A special launch event was recently held at the North West Business Complex to showcase the Green Inclusive & Circular Economy Technology Project.

The project was an exciting new student-led programme that helped students from St Brigids and Oakgrove College go Green through the use of technology. The programme aimed to develop and promote creative thinking around local green issues for young people which were then transferred into a game. The project has been running since October 2018 by Enterprise North West in partnership with St Brigids College, Oakgrove College, Greater Shantallow Partnership, Kippie CIC and Zero North Waste and was delivered across both school campuses.

The Green Tech project is part of the overall Atlantic Social Lab project and allowed the young people to explore and find new solutions to societal challenges they are passionate about across the City. By embracing current technology, the young people learnt and developed a wide range of skills as well as developing their own game which has a key focus on the green economy.

Speaking at the showcase event, the lead partner Enterprise North West’s, Brian O’Neill said, “this social innovation project has provided a fresh and engaging investigation into recycling and the wide range of issues it affects. The students used an environmental topic that they could relate to and they were challenged on preconceived ideas and attitudes to recycling through the inspiring activities of the project.

The project allowed students to use a variety of tech formats and platforms to develop solutions to these green issues and use what they have learned to make real change in their schools or local community.”

Speaking on behalf of both schools, Gerry Mc Monagle, highlighted that “the schools were delighted to be involved in the Green Tech Schools Project. It is vital that we raise awareness of recycling because young people are the future and it is important that they are encouraged to have a role in improving the world that we all share. Recycling is a great educational opportunity, engaging students in a sustainable behaviour that they can take with them outside of the classroom and into their communities.”

The overall Atlantic Social Lab programme is a unique programme that aims to develop and promote social innovation approaches and methods to give response to key growing social issues within citizens, third sector and social enterprises as well as the public sector. It aims to work with innovative initiatives that are tackling many of the social challenges faced by the City that have detrimental effects on people who live there.

The project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme.