Around 200 students from Cornwall’s secondary schools have gathered on the University of Exeter’s Penryn campus in Cornwall for a special event celebrating Earth Day Organised by environment education charity Another Way pupils from 15 schools attended the Power of 10 Festival focused on helping them to discover their unique skillsets for tackling the climate and biodiversity crises Attended by keynote speakers and local environmental organisations the children took part in creative workshops that ranged from handling insects to experiencing a kelp forest through Virtual Reality They also had the opportunity to quiz local politicians about environmental policies “It is clear that young people are passionate about their futures and the impact of climate change is a key factor,” said Amy Bray “Our focus is on providing these young people with education and an environment that allows them to explore and be comfortable protecting our natural world Cornwall sees our second Power of 10 Festival replicating the success of our inaugural event in Cumbria last year.” Among the highlights from the day included the pupils making music through plants with the Tree Council; holding insects and learning about their unique roles in various ecosystems with the University of Exeter’s Teaching Lab; creating art from vegetable-based paints with local artist Sam Bradbury; and experiencing lively seagrass meadows through VR headsets with the Ocean Conservation Trust The students were also encouraged to investigate the complex emotions that often accompany climate action in an eco-anxiety workshop with sustainability expert Jake Causley and quiz Truro and Falmouth MP Jayne Kirkham and Councillor Dominic Fairman on local environmental policies “It was so cool to see how we can talk to our MPs and speak up about the things we believe in,” remarked Festival attendee Bellamy Among the other organisations that took part were Ocean Generation and representatives from Falmouth Town Council’s Motion4TheOcean programme they understood the problem of climate change and had really good questions to ask about what happens now,” said Professor Martin Siegert Vice-President and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter “Engaging schoolchildren in this important topic is fundamental for their future and ultimately fundamental for the success of achieving a net-zero society.” The day was also generously supported by the Duchy of Cornwall and Cornwall Council To get involved with Another Way’s Power of 10 movement, please visit their website View full archives Coach John Stevens and Head Coach Murray Westren have been mightily pleased with their charges this season Detectives are appealing for information after the sudden death of a man who was found beneath Collegewood Viaduct in Penryn on Sunday 27th April Police were called at 8.40am after the man The death is currently being treated as unexplained and detectives are carrying out enquiries into the circumstances The man had been out with friends in Falmouth on Saturday night and was last seen leaving them in Grove Place at 12.15am on Sunday morning Detectives are working to piece together a timeline of his movements between leaving the town centre and the discovery of his body They are particularly keen to hear from anyone who may have seen him walking in the area around the viaduct and the valley between 12.15am and 8.15am on Sunday “At this time we are not treating the death as suspicious but as unexplained We are working to establish the man’s movements in the hours before his death and would like to hear from anyone who may have seen him on foot around the access to the viaduct or in the Glasney Playing Fields and Valley area “We would like to hear from anyone in the residential area around the viaduct who may have captured him on CCTV or anyone driving in the area at the time with vehicle dashcam.” Anyone with information that may assist the investigation is asked to contact police online or by calling 101 Alternatively, information can be passed anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers or by phoning 0800 555111 and website in this browser for the next time I comment Follow CornishStuff on Facebook - Like our Facebook page to get the latest news in your feed and join in the discussions in the comments. 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Click here to follow CornishStuff on Instagram Got A News Story Or Event To Share With Cornwall editor@cornishstuff.com Sign up for the latest daily news in Cornwall from us Privacy Policy – Cookie Policy CornishStuff is owned by and part of Check It Out Ltd © 2024 - 2025 Website Designed in Cornwall by Springer Marketing • All Rights Reserved © parkrun Limited (Company Number: 07289574) No part of this site may be reproduced in whole or in part in any manner without the permission of the copyright owner the buzzing Cornish port that the painter Charles Napier Hemy said was better than Venice the views and a year-round bustle you won’t find anywhere else in the West Country Two centuries older and less than a mile inland along the river Penryn is a little rougher round the edges but what it lacks in arty-crafty nick-nack stores and beachside saunas including a large student population.Every old workshop boathouse or ope — as the back alleys are known here — seems to be home to a local craftsperson or entrepreneur up to something forward-looking and fascinating The University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus has been honoured with the coveted Green Flag Award for the seventh year in a row administered by Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the Ministry of Housing is a benchmark of excellence for well-managed green spaces across the United Kingdom and around the world the Penryn Campus grounds and gardens boast a unique collection of herbaceous beds subtropical planting and a fruit producing orchard The site also features outside spaces with historic relevance such as the Tremough Grotto and Star Pond which was built in 1944 by US forces based at the campus prior to the D-Day landings and a drive with Pinetum native woodlands and historically rare rhododendrons which were cultivated on the site in the Victorian era “This accomplishment highlights the exceptional dedication and care shown by our Grounds and Gardens and Facilities Management teams in maintaining our beautiful green spaces,” said Stuart Gaslonde Executive Director and Director of Infrastructure at Falmouth Exeter Plus “It is testament to the hard work and passion of our staff as well as the invaluable contributions of our volunteers who actively participate in various conservation and sustainability initiatives on campus Their efforts ensure that our campus remains a vibrant and welcoming environment for all Thank you to everyone involved in achieving this milestone Your commitment to excellence is truly appreciated.” One of the many green initiatives that contributed to this year’s award is the Wildflower Planting Project which recently celebrated over 1,200 wildflower plugs being planted between January and June 2024 is supporting biodiversity on campus and helping wildlife thrive Meadow Brown Butterflies and Buff-tail Bumblebees feasting in the wildflower meadows that we planted last year!” explains Alasdair Garnett from the Grounds and Gardens team and many more native wildflower species will further support bees Keep Britain Tidy’s Green Flag Award Scheme Manager said: “I would like to congratulate everyone involved at Penryn Campus on achieving a Green Flag Award It is a vital green space for the local community to socialise for children to play safely and it provides important opportunities for users to improve their physical and mental health “We know that staff and volunteers work tirelessly to ensure that it maintains the high standards of the Green Flag Award everyone involved should feel extremely proud of their achievement It is important that our free to use spaces are maintained to the Green Flag Award standard making them accessible for all members of the community while ensuring the environment is protected.” The Penryn Campus in Cornwall is celebrating its 20th anniversary Penryn has been home to thousands of University of Exeter students studying degrees across the sciences and social sciences validating the vision of higher education improving opportunities for young people to build careers in the peninsula Others have used it as a springboard to life-changing experiences around the world the Cornwall Communications team asked 20 graduates to talk about what they had done since finishing their degree learn from a bird is a rare opportunity to discover more about the unique creative collaborations taking place between artists from the University of Exeter and Falmouth University at the Penryn Campus.   an exciting transdisciplinary programme supporting collaborations between early-career/emerging researchers across the University of Exeter and Falmouth University.   and Dr Catarina Fontoura from the Falmouth University’s Institute of Photography The project combines artistic and scientific approaches to create collaborative artworks with a diverse array of ant species across Cornwall using non-toxic inks to visually represent behavioural traces produced by colonies Between 4pm – 6pm on the 11th July you will be able to join Thomas and Catarina for a special discussion exploring the benefit of such work from a scientific and creative perspective.  undertaken in collaboration with the Eden Project and University of Exeter you can join Iman for drinks and an artist talk at Grays Wharf between 4pm – 6pm.   Capitalising on the rich inter-disciplinary environment of the Penryn campus The exhibition will showcase creative outputs generated as a result of collaborations between a Human Sciences student and a Drawing student a Marine Biologist and a Journalism and Creative Writing student a Zoologist is collaborating with a sound specialist from BA Film and a Business and Environment student is working with a Dancer and Choreographer Also on display will be the products of last year’s collaborations between a Politics and International Relations student and a Music Technologist together with a Fashion student and a History and Politics student On Tuesday 23rd July between 4pm – 8pm there will be a performance in addition to artist talks designed to invite curious acts and to connect people who study or work on Penryn Campus The title of the month show is taken from one of their artworks.   Programme Manager at the University of Exeter but these exhibitors have all found a way to connect through creativity when the artists and researchers talk about their work we have the chance to tune into their secrets to success or understand their struggles as well as find out about their creative intellectual and emotional processes – how did they combine their passions imagination and skills to make work together?”  Associate Professor of Environment and Culture at Falmouth University added “Finding new and creative ways to work together is the aim and both the FX Creative Exchange and FX Creative Together are opening-up wonderful new conversations for researchers and students alike We hope very much for these projects to continue to flourish.”   “To see the campus open and the students in there was a great moment I could say that I had a role in fulfilling that dream.” Gordon Kelly is the former Coordinator of the Combined Universities in Cornwall (CUC) whose five years in post helped to redefine the education landscape in the Duchy Gordon entered higher education as a lecturer with Birmingham Polytechnic – the institution that later became Birmingham City University he eventually moved into a role focusing on commercialisation and intellectual property and there led numerous funding applications for major projects including the £100m+ regeneration that created Millennium Point particularly his insight into European and government funding which helped him to secure the role with CUC in March 2001 In this edition of the Penryn Perspectives and a story of transformation – for the university and for himself “I had just finished the Millennium Point project the second biggest of its kind in the country my wife said to me “you’ve lost your sparkle And it was at that point that this job came up in Cornwall as Coordinator of CUC camping with the children – I was very much a landlubber from the Midlands – but we decided to have one last great adventure and I guess it was that combination of being a quantity surveyor and knowing about buildings and having experience of both higher education and European funding that helped me to get the job “When I turned up on site on that first day There was a caretaker there who let me into Tremough House and my office was in the former Mother Superior’s office there is a five-pointed star built into the panelling who requisitioned the building during the war there is a star-shaped pool and a statue of the Madonna There are just so many odd bits of history there “One of my first tasks was to resolve an issue with the funding application Although European funding was part of the Objective One programme for Cornwall there was no government contribution in place that matched it The original plan had cut the amount of allocated building space to reduce the cost of the project this meant it fell below the space requirements demanded by HEFCE for certain subjects – and thus they wouldn’t sign off on the government funding that first summer I replicated something we’d done with the Birmingham School of Jewellery I designated the specialist equipment used by the Camborne School of Mines and the Falmouth Design Centre as being available to industry This enabled us to apply to the then Regional Development Agency for some match funding we had the financial leeway to restore the space requirements to the level demanded by HEFCE “CUC was not involved with the actual construction because that was the responsibility of the partners and their own contractors But we were there seeing the campus take shape day-by-day construction work had to stop because the county archaeologists found a Bronze Age development Specialist teams arrived and carefully recovered the artefacts and I had an emotional moment when I got to hold an arrowhead in my hand And while there had to be an acceleration programme towards the end all the contracts were delivered on time and on budget The European Commission was so impressed that they labelled it a ‘model project’ and invited us to Brussels to present to the Commissioner we were already putting together the documentation for phase 2 which effectively expanded many of the facilities in phase 1 which I was working on by the time I retired in 2006 I handed over all the documentation and walked away But to see the campus open and the students in there was a great moment I’d left behind that huge project in Birmingham But to know that I had a role in fulfilling the dream of university education in Cornwall was brilliant.” “I’ve not been on the Penryn Campus for ten years or so but I know that it’s expanded way beyond our original expectations We never had anything like that in our plans And it was a wonderful thing – to have planned my retirement but I quickly realised that it was all getting in the way of my life especially my golf and the sea shanty singing I had become a member of the Falmouth Shout Shanty Group and together with the Falmouth RNLI station we founded what is now the Falmouth International Sea Shanty Festival and ran it for eight years but during those first four years our two daughters married and had four children between them And they started to come down for a free holiday and they’ve done it ever since the eldest grandchild is 21 and the youngest 18 and they’re all coming down again this summer But then my wife became more involved with the golf club and the shanty festival