A team of volunteers from WRc participated in the Earth Summit
on 28th-31st May 2012. The Earth Summit is an annual event
organised by the National Trust. Its aim is for year 5 pupils
across Swindon to learn about sustainable living. Approximately
500 children from 11 schools attend workshops on a variety of
issues, from renewable energy to recycling, and from transport
to fair trade. WRc presented the workshop called Water Matters
in conjunction with Thames Water. It included activities to
encourage the pupils to think about where water comes from and
the processes that are required to treat water. These
discussions prompted ideas about what actions the children and
their families could take to reduce their water consumption.
They were also given the opportunity to make water filters to
test different filtration materials and observe which ones were
most effective. The event took place at the National Trust
Estate in Coleshill, which has acres of land in which the
children could learn as well as enjoy the gr