East Lothian pupils take on ‘castaway’ challenge with SSE Renewables Berwick Bank Wind Farm

The Berwick Bank Wind Farm team recently took part in an exciting new trial with Education Scotland on its new ‘Solar Punk Island’. We were one of four delivery partners for the programme alongside Scottish Water, Balfour Beatty, and J.M Architects. The STEM-focused event took place at Rosehill High School at the Wallyford STEM Campus in East Lothian.

The ‘Solar Punk’ challenge presented to the students (S1/S2 pupils) to create their own survival habitat after being marooned on a desert island. The students were allocated a section of the island to design their makeshift home from scratch, using what resources were available, while constructing their surroundings in a way that respects nature and keeps necessities within walking distance of their base. The challenge reflected current environmental building regulations with the added concept of the “20-minute neighbourhood”, offering pupils the chance to broaden their skillset.

This image has been generated by A.I.

During our session at the Wallyford STEM Campus, we facilitated an interactive workshop exploring how the castaways could use the island’s resources to heat and light their shelter, giving them the materials to build their own mini wind turbines using a motor, designing their own blades, and testing optimum wind speeds.

The Solar Punk programme was a fantastic collaboration that used an innovative scenario to develop critical skills, while giving the students a better understanding of renewable energy production and storage.

We would like to extend our thanks to the Wallyford STEM Campus for letting us demonstrate the new Solar Punk challenge to local East Lothian pupils.

Watch the video from Elaine Gorman, school coordinator, to find out more about the Solar Punk session.