- Arctic Explorer Presentation for Schools
- Forty teenagers to win environmental adventure of a lifetime in Ice Edge
| Edge, the Educational Foundation promoting practical and vocational learning is running Ice Edge - a schools' competition that gives students the chance to win the adventure of a lifetime in the Arctic. Free presentation at The Royal Geographic Society for students aged 13 – 17 by Arctic explorer Ben Saunders and Scientist Dr Cynan Ellis-Evans from the British Antarctic Survey. Ben Saunders, the youngest person ever to ski solo to the North Pole, and Dr Ellis-Evans, one of the UK’s leading environmental scientists who has run more than 20 scientific expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic will be giving an inspiring free presentation for schools at the Royal Geographic Society in London on January 19 2007. When? Date: Friday January 19 2007 Time: Arrive at Royal Geographic Society by 12.15pm for a 12.30 start. The lecture will finish at approximately 1.30pm How do I attend? Simply email info@iceedge.co.uk with ‘London visit’ in the subject line. How do I enter the competition? It’s easy; just get together a team of between two and four students who must be between 13 and 17 years old, register on the website and tell us your ideas on how to protect our environment. Full rules and instructions available here. Do I need to enter a team to attend the presentation? No, the presentation is being organised as part of a UK school tour to inspire students to enter and they are free to attend and enter the competition afterwards if they wish. How to get there: Address: Royal Geographical Society 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7 2AR, UK. If you would like any further information, please contact: Nicky Clarke, T. 020 7292 9138 (direct) or email info@iceedge.co.uk. Ice Edge is part of International Polar Year. |
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| 27 October 2006 Forty young people from across the UK are to win the journey of a lifetime into the fragile Arctic in a nationwide schools competition run by Edge, the educational foundation which campaigns for vocational and practical learning. Thousands of young people from across the nation are expected to compete in Ice Edge by coming up with ideas for practical solutions for environmental problems to better preserve our planet. Winners of the competition will travel to the Arctic in June 2007, where they will meet scientists, explorers and local people in this vulnerable and extreme environment. The competition was launched on Thursday 26 October at 6pm at Edge’s London offices. To celebrate the launch, young people who took part in previous Edge projects joined Edge for an evening of exploration to hear from experts, including explorer Ben Saunders who has walked to the North Pole and worked in the Arctic environment that the winning group will be visiting. Ice Edge will demonstrate to young people the ever-increasing importance of vocational careers to our environment. The way we use water, electricity and fossil fuels will be influenced by those who really understand water systems, electricity and the way in which vehicles work, amongst many other factors, and those in vocational careers will be the people who are actually doing something about the environment through their every-day work, rather than just talking about what could be done. They will be installing and connecting, for example, solar panels, systems that use less water in houses and adapting or maintaining current and new types of vehicles so that emissions are reduced to a minimum. Ice Edge will start young people thinking about practical solutions to reduce damage to our world, and help them understand how this will add to the excitement of vocational careers that they might consider following in the future. Going to the Arctic, as a fabulous goal for all entrants, will bring to life just what a delicate balance currently exists between a world where we can enjoy our environment, and one in which we will soon start to see undeniable signs that we are destroying it. Ice Edge follows the hugely successful Edge into Space competition, which took place in 2005-06 and aimed to promote practical learning in science and engineering. Over 4,000 young people entered the competition in 1,000 teams, and the thirty-five winners won an extraordinary trip in summer 2006: working with astronauts, rocket engineers and space scientists at NASA space centres in the USA. “Having visited the Arctic myself many times, I know first hand that every young person who takes part in this trip will have a wonderful experience of one of the most extraordinary places on earth,” says Ben Saunders. “However, nobody should forget that the Arctic is also a terribly vulnerable environment that we must all work to protect along with the rest of our planet. I couldn’t be happier to support Edge in its work to give young people this incredible chance, and to draw attention to the work we need to do to solve environmental problems.” “Ice Edge is one of the most ambitious projects that we at Edge have embarked on to date,” says Andy Powell, chief executive, Edge. “It is our mission to make sure that every young person in this country has the opportunity to access first class vocational and practical learning. By inviting young people in hundreds of schools to join the competition, we hope to encourage them to think in practical and creative ways about problems we all face. In this way, we hope to help them to become the technicians, engineers, construction workers and thinkers of tomorrow.” For further information please visit www.iceedge.co.uk -ends- Further information: Ellen O’Donoghue/Alexis Power, Catalysis, T. 020 7101 7315/7312, or mobile 07917 608940 or email ellen.odonoghue@catalysis.co.uk or alexis.power@catalysis.co.uk Notes to Editors 1. Photographs of explorer Ben Saunders with young people at the launch are available. The launch of Ice Edge took place at Edge, 10 Golden Square, London W1F 9JA at 6pm on Thursday 26 October. 2. EDGE is an independent foundation dedicated to raising the status and desirability of vocational and practical learning among 14-25-year-olds of all levels of ability. EDGE believes in ensuring specific and defined routes exist for success through vocational learning at all relevant education levels. EDGE wants to see vocational qualifications valued and desired by all, particularly: students, teachers, parents and employers. EDGE wants to see different routes to success through vocational learning invested in by educators and supported by industry. EDGE also encourages academic success but is primarily concerned with raising the status and desirability of vocational learning. |
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