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Solutions for the planet
A new government for change? A young person’s perspective
One of the brilliant members of Northern Gas Networks' Young Innovators Council 2024, Emilia, shares her thoughts on the recent change in government..."The result of the General Election with Labour taking control of our government will have an effect on everyone...
Big Ideas Competition 2024 National Final: The Results
Our Big Ideas Competition 2024 National Final was incredibly special. Not only was it our 10th anniversary of the competition, but it was set against the backdrop of a General Election. Where we'd usually hold the event at the Houses of Parliament and be joined by a...
Announcing our Big Ideas Competition 2024 National Finalists!
Find out which teams will be joining us in London for the National Final of the Big Ideas Competition 2024!
North England Regional Final: University of Sunderland
Our final Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at the University of Sunderland on Friday 24th May and is sponsored by Husqvarna. We’re excited to be joined by 10 teams from 4 schools in North England who will present their Big Ideas...
South England Regional Final: University of East London
Our fifth Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at the University of East London on Thursday 23rd May. We’re excited to be joined by 11 teams from 4 schools in South England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made...
Central England Regional Final: University of Wolverhampton
Our fourth Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at the University of Wolverhampton on Tuesday 21st May. We’re excited to be joined by 9 teams from 4 schools in Central England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges,...
North England Regional Final: University of Bradford
Our third Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at the University of Bradford on Wednesday 15th May. We’re excited to be joined by 11 teams from 5 schools in North England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made up...
Central England Regional Final: STEAMhouse, Birmingham
Our second Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at STEAMhouse, Birmingham on Tuesday 14th May. We’re excited to be joined by 11 teams from 4 schools in Central England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made up of...
South England Regional Final: University of Portsmouth
Our first Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2024 will be taking place at the University of Portsmouth on Monday 13th May. We’re excited to be joined by 10 teams from 2 schools in South England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made up...
Big Ideas Competition 2024: Announcing our Regional Finalists!
We've had a brilliant year with such a high level of submissions that the 27 shortlisting judges had a very difficult decision to make about which teams would make it through to the Regional Finals. Before we announce the finalists, here is a round up of our...
Jen’s Hope in Action: Nurturing kind, compassionate and responsible human beings.
Today is the International Day of Education and the theme this year is “learning for lasting peace”. UNESCO explain their reasons for choosing this theme: “The world is seeing a surge of violent conflicts paralleled by an alarming rise of discrimination, racism,...
CREST Awards and the Big Ideas Programme
What is CREST? CREST is a scheme run by the British Science Association that inspires young people to think and behave like scientists and engineers. CREST stands for "CREativity in Science and Technology." It is a nationally recognized scheme for student-led project...
S4TP go offsite on site
The Solutions for the Planet team have been lucky enough to visit a couple of our long-standing business partners recently with trips on-site to Tarmac's Asphalt Plant and Northern Gas Networks' Hydrogen Homes and Customer Energy Village. Both trips were like getting...
Celebrating 10 years of S4TP!
Join us in celebrating 10 years of bringing young people and businesses together for the benefit of both and the planet!
S4TP Book Recommendations
To celebrate Read a Book Day, we asked our team for their recommendations of books that have inspired them and this is the list they came up with…
A Reflection on the Big Ideas Programme 2023
Big Ideas Programme Coordinator, Max Homan, reflects on the Big Ideas Programme 2023 and what he’s learnt from his year working on the programme.
Gatsby Benchmarks and the Big Ideas Programme
Learn how the Big Ideas Programme is aligned with the Gatsby Career Guidance Benchmarks…
S4TP Youth Insights Summer Update
We are coming to the end of the summer term and that means that we are over halfway through our Young Innovators Council (YIC) 2023 sessions. Through the panel, we have already explored how to recruit amazing young talent into Northern Gas Networks and...
S4TP Sustainable Schools
Our newest offering, S4TP Sustainable Schools, enables a school and its senior leadership team and governors to learn what its students’ concerns and ideas are for how the school should tackle the climate crisis and be more sustainable or work towards net zero.
And the winners are…
The Big Ideas Competition 2023 National Final took place at the Palace of Westminster on 5th July and it was a day to remember! We were joined by 50 students from 12 schools, plus representatives from our brilliant Business Partners, judges, teachers and MPs to listen...
Announcing our Big Ideas Competition 2023 National Finalists!
After seven exciting Regional Finals held at universities across the country, we are delighted to announce our Big Ideas Competition 2023 National Finalists! The following teams will join us at the National Final at the Palace of Westminster, in London, on 5th July...
Young Person Blog: Yvana
Yvana, who was born in Angola and grew up in Leeds, is another of our amazing young people who started on the Young Innovators Council (YIC) in 2021 and is now a member of Northern Gas Networks’ Customer Engagement Group (CEG). Aren’t we lucky to have their superb...
Young Person Blog: Charlotte
Charlotte from South Shields joined as a founding member of the Young Innovators Council (YIC) in 2021, and was on the YIC for two years before successfully applying for a role on Northern Gas Networks’ Customer Engagement Group (CEG). Well done Charlotte!“I found out...
Young Person Blog: Imogen
Imogen from Durham joined as a founding member of the Young Innovators Council (YIC) in 2021, and was on it for just the one year because she started her degree at Durham University! Here she talks about what the YIC meant for her, and how she has since gone on to...
North England Regional Final: University of Bradford
Our final Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at the University of Bradford on Friday 26th May. We’re excited to be joined by 12 teams from 3 schools in North England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made up of...
Central England Regional Final: University of Wolverhampton
Our second Regional Final in Central England for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at the University of Wolverhampton on Wednesday 24th May. We’re excited to be joined by 12 teams from 4 schools in Central England who will present their Big Ideas to...
South England Regional Final: London South Bank University
Our second South England Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at London South Bank University on Tuesday 23rd May. We’re excited to be joined by 11 teams from 4 schools in South England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of...
North England Regional Final: University of Sunderland
Our second Regional Final in North England for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at the University of Sunderland on Friday 19th May. We’re excited to be joined by 10 teams from 4 schools in North England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of...
North England Regional Final: Leeds Trinity University
Our first Regional Final in North England for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at Leeds Trinity University on Thursday 18th May. We’re excited to be joined by 10 teams from 3 schools in North England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of...
South England Regional Final: University of East London
Our second Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at the University of East London on Tuesday 16th May. We’re excited to be joined by 12 teams from 4 schools in South England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made...
Central England Regional Final: Aston University
Our first Regional Final for the Big Ideas Competition 2023 will be taking place at Aston University in Birmingham on Monday 15th May. We’re excited to be joined by 12 teams from 4 schools in Central England who will present their Big Ideas to a panel of judges, made...
Young Person Blog: Dhanayus
Dhanayus took part in our S4TP Big Ideas Programme 2021 and made it to the National Finals! Here he talks about working with S4TP Youth Insights by joining Northern Gas Networks’ Young Innovators Council 2023.
Big Ideas Competition 2023: Announcing our Regional Finalists!
We've had an even bigger Big Ideas Competition this year, with 604 students in 141 teams submitting Big Ideas from 26 schools across the country. A massive well done to everyone who sent us a submission! We're delighted to be able to announce the Big Ideas...
Big Ideas Programme Event Sponsorship Opportunities
Is it your business’ mission to inspire the next generation to shape a more sustainable future?
By sponsoring one of our Big Ideas Programme events, you will have access to hundreds of bright minds to promote your brand to and share your career opportunities with them.
S4TP runs first student conference for Mercia Learning Trust
Matt Ronayne reflects on running our first student conference for the Mercia Learning Trust.In February 2023, Mercia Learning Trust tasked Solutions for the Planet to run their first student conference alongside their annual Festival of Education. Our aim was to...
Big Ideas Programme 2023 so far…(South England)
Big Ideas Programme Coordinator, Max Homan, reflects on his first year running the programme in South England...Many workplaces discuss tactics on how to keep their workforce motivated, but I’ve found since joining the Big Ideas Programme, we don’t need to have those...
Big Ideas Programme 2023 so far…(North England)
Big Ideas Programme Coordinator, Matt Ronayne, reflects on the 2023 programme in North England so far…Another wonderful Season of Big Ideas Days has come to an end. 15 schools in North England have participated in the centrepiece of our programme where whole year...
International Women’s Day: Women in STEM
In celebration of International Women’s Day 2023 and National Careers Week, we reached out to Nitya Singh, a panel member sitting on our Northern Gas Networks’ Young Innovators Council 2023, to ask why she thought it was important to encourage more girls to take an interest in STEM subjects.
Aspiring and Hopeful: Big Ideas Programme Alumni Take Centre Stage
Sarah O’Conor, Big Ideas Programme Manager, tells the story of how BIP 2022 finalists ended up headlining at a national leadership conference…
Northern Gas Networks’ Young Innovators Council 2022 and beyond
It’s the start of the year and we’re excited to have just finished recruiting our 2023 Northern Gas Networks’ (NGN) Young Innovators Council (YIC). But before we look ahead to the future, we’re taking a look back at the success of the YIC in 2022…
S4TP & The UN Sustainable Development Goals: Our Progress & Promises
As a business, we are committed to aligning ourselves with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Read on to find out how we are aiming to achieve this.
Tis the season to be wasteful?
For many around the world ‘tis the season to be jolly’! It’s the time of year to wrap up warmer, wrap up gifts for loved ones, and wrap up a year of hard work with roast dinners, stuffing and mince pies. All in time for new year’s resolutions to become healthier, have...
Kaitlin, YIC member: Why I joined the Young Innovators Council
Kaitlin is a founding member of Northern Gas Networks' Young Innovators Council, and is about to start her 3rd year of working with us! Hear from her directly about what inspired her to get involved with the council, what she hoped to learn and achieve, and why it's...
Back to basics – Make Do and Mend
Youth Insights Manager, Claire, reflects on how we can be positive about sustainability and aware of the benefits of living a more frugal life.
“I bring new insight and inquisitiveness”
Being a member of a board is not something that is associated with young people nor is it really a point of discussion amongst young professionals. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that this is due to a widely held perception of having to be a wiser, more...
“We don’t ask why, we ask why not?”
Big Ideas Programme 2016b Alumni and now Solutions for the Planet Non-Executive Director, Dan Harrison shares his story. The work of Solutions for the Planet contributed to my growth as a person when I had the experience of participating in the Big Ideas...
Why we believe in constructive hope
Although many young people think climate change is an important societal issue, studies indicate that pessimism, anxiety and fear are common. In #ChildrensMentalHealthWeek2022 we explore how we approach this challenge at Solutions for the Planet. How do we communicate...
The season of Big Ideas Days draws to a close..
Today the Solutions for the Planet team look back on a superb season of Big Ideas Days and forward to what we are confident will be a cracking Competition! "Wow. Just wow." Big Ideas Programme Manager Sarah reflects. "To think that this time two years ago...
Flying with the Phoenix
After an incredible almost two years working as part of Solutions for the Planet's core team, it's coming up to a month now since I finished in my role as S4TP Admin. The team gave me the most amazing send off – I was genuinely lost for words (a rarity, they would...
Our first year of S4TP Youth Insights
It was with trepidation and excitement that we began recruitment for our inaugural Youth Insights Panels this time last year. We know from our work with young people on our Big Ideas Programme that young people had the energy, imagination, and talent to have an...
Bringing innovation and positive change
On Monday 8th November we welcomed Katie Salamon to the Solutions for the Planet team. Katie joins us as Big Ideas Programme Administrator, read more about her first month below. I was so excited to join Solutions for the Planet; my greatest career goal has been...
From Marking to Solutions
On Monday 11th October we welcomed Matt Ronayne to the Solutions for the Planet team, read more about his first two weeks below. What a whirlwind!! I started as a Big Ideas Programme Coordinator based in North England two weeks ago and the time has flown by. This is a...
The Big Ideas Competition National Final 2021!
What an event! The culmination of our first ever fully virtual Big Ideas Programme, the Big Ideas Competition 2021 National Final, took place on Wednesday 23rd June - and it was INCREDIBLE! 13 amazing teams of young people presented their Big Ideas and showed us all,...
Big Ideas Competition 2021 National Finalists!
We are pleased to announce the 13 National Finalists for the Solutions for the Planet Big Ideas Competition 2021. Between September 2020 and March 2021, in the midst of a global pandemic that made every week uncertain, more than 1800 young people across the UK...
Earth Day System Reform
I've wanted to write about post-pandemic education for some time now, and then I saw Earth Day 2021 was coming up and thought I should write about Earth Day too. Then, when I started reading about Earth Day's origins, I realised I could write a piece about both themes...
Lessons learnt through Lockdown
As we gently ease out of lockdown, I'm looking forward to spending more time with friends and family, picking up some of my old hobbies, buying some new (or, in my case, charity shop) clothes, getting a haircut and lots more. Still, it's also crucial to cast our minds...
ShowTheLove at Solutions for the Planet
I’m passionate about people’s relationships with each other and with the planet. As many have said before me, we only have one earth and we need to look after it. So, how do we go about effecting the biggest change we can? I believe finding common ground, especially...
What mentoring young people has taught me…
Before coming to work for Solutions for the Planet I worked for one of our previous Business Partners and mentored on the Big Ideas Programme for four years. I found the mentoring experience unbelievably rewarding, personally, as a professional and as part of my...
The Virtual Big Ideas Competition National Final 2020!
What an event! In our new normal of virtual events, our National Final on Wednesday 18 November, has to stand out as of one of the best! We welcomed twelve amazing Big Ideas teams, parents, teachers, mentors, special guests, our exceptional judges,...
Big Ideas Days – Out of the Box!
How does an organisation that goes into schools to work with young people, teachers and mentors, continue in the face of a pandemic that requires us all to work from home, socially distance and exist in bubbles? By thinking "Out of the Box" of course – and...
2020 National Final Results!
How do we highlight the climate crisis during a global pandemic?
We might have expected that concern about the climate crisis would have gone down since the COVID-19 pandemic started – surely people have enough immediate concerns without worrying about the climate too? Yet this report, from the Climate Change and Social...
Measuring Impact in Terms of Starfish
Every Monday morning we have a team meeting on Teams - we're a tiny-but-mighty organisation with 4 core team members, and we work remotely, so we've been having video meetings long before COVID19 dictated the 'new norm'. Each of us takes a turn at chairing the...
An Evening with Big Ideas
Due to the national lockdown, we were unable to end our 2019/20 Big Ideas programme year in the usual way and on the usual date. So instead, to mark not only the end of the programme year, but also to showcase the INCREDIBLE amount of hard work, creativity and...
A look back to last year’s National Final
In a 'normal' year, by this month we'd have already ended our Big Ideas Programme with the Competition National Final at the Palace of Westminster, and the S4TP team would be preparing hard for the start of a new year's programme - but we all know that 2020 has been...
S4TP are Finalists in the Great British Entrepreneur Awards!!
We are delighted to announce that our CEO, Jen Baughan, on behalf of Solutions for the Planet, is a Finalist in the Pivot Entrepreneur of the Year category at the Great British Entrepreur Awards 2020 for the work that we have...
To be or not to be? To be… definitely!
Over the past two months we have, partly, answered the question: How do you run a competition for schools and businesses when all of the schools’ doors are closed to their students and many businesses have furloughed staff and have limited capacity? The Answer: The...
Big Ideas 2020 – Reflections and Celebrations
Our first ever Virtual Big Ideas Competition 2020 is drawing to a close - 645 pieces of work were submitted; over 150 students from over 20 schools continued through the lockdown; more than 60 incredible mentors and judges were involved; and 7 live online regional...
Listen to what our teachers have to say…….
We are fortunate to work with some incredible teachers on our Big Ideas programme. If you want to find out why your school or business should get involved with Solutions for the Planet, then read what four of those teachers have to say: Here is a case study we...
Big Ideas Competition 2020 National Finalists!
We are pleased to announce the 12 National Finalists for the Solutions for the Planet Big Ideas Competition 2020. Between September 2019 and February 2020, more than 3800 young people across the UK started thinking about what issues mattered most to them. In teams...
Raise money for us while you shop online
Did you know that whenever you buy anything online – from your weekly shop to your annual holiday – you could be raising free donations for Solutions for the Planet with easyfundraising?
Click here to find out more…
