Introducing KATS: North East Combined Authority
A brand new project funded by the North East Combined Authority to actively engage young people in sustainable development discussions and empower them to become marine biodiversity protectors and citizen scientists.
In May 2023, the Kids Action Thru Science (KATS) project was awarded £44,000 from the North East Combined Authority, headed by elected Metro Mayor, Jamie Driscoll, to deliver the project to a further 12 local primary schools in the North of Tyne region. The project has been created to not just passively inform young people about the climate crisis, but to actively engage them as citizen scientists, empowering them to solve the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.
Since the project kicked off in June 2023, we have worked with over 400 students from Newcastle city centre schools (St Teresa’s Catholic Primary, Gosforth East Middle, Benton Park Primary, Mile Castle Primary, Kingston Park Primary), coastal schools (Rockcliffe First School, Monkseaton Middle, Cambois Primary), and a large number of Northumberland-based schools (Allendale Primary, Henshaw C of E Primary, Greenhead C of E Primary, Wark C of E Primary and Humsaugh C of E First School).
Exploring the Sustainable Development Goals
This version of the KATS project encouraged children to learn about SDG 13 (Climate Action) and 14 (Life Below Water), focussing particularly on the threats of plastic pollution to marine biodiversity. In the first sessions, with the help of cutting-edge technology, the children dove deep into the underwater world, courtesy of the Virtual Reality (VR) headsets. They then examined the harsh realities of climate change and plastic pollution, discussing its impacts on our planet, especially marine life. We explored the lifecycle of plastics by playing the ‘How Long Till its Gone?’ game, which involved ranking how long it takes for different types of plastic to decompose in the ocean. The children also learnt about STEM, and became ‘Ocean Innovators’ by creating their own futuristic inventions that will help clean the oceans of plastic.
In the second sessions, Elle introduced the concept citizen science and explained that as young people have a huge role to play in protecting our planet…what better way to take power into their own hands by becoming scientists! The children became citizen scientists by participating in the ‘KATS Microplastic Survey’, which involved sifting through sand collected from Tynemouth beach. They closely inspected the different types of plastics, and reported on what they had found. The children found lots of small plastics, such as stickers, plastic cups, Styrofoam, and food wrappers, and created campaigns to help prevent people from littering our local beaches.
A selection of schools learnt about how non-renewable and renewable energy sources are used to create electricity, and the amazing steps that the north east are taking to prevent pollution in the city centre. The Street Scientists from Newcastle University’s Outreach Team also joined us and used exciting, hands-on experiments to increase understanding and enthusiasm around STEM. Our favourite activity was when the children got to create their own life-sized electric circuit!
School Trips to Spark Hands-on Learning
Across all 12 schools, the children got to put what they had learnt over the course of the KATS project into practice by going on an exciting school trip. For those who had learnt about plastic pollution and marine biodiversity, they had the opportunity to visit Tynemouth Aquarium’s on-site Sea Hospital and participate in an Eco-workshop, to learn first-hand about how climate change and plastic pollution are affecting animals living in our oceans.
Other schools got the chance to visit the Life Science Centre to learn about how electricity is created by participating in the ‘Electrifying Newcastle’ workshop. They also got to explore the exhibits, visit the planetarium, report on a World Weather Broadcast, and even go ice-skating! Kingston Park had the exciting opportunity to tour the BBC Newcastle Studios and present their climate news reports…in the news presenter’s chair!
Q&A with Elected Metro Mayor
A standout moment was when St Teresa’s, Benton Park Primary and Gosforth East Middle joined us at The Boiler House on Newcastle University’s main campus for a day jam-packed full of activities, quizzes and a re-cap on what they had learnt. Mayor Jamie Driscoll even joined us for a Q&A session and had the chance to speak to some children individually to talk about their experience of the project.
“The climate crisis is here, now. And while my generation urgently needs to act to avoid catastrophe, I’m sorry to say that it’s young people who’ll be forced to foot more of the bill, in terms of its costs and impact. Thanks to our funding and our partners at Newcastle University, this programme will provide hundreds of local school children with the knowledge, skills, drive – and a bit of fun – they need to help combat the environmental emergency.” – Elected Metro Mayor Jamie Driscoll
The Search for ‘Greta Toonberg’
Drawing on the success of the project in 2023, in March 2024, the KATS team introduced the ‘KATS: North East Combined Authority Competition‘. The competition had one important objective – to the find the next Climate Change Champion…aka ‘Greta Toonberg’.
The children from the 12 schools that had previously participated in the KATS project, were encouraged to draw on what they had learnt to create their own artistic masterpieces that aimed to spread the word about the threats of plastic pollution in our oceans. The artworks were judged by the KATS team, a group of climate experts at Newcastle University, and the incredible team at North East Combined Authority. The Top 10 artworks were displayed at Newcastle Arts Centre as part of the Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub’s ‘Water and People‘ exhibition in April. Over the course of this exhibition, the children and their families, visited the centre to view their amazing artworks, and on the final day of the exhibition, members of the public voted on their favourites. Congratulations to Finja and Veronika from St Teresa’s Catholic Primary for winning 1st and 2nd place, and Jeannie and Isla from Allendale Primary for winning joint 3rd!
Creating a UK – India Global Network
That’s not all! North East Combined Authority have also enabled the KATS project to create a direct link between St Teresa’s Catholic Primary in Newcastle with children from the Nizamuddin Basti community in Delhi.
Children from St Teresa’s learnt about the climate challenges that face India – particularly the smog in Delhi. With it’s large population and rapid urbanisation, they learnt that Delhi faces severe challenges with air pollution. Feeling both inspired and empowered, the children put their creativity to work and wrote some heartfelt messages to children from the Nizamuddin Basti community, sharing snippets of their lives in Newcastle, and asked them lots of questions about their city. Only a week later, the children from Nizamuddin Basti received their postcards, and replied to them. They wrote all about their favourite hobbies, foods, and asked them questions about what life (and the weather) is like in Newcastle.
It is amazing to see how the children, from the UK and India, engage with peers living in a different part of the world – united by a shared concern for our environment. We hope to continue this connection and work towards creating a global network of citizen scientists and climate superheroes!
It is projects like KATS that not only engages children in climate change issues, but aims to build confidence by informing them that they have the power to make a true and positive change in this world. We are so thankful for the North East Combined Authority for enabling the project to be extended out to more children and schools across the region.