Think Global, Act Local

Building on the success of last year’s project in partnership with a Rwandan school, pupils collaborated to reduce waste and effect change.

The Think Global, Act Local project was launched last year by our School Consultant Teachers for Social Action and Sustainability. This year, Year 8 pupils met virtually with girls and boys from Kigali’s Umubano Academy, a school founded by A Partner in Education in post-conflict Rwanda, chatting about their lives as well as coming up with creative ideas to solve local and global environmental issues.

Consolidating their learning on UN sustainable Development Goals, pupils explored issues around consumption, before developing innovative products designed from crisp packets, tetra packs and other waste. The winning ideas included an eco-bin with washable fabric liner, bricks made from plastic bottle tops, and an adjustable bra made from scrap fabric.  Working in teams, they learnt about systems thinking and explored different approaches to tackling waste, before embracing an entrepreneurial challenge: to develop a system or service to design out waste, pitching their idea to a panel of judges.  Inspiring solutions included a system to incentivise reusable coffee cups; a scheme to share baby clothes; and toothpaste tablets as a replacement for plastic tubes.

Over the course of three days, pupils enjoyed the conversations and cultural exchanges with the Umubano pupils; receiving specialist coaching in marketing, design and story-telling; and using their creativity to innovate from waste.