

We’re pleased to announce that the West of England Combined Authority will be funding the Inspire Sustainability team at UWE Bristol to engage local children with the Green careers needed to achieve Net Zero.

The “Curiosity Connections Green Futures” project will use real-life local role models to inform and inspire local children about Green jobs. 

“What do you mean by a “Green” career?” 
“Do you have to like gardening or work in recycling?” 
“How do you get those Green-y jobs?”  

(Questions from local children)

The new resources will seek to answer those questions – helping children across the West of England to understand what job opportunities there are to build a sustainable future for our planet, and how their skills are crucial to that transition.

New partnership to reach thousands

Leading the project, UWE Bristol are bringing together local networks to identify a diverse array of local people in Green jobs to feature in a top-trump card set.

Collaborators include:

The new project draws on the success of the Engineering Curiosity top trump card set released by the Inspire Sustainability team in 2021, funded by the Digital Engineering and Technology Innovation programme. Those cards have been an incredible resource in highlighting career options and the Inspire Sustainability team hope to do the same, on an even bigger scale, with the new Green Job cards.

The aim is to show not only the great expanse of Green career options, but also that people from all backgrounds can enter these careers. So the card pack will showcase diverse local people at all career stages, from entry level to CEO, who’ve taken varied career pathways.

The cards will form the basis of a hands-on green careers kit, deployed by UWE’s outreach experts in 100s of pop-up sessions and whole school events in the next two years. Sessions will be tailored for both primary and secondary school classes, with additional mini-Green summits specially designed to effectively engage children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative learning provision (ALP).

To maximise awareness and support for Green careers, the project will involve families wherever possible, and this will be a particular focus at big events, such as the Festival of Nature in Bristol and Bath.

Green ambassadors will go into schools with the UWE team to inspire children face-to-face. And online resources will expand on the card profiles, with extra careers information and guidance enabling children to understand how a Green career could fit their interests and skill set.

If you’re in a Green job and want to get involved, please email louisa.cockbill@uwe.ac.uk.

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