Young people light up Portsmouth with great green ideas

The Lord Mayor's Banqueting Suite was the venue as more than 60 secondary school pupils from seven schools gathered for the NetZero for Young People event.

Hosted by Unloc and City of Portsmouth College, the event aimed to educate and engage young minds in understanding the concept of net zero and its impact on their city. Climate change, sustainability, and reaching net zero are much talked about, but can be hard for young people to understand in tangible terms.

The interactive event provided the students from Springfield, Trafalgar, Admiral Lord Nelson, Park Community, Redwood Park, Horndean Technology and Miltoncross Academy with facts, games and workshops to engage and energise them on the subject.

It was supported by industry leaders, charities, public sector specialists and academic institutions, including Portsmouth City Council, Final Straw Foundation, sustainable fashion brand By Megan Crosby, Portsmouth Climate Action Board and City of Portsmouth College. Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Cllr Tom Coles, and Lady Mayoress Nikki Coles were also in attendance.

Unloc Managing Director Hayden Taylor said: “It’s amazing to see just how inspired and energised young people get by such a complex topic when it’s presented and explained to them in tangible ways that they can engage with. We and our partners City of Portsmouth College couldn’t be more proud to hold this event and be an active part of opening young minds to this vital issue.“By engaging young people with this topic, and empowering them to become young changemakers - we can encourage tomorrow’s generation of young adults to be pro-active on such important issues. The ideas that came out were so impressive and - together with our fantastic guest speakers and industry leaders - demonstrate the commitment of the Portsmouth community towards achieving net zero and creating a better world for future generations.”

Unloc was founded in 2013 by Hayden and Ben Dowling with a mission is to empower young people to be innovative ‘changemakers’ who seek to build stronger communities and sustainable businesses.