From Linear to Circular

By Hannah Drummond

Last Friday 3 of our Sixth Form students attended an event to listen to presentations and discuss exploring the circular economy at the City of Liverpool Museum. This event was run by ARUP on behalf of the Mayor of Liverpool Joanne Anderson. The purpose of this event was to see how we can transform our society to one where waste is designed out, what this would mean for Liverpool and the UK, as well answering the question,  where is the opportunity for young people to help? 

At the event our young people were joined by Sixth Formers and College students from across the city, as well as by professionals in engineering, geotechnics, sustainability and waste entrepreneurs. This meant that all the young people there were able to gain knowledge from a variety of different people and sectors.  They were able to give us insights into some ideas they had, as well as allowing the young people to ask any questions they may have about the circular economy or anything mentioned on the day, there was also time for the young people to network with the professionals and talk to the mayor. 

In this photo you can see one of our students asking questions to open up a discussion with the Mayor and professionals in the room. These questions consisted of asking about how young people can help towards building a circular economy, as well as asking about a project that was mentioned, that is taking place in the Festival Gardens in Liverpool. 

After listening to some presentations by professionals from each sector (engineering, geotechnics, sustainability and waste entrepreneurs) and having a really insightful Q/A time of discussion, our students got time to network with everyone in the room. Lucky for our students they had someone from Vinci Construction UK who came and sat on their table, his name was Stuart Brown and he happened to be a Construction Director for the company. This opportunity gave the students time to sit and learn about the company and his role and what they are doing/looking to do to become a part of the circular economy. Our students found it really insightful and really enjoyed talking to him and hope to speak to him again in the near future to      see how they could maybe work together. 

As well as this one of our students also talked to Sean C Keyes who is the managing Director at Sutcliffe. She found it really insightful and helpful for her future aspirations to go into Civil Engineering and was really engaged in what he had to say.