On Wednesday 22nd January 2025, as their time working on our first child-led partnerships project came to an end, it was party time for our Young Design Panel. Almost 100 people attended the event at Winchester Science Centre as the children’s families and invited guests came together to celebrate their achievements. Twenty-five children, aged between 7 and 14 years old, have been working on a 9-month project combining science and art to help build our understanding of how children feel about the effects of climate change and biodiversity loss, with the aim of encouraging them to want to take action.
It was a lovely evening, and the perfect opportunity for the children to proudly show off all their artwork to their loved ones. Over in The Planetarium, there was a presentation of everything the children got up to, with some of them taking centre stage to share their favourite moments. Each of the key partners were thanked for their support in helping the children to learn more about the world around them and begin to treasure their local landscapes. This included six scientific partners including Nature Metrics, Butterfly Conservation, South Downs National Park, Newhouse Farm Alresford, the University of Southampton, and the University of Surrey.
It was great to hear from artist Milly Rolle, and exhibition designers Kate and Rick from HKD about their experience of working with the Young Design Panel. Milly has worked closely with the children to help them develop ideas and express their thoughts and feelings through a variety of art mediums. HKD provided the children with an insight into how interactive experiences are created. In groups, guided by Kate and Rick, the children created their own games, each exploring one of the five key themes, soil, sound of biodiversity, species, dark skies, and sustainable food production. The presentation closed with the children receiving their certificates for completing the project and a nationally recognised CREST Award for their scientific contribution!
Member of the Young Design Panel, Bella, aged 12 said: “having the opportunity to work with scientists and experts made me feel special and like my ideas and opinions do matter.”
10-year-old Will from the panel added: “the three words I would use to describe this project are exciting, insane and incredible because I didn’t expect there to be so many ways art links with nature.”
We’re very grateful to everyone who has contributed to this project, and we are looking forward to sharing what our Charity has learned soon.
Want to know more? Check out this video of memories from the project.
