Monday 15-03-2021 - 12:23

The annual College ECOChallenge is an opportunity for students to work with a team from their college to come up with innovative ideas and solutions to environmental sustainability challenges at Lancaster University

Last Thursday marked the final of the Sixth annual College ECOChallenge, with teams presenting live on Teams to a panel of expert judges: Professor Simon Guy (Pro-Vice Chancellor Global), Dr Rebecca Whittle (Lecturer in LEC) and Oliver Robinson (SU President) for the chance to win £450 winning prize or £150 runner-up.

Naomi Young, Green Lancaster Projects Coordinator, said: “This year, the teams have overcome the additional huge challenge of collaborating virtually with members of their college they may have never met before. All the teams went above and beyond, thoroughly researching their ideas and meeting with internal and external stakeholders. They have gained excellent interpersonal skills for their future careers and we hope this was a valuable experience.”

There was a huge range of fantastic and innovative ideas, from sustainable coffee cooperatives to kinetic pavements on the Spine and composting at ECOHub. After much deliberation, the judges announced Pendle College Team A as the winner, for the third year in a row, with Wild Wellbeing. Wild Wellbeing would involve turning an area on campus into a biodiversity hub to prevent the impact of urbanisation on wildlife. The area would be interactive, allowing students to gain knowledge about insects and volunteer with the management of the area to improve wellbeing. The judges were inspired by the link between sustainability and mental health during the pandemic and outlined how this project could give us an immediate outlet. 

The runner-up team was Pendle College Team B, with ECOShop, a popup stall in Alexandra Square selling sustainable and plastic-free products, making it convenient and easy for students to buy zero waste and raise awareness of sustainable consumption.

Darren Axe, Green Lancaster Manager, said: "This year we received a great variety and high quality of project ideas from the college teams taking part in the ECOChallenge. The level of engagement, research and teamwork was to a very high standard and this was impressive to see despite the challenges of our teams not being able to meet together in person. Hopefully we will see some of the projects implemented over the coming year"

You can watch the recorded final here. Well done to all teams for your hard work and congratulations to Pendle College!