Earthshot

2023 School Earthshot Prize Winners

Here in Hodge Hill we recently pioneered an East Birmingham version of Prince William’s ‘Earthshot Prize’ to raise awareness of the climate change challenge and encourage young people’s creativity in providing solutions.

Hodge Hill schools picked from one of five climate challenges and developed a practical solution that can be implemented locally.

2023 Finals

The finals were held in the summer term on Monday 19th June at the fantastic Millennium Point, where schools pitched their Earthshots to our judging panel.

Winners were Lea Forest Academy with their Spartacus Canal Sweeper; a small automated boat designed to clean plastics from Birmingham’s thousands of miles of canals

Second prize was Alston Primary with The A to Z of Nurturing Nature: A downloadable guide to cherishing and supporting nature, written by children for children.

Third prize was Brownmead with Repair Our Air: A campaign to encourage parents to walk not drive their kids to school that’s already proved to have demonstrable results

Prize money for the competition was provided by Severn Trent.

Which schools participated?

We had 200 children participating from 14 schools across the Hodge Hill constituency (pictured below at the launch event) The schools were; Adderley School, Alston, Brownmead Academy, Firs, Highfield, Lea Forest, Leigh Primary, Marlborough Primary, Nansen Primary, Parkfield, The Rosary, St Saviours, Tame Valley Thornton and Washwood Heath Primary.

Who from the community was involved?

We worked with a coalition of supporters including World’s Largest Lesson, Millennium Point, Severn Trent, Tyseley Energy Park, Birmingham & Black Country Wildlife Trust and Birmingham City Council.

A word from Liam Byrne MP

“Our young people are amazing. And right now, we need their passion, creativity and their brainpower to help us save the planet. I don’t think there’s anywhere better to unlock this genius than here in Birmingham. Centuries ago, we were the home of the industrial revolution. Now we must become the home of the green revolution.

“In 2020, Prince William gave the world a brilliant idea - the ‘Earthshot Prize’ - to help inspire the world’s greatest minds to develop ideas that would make a difference.

“We want to join that effort. So I’ve teamed up with the ‘Earthshot Prize’ education partners, World’s Largest Lesson, some brilliant partners across the city, Millennium Point and fifteen schools, to pioneer a groundbreaking way to showcase the amazing ideas of our young people. If we can show it works in Hodge Hill, I hope we can roll it out across the city.”