Creative Partnerships – Eco Guide
Creative Partnerships invited us to take part in an eighteen-month long education project with St. John’s School in Epping, Essex.The project served to engage secondary-school students in thinking about their environment and sustainability in creative ways before their school was rebuilt.We set up a micro-design studio in an empty corner of a classroom, and worked with Years 7 and 8 towards a two-fold outcome: to help them challenge and change the way their was school run, empowering them through creative thought; and to create a resource book that they could pass on.
Working with both students and teachers from all disciplines, we facilitated a number of workshops and events, including foraging in the playing fields, creating installations out of discarded material, analysing the school’s energy consumption, and initiated a school-wide ‘black out’.The outcome of the project was finally collated and used to create a book with the students, which they named ‘E.G. – The Eco Guide: St. John’s School Leading by Example’.This book serves as a testament to the students’ passion for learning, for their environment, and for their school. It also offers inspiration for other schools to reflect on the way they co-exist with their surroundings.
