This year, Leeds Beckett University are hosting the International SEEDS Conference. SEEDS stands for Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society and is an event where experienced and early-career researchers from across the world come together to collaborate and share ideas. As part of the conference, we invite university students to submit posters for our Research, Innovation, Sustainability and Enterprise (RISE) for Industry awards. As part of this, we also run the RISE for Schools competition where we ask children to submit poster entries and their work is displayed at the conference for our researchers to see.

RISE for Schools is a chance for pupils to think about climate change and how we can make the world a more sustainable place. Pupils of any age can enter and poster entries are free. All entries will receive a framed certificate of commendation for their commitment to sustainability, as part of the SEEDS sustainable communities.

The posters from all schools are judged anonymously by our panel of Chairs at the University. Once the panel have decided, we will let you know whether any of your pupils are winners – if so, they will receive book vouchers and a trophy. If you wish, we can also organise an assembly where our Chairs could come and present the certificates (as we have done in previous years at other schools) or alternatively, we may be able to arrange for a contact from your school to attend the SEEDS conference gala dinner and collect the awards on behalf of the winning children.

The closing date for entries is Friday 24th May and to enter, please email the posters to LSIConference@leedsbeckett.ac.uk

Submissions can be from an individual or from a group, team or class. It is entirely up to you whether you open this up to your whole school or just certain classes or groups as I know it will depend on your timetable. As the awards presentation would likely be after the conference in the 24/25 academic year, we would perhaps recommend only opening this up to children who will still be at the school in September to ensure they are able to receive their certificate and potential prize.

If you would like a flyer to put up in your school with more information or a PowerPoint brief (including pictures of previous entries) that you can present to your class, please email LSIConference@leedsbeckett.ac.uk and we will be happy to send this to you.