Climate Action Heroes: Choosing the Ideas to Bring to Life
The latest stage of Climate Action Heroes: It’s Your World! has taken place, as our panel came together to look through the brilliant invention ideas submitted by children and young people across South Tyneside and beyond.
Their task was exciting, inspiring and definitely not easy: to choose which ideas would be brought to life by professional makers.
Presented with a wonderful collection of imaginative, thoughtful and brilliantly bonkers inventions, the panel spent the day reading, discussing, championing favourites and celebrating the creativity of every young inventor who took part.
The panel included:
- Dominic Wilcox – Chief Inventor at Little Inventors
- Alex Whelan – Economic Inclusion and Career Development Coordinator at South Tyneside Council
- Sarah James – Employment and Skills Manager at South Tyneside Council
- Veronica Rudd – Service Lead, Climate and Nature at South Tyneside Council
- Rebecca Phinn – Participation and Engagement Officer at South Tyneside Council
- Luke Daley – Director and Creative Engineer at Orbital FX
- Kay Doragh – Community Investment Manager at Dogger Bank Wind Farm
- Lilly Bushell – Marketing Apprentice at Dogger Bank Wind Farm
- Jo Lennon – Head of Marketing at North Star
- Leanne Hume – HR Manager at Ford Aerospace
Choosing the final ideas was no small feat. There were inventions to protect wildlife, reduce waste, clean up pollution, rethink how we travel, care for nature, and help people better understand the world around them. Some were practical and clever. Some were full of heart. Others were wonderfully unusual - exactly the kind of creative thinking Little Inventors loves to see.
The Climate Action Heroes challenge asks children and young people to think big about the future of our planet. From the smallest insects to the mightiest whales, from forests and oceans to towns, cities and homes, life on Earth is extraordinary - but climate change is making that life more difficult for people, animals and nature across the world.
That’s why young inventors were invited to put on their invention capes and imagine bold, creative solutions to help protect the planet.
Delivered in partnership with Dogger Bank Wind Farm and South Tyneside Council, the challenge continues a fantastic creative collaboration that has already inspired young people across South Tyneside to invent for renewable energy, ocean health and now climate action.
Children across Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 took part, responding to age-specific briefs focused on protecting wildlife and helping the planet. Their ideas showed just how seriously young people think about climate change - but also how much imagination, optimism and humour they bring to the subject.
Dominic Wilcox proclaimed:
The Climate Action Heroes challenge shows just how thoughtful and imaginative young people can be when they are asked to respond to the biggest issues facing our planet. The ideas were full of care, humour and invention. It’s always inspiring to see children take on complex subjects like climate change and come back with solutions that are not only creative, but full of hope.
Alex Whelan enthused:
Choosing the ideas to bring to life was a brilliant reminder of how much creativity there is among young people in South Tyneside. It was incredibly difficult because the standard was so high, but it was also a real privilege to see how seriously and imaginatively pupils had responded to the challenge. I can’t wait to see the selected inventions become real.
Now that the winning ideas have been chosen, the project moves into one of the most exciting Little Inventors stages: making.
Each selected idea will be developed with care by a talented maker, turning what began as a young person’s drawing into a real object that can be seen, touched and shared.
The Climate Action Heroes have imagined a better future for our planet. Now it’s time to bring their planet-protecting inventions to life.