A new education strategy was approved last year which highlighted four key focus areas for United Utilities' education team to deliver:
- Development of a new climate change programme
- A Water Cycle / Environment Programme
- An enhanced engineering education programme
- Development of online educational website materials
Development of the above began in April 2008 and implementation started in September. The change in focus reflects the increased concerns around climate change, and the need to change behaviour in order to protect the environment. The new programme will create longer-term links with schools, supporting them on improvement programmes to conserve resources. Overall, we believe this will help ensure benefits for generations to come.
The engineering education programme will support our corporate responsibility and human resource strategy for talent attraction. The engineering programme will also enhance young people’s employment prospects and encourage them to consider a career in engineering.
Meanwhile, the water cycle/ environmental programme will continue to focus on water efficiency and water safety through the water cycle, and expand into wider environmental topics such as: biodiversity and the global perspective of the value of the rainforest to the hydrological cycle and the work of Water Aid.
We’ll continue to deliver this programme with our key partners: Lake District National Park Authority, Peak District National Park Authority and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).
New interactive online educational resources are also being developed for Key Stage 3 and 4 students focusing on:
- Engineering GCSE
- Construction and the Built Environment Diploma Higher Level
- Geography GCSE
It’s intended that the interactive website will be ready for launch by July 2009.
For more details please see: Climate change programme and Engineering education programme.