Skip to main content

Sustainability at Be Curious 2021

Category
Climate
Homepage News
News
Date
Be Curious 5th to 15th July
Tags

Design, imagine, make do, and glue: this year’s Be Curious promises to be an online sustainability extravaganza.

Be Curious, taking place online this 5 – 15 July, is the University’s annual research open event, which aims to showcase how research here at Leeds is making a world of difference to people’s lives.

The full programme is packed with live after-school events for all the family, a series of late talks for adults, and an array of short activity videos, all free to stream via YouTube.

Sustainability and Be Curious

This year, Be Curious is spotlighting the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and showcase how research at Leeds is “making a world of difference”.

The SDGs make up a global framework to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. There are 17 goals, each addressing global challenges such as poverty, climate change, peace and justice, which are all interconnected.

We’ve helped Be Curious group the goals into four themes, for a family audience:

  1. Caring for health
  2. Enabling sustainable lives
  3. Inspired innovation and discovery
  4. Supporting society

You’ll spot these themes throughout the Be Curious live programme.

Watch out for our team at Be Curious!

Our University Sustainability Superheroes have joined forces to show you their vision for a sustainable future Leeds. What will our city look like, and why?

The Timeless Traveller, Buzzing Beekeeper, and the Local Legend are joined by their superhero crew as we take you on a journey to the future.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to create your own sustainable future Leeds. You can draw, collage, paint, or build along as we introduce you to a world of possibility!

Our live event is suitable for all the family, and we invite you to craft along with us. The event streamed live Monday 5 July at 4pm, or you can watch it anytime via the Be Curious YouTube or Twitter.

We’d love to see your creations! Please email them to sustainability@leeds.ac.uk or upload to Twitter with the hashtag #BeCurious21.

Student Sustainability Research Conference

We’ve teamed up with some of our incredible student presenters from the recent fifth Student Sustainability Research Conference (SSRC21) to bring their sustainability-themed research, projects, performances and installations to a family audience. With the theme of "leaving no one behind”, one of the guiding principles behind the SDGs, these student projects are great examples of how research at Leeds makes a world of difference.

Look out for these 2-minute wow-demonstrations, experiments, demos, and explainer videos on the Be Curious YouTube and Twitter.

  • Make your own dog toy using textile waste!
    PhD student Ashley is researching responsible consumption and production. This includes everything from looking at ways to convert textiles into smart materials, to finding fun ways to give life to your old clothes. Here Ashley shows you how to make dog toys for your canine pal, using recycled t-shirts.
  • Inclusive sustainable lifestyles
    If looking after the planet does not include everyone, then that is a type of inequality. So how inclusive are sustainable lifestyles for people with disabilities? Undergraduate student Ellie is encouraging us to celebrate our differences and uniqueness in our approaches to looking after the planet.
  • Beautiful Biodiversity
    What is biodiversity and why is it so important? Meet Beth and Holly, University of Leeds student Biodiversity Ambassadors. They are trying to help lots of different animals by counting how many they see and where they see them.
    Hear about habitats, spotting species, understanding ecosystems, and promoting pollinators in their video and then give it a go yourself at home with our children's activity pack.

Keep up to date on the latest news

United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to guide our activity. Our work on Be Curious is linked to all of the SDGs.

Find out more about our impact on the SDGs.