Summit for primary school Eco Champions

Members of eight local primary school Eco Councils and Eco Committees came together this week for an Eco Summit event at the London Wetland Centre in Barnes.

It was an immersive day of shared learnings and passions, activities and workshops with local experts.

Led by Richmond Council, the summit was in partnership with Community Bluescapes (a partnership between Richmond Council, WWT, The Charity for Wetlands and Wildlife and Barnes Common Ltd) and local charity Habitats and Heritage, with groups from all primary schools in Richmond upon Thames invited to take part.

Ahead of the event, 'pupil motivation' was identified by all participating schools as the lead motivator for environmental action, supported by passionate school communities.

Pupils from St Mary’s, Holy Trinity, St Edmund’s, St Stephen’s, St James’s, Darell, St. John’s, and St Mary’s & St Peters participated in interactive sessions in three zones. 

Community Bluescapes led water-based activities in the Wetlands Centre’s Pond Zone educational area, discussing water use, flooding and experimenting with water surface tension and the impacts of pollutants on our waterways. Local charity Habitats & Heritage ran sessions on Wildlife in Richmond, as well as an outdoor workshop on biodiversity & habitat creations with all children creating and taking home an invertebrate hotel. Indoors, pupils were engaged in an Air Quality Detectives quiz and a materials workshop, designing eco-themed images from textiles.

The summit culminated in 60-second presentations from each school, speaking with passion about what is important to them, what action needs to happen and what support they need. Ideas ranged from food composting and water collection in playgrounds to school assemblies and taking their learnings to younger year groups as well as new creative projects around textiles crafting, costume sharing and mobilising parental opportunities to get involved at school, at home and through items they buy.

Primary schools and parents of students in Richmond upon Thames can access our Climate Resources Hub to discover more climate resources as well as news and information on future events. 

You can also subscribe to our monthly climate newsletter or contact the Climate team by email climatechange@richmond.gov.uk to find out more about local climate and sustainability, news, initiatives and events.