Creating a green generation with the Young Darwin Scholarship
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At Ecotricity, we understand how important it is to teach young people about the environment and how to care for it. We regularly attend festivals where our stands have loads of great stuff to inspire the younger generation. And our Principal Ecologist, Simon Pickering, frequently visits schools to engage children with all things green. It’s promoting sustainability at grass roots – a mission shared by our partners at the Field Studies Council (FSC) through their scholarship program.
Developing an ethic of care – by FSC
As an environmental education charity we want to see our younger generation develop into people who make choices to help protect and care for the environment.
One of the ways that we achieve this is through our Young Darwin Scholarship (YDS). Each year we select 15 young people, aged 16-17 who demonstrate a keen interest in areas such as ecology, geography and the environment.
The Young Darwins enjoy a packed five day residential (which is 85% funded) at FSC Preston Montford in Shropshire, just down the road from where Charles Darwin was born and spent his early years. They meet experts, learn many skills in identifying wildlife, explore the local area in Darwin’s footsteps and bond together as a group.
Following that initial residential the group receive ongoing support and get to participate in meet ups. They receive a range of support including advice on study and career choices, reduced price FSC training courses, annual reunions and trips behind the scenes at the Natural History Museum.
This is what some of our Young Darwins had to say about the scholarship:
“It opened my eyes to the resources available and how to improve my knowledge. Meeting experts and peers has been wonderful.”’
“It made me want to do more and made a dream seem more achievable as a career.”
“You don’t get to do this anywhere else. Being able to focus on different areas was pretty magical.”
A caring approach to our staff, customers and the wider world is a fundamental part of FSC’s ethos. We want to have a positive impact on young people and provide them with opportunities to grow their interest and become a new generation of ‘Darwins’.
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