The finale of Powering Futures, formerly known as Fuel Change, took place at Schoolhill on Monday where regional school teams presented their creative solutions on five sustainability challenges to a panel of industry judges, earning a SCQF Level 6 qualification at the end of the process.

Dr Gray, Head of Geography and course lead at RGC, shared: “It’s been a busy year with two RGC teams working weekly on their solutions to sustainable challenges in the transport and water sectors in Scotland. Powering Futures has been an incredible asset to our S6 pupils providing opportunities to help pupils develop their meta skills, such as learning how to create ideas, develop their team working and critical thinking skills, and achieve an additional SQA Higher certificate at the end of the course. Today both teams had the opportunity to present their solutions: recharged battery collection points and greywater recycling to a panel of judges.”

Aiden, S6 pupil, commented: “I really enjoyed the event as I was able to hear other teams ideas and see the different ways in which they handled the challenge. The project as a whole has allowed me to develop my creative thinking and communication skills which will benefit me in the future and also shown the importance of sustainability in a context outside the classroom.”

The judging panel featured Lauren Braidwood of ETZ Ltd, Ewan Wallace of Aberdeenshire Council, Lee Salisbury of Balmoral and Jeff Rogers of Princes Trust. 

Mr Hardie, Head of S6, added: “It’s exciting to see the culmination of one of our newly introduced enhancement courses seamlessly integrating with the broader community. This course has not only sparked innovation and curiosity among our pupils, but has also empowered them to further explore future career pathways and aspirations, while engaging with industry experts. Seeing the impact on the personal and professional development of our S6 pupils has been wonderful, as they prepare to take the next steps on their future pathways.”

Jennifer Tempany, Co-Founder of Powering Futures, said: “We were delighted to have 23 pupils from Aberdeen take part in the Challenge Programme, and a special thank you to Robert Gordon’s College for hosting us on Monday. We are always blown away by the innovation and creativity shown by pupils as they tackle some relevant  challenges set by industry.

“We would also like to thank Gillian Martin and Kevin Stewart for coming along and taking part in the judging panel and engaging with the pupils on the day.

“By empowering young people through our pioneering Powering Futures Challenge Programme, we can help them develop the critical skills that employers are looking for in their future workforce as well as establishing those essential links between the businesses of today and the workers of tomorrow who will power Scotland’s net-zero future.” 

Powering Futures is one of the many Curriculum Enhancement Courses available to S6 pupils, in addition to a choice of any combination of 33 Highers and 26 Advanced Highers. 

Read more in the Press and Journal.