• Designing the future
  • Highlighting injustice
  • Exploring our surroundings
Child's poster entitled "Harvesting rain water" Image (top right) contains blue clouds and a rainbow, (bottom right) a bucket of water on grass next to the image of a tree. Text: Ways how rain water can be collected Some ways to collect rain water are... By keeping a water tank in the homes roof tops or make a built in underground water tank using concrete How to use rain water sustainably Ensure that the roof surface is suitable for collecting quality rain water Ensure roof gutters are installed to the appropriate standards and building codes with the regulation fall to the outlets Install a fire proof gutter mesh system to prevent leaves and debris from blocking gutters Fit gutter outlets on the underside of the roof gutter to minimize sludge build up Fit rain heads to downpipes to divert leaves and debris Fit insect proof screens to all pipes that hold water ("wet" systems) and all pipes and openings to/from your tank Fit appropriateely sized first flush water diverter/s Select an appropriate water tank top-up and pump system Draw water for usage from the aerobic zone Ensure the system is maintained

Harvesting rain water

A child's poster entitled How to harvest rainwater Images: two houses, one with a tank fed by the gutter and the second with rainwater being harvested from a balcony. A close up of a rain water tank is also depicted. Text: Rainwater harvesting is an essential method to prevent the loss of water by storing it and reusing it in future for a variety of purposes, such as watering plants, cleaning, bathing or drinking. 3 ways of harvesting rainwater: 1) Using gutter system on a house. This is the most common way to collect rainwater. Setting up rain barrels at the base of your down spouts will collect a lot of water when it rains. 2) Using balcony. Using balcony to collect rainwater can be very effective. While smaller than a downspouts system, you can still collect enough to water the plants on your balcony, or even your indoor plants. 3) Using windows. By collecting water at your window you can still collect enough to water your indoor plants.

How to harvest rainwater

A child's poster explaining two methods of rainwater harvesting and suggesting uses for the collected water. Image (bottom) A white house with a, A-shaped roof and a flat roof. A tank collects water harvested through ;pipes from both roofs. Buried in the garden is a well with a recharge pit. The picture is labelled to show where the rainwater is collected from and stored. Text: Ways to harvest rainwater: Surface run off harvesting. In this method rainwater flows away as surface run off and can be stored for future use. Ground water recharge. Ground water recharge is hydrologic process where water moves downward from surface water to ground water. How to use it sustainably: To water your plants To do laundry To wash your dishes You can also drink it

Ways to harvest rainwater and how to use it sustainably

A diorama of a mangrove forest created using a cardboard box with modelling clay water (blue) surrounded on three sides by brown soil on which grow trees.

Mangrove forest

Diorama of a mangrove forest which protects islands from surges in sea levels.
The image is divided vertically by a sweeping path which separates parkland with rugby posts, grass and plants from two buildings drawn in detail. One has arched windows and the other looks like a shop with shades over the windows. A tree is surrounded by a fence, and a litter bin can be seen next to it. A person is walking towards the park. The natural elements of the images are coloured lightly using coloured pencils, while the building details are picked out in thin black pen.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Image: A bright sun shines over four trees, each of a different species. Yellow flowers bloom in the grass beneath the trees.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Pencil sketch. Image: a stylised, softly-shaded, bushy tree commands attention in the centre of the image. To the left of the tree is a park bench. The tree and bench are standing on a slight hill.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Pencil sketch. Image: A tall brick wall takes up just over the bottom half of the sketch. Above the wall is a profusion of trees and bushes. The wall and trees take up the entire page.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Coloured pencil drawing. Image: in the foreground is a rugby field with two large goal posts. Behind the field are tall trees of different varieties, with a cottage in the distance.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Different varieties of trees grow in front of a tall, modern, glass building. Birds fly in the sky and hop about among grass and flowers in the foreground. A bench can be seen underneath a tree in the distance.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
A pencil sketch. Two fenced off garden areas are depicted, separated by a path. One of the garden areas contains a circular lawn with a large tree and a litter bin. A flourishing wild flower meadow with a variety of different plants fills the rest of the garden area. The bottom fenced area appears to be grassy.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
A labelled drawing created with black ink and pencil. In the foreground, in black ink, is an ornate church. A tree appears to be growing up the church wall. Behind the church, and partly hidden by mist, are some of the spires of Oxford and university buildings.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Pencil sketch. The centre of the image is dominated by a rugby goal post with safety pads. The goal post is flanked by two stylised trees, with a further tree at the top of the image. Each tree has circular birds' nests with stylised birds. Clouds and the sun are also depicted.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Pencil sketch. In the centre of the sketch is an ornate wrought-iron gate next to a half-timbered house. Behind the gate can be seen a tree in leaf. In the foreground wild flowers grow in a grass verge.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
Pencil sketch. Entitled Oxford, the image shows university buildings flanked by tall trees in the background. In the foreground is parkland, with a path curving towards a bench and a small fenced-off area.

We went for a walk and thought about how nature and the city link, how different worlds mix.
A poster created in black and red felt pen. Image: a circular sign with a red border and a diagonal black and white cross. In the centre are the words ANIMAL TESTING in capital letters.

Animal testing

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster in pencil. Image: The poster is divided vertically into two halves. In the centre are the words "WE CAN CHANGE OUR PROBLEMS." On the left hand side is a cartoon-style image of a frightened-looking person running in front of a landscape of flames, smoke, broken and leafless trees, and overflowing litter bins. On the right is the same person looking happy, a bird in the crook of her arm. In the background are two playful dogs, a tree and flowers, and a woman reading a newspaper on a park bench.

We can change our problems

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster in pencil. Image: The piece is divided vertically into two halves. The left side shows trees without leaves, tree trunks and trees on fire. The right side shows trees in leaf with butterflies and other small creatures. The text reads: Which one do YOU want? It's YOUR choice

Which one do you want? It’s your choice

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster created with felt pen and coloured pencil. Image: At the top, block capital letters dripping blood spell out NO ANIMAL TESTING. Below that is an image of a caged dog with tears running down its face.

No animal testing

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster created with pencil and felt pen. Image: the words "You can do the impossible" in bold black pen, and a blue and green picture of the earth take up most of the poster. Four boxes contain the messages "Stop climate change"; "Stop polluting", "Stop deforestation" and "Recycle".

You can do the impossible

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Block capitals spell out the message in felt pen STOP ANIMAL TESTING. The text is black except for the O, which is designed as a stop sign. A raw print and a syringe are depicted in felt pen on either side of the text.

Stop Animal Testing

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster created with pen and watercolour paint. Image: The poster is divided into three vertical sections by read and purple painted lines. In the centre panel, a plait of hair runs from top to bottom of the poster. A pair of scissors is poised to cut off the plait. In front of this is the word WRONG? in red pen. In the left hand panel is the question "HOW far SHOULD religion GO?" and in the right hand panel are the words "RIGHTS before RELIGION" and "MAKE Iran FAIR".

Wrong?

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster created from water colour paint and ink. To the left is the back of a head with long hair and a black bow. Radiating from this figure are purple and green lines, with the words NSTAP, SPECIAL, NO PERFECT, BE UNIQUE, KIND and BE Equal. In the corner is the message No matter how different we are all the same. Large red writing carries the main message TREAT EVERYONE SAME, with two small red hearts.

Treat everyone same

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster in black ink and coloured pencil. Image: The poster is divided diagonally into two halves. Text on the right hand side reads: "You CAN'T call us EQUAL until you pay us EQUALLY!" Below the text is a tall blue wall with a figure on it and banknotes flying in the air next to a shorter pink wall with a female figure. In the left hand half are images of a banknote and a stack of coins and a purse with the word EMPTY.

You can’t call us equal until you pay us equally!

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster created with water colour paint and black ink. Image: The poster has a blue and yellow background. Text in red at the top reads "STOP the WAR", and text at the bottom in black reads, "WE DON'T WANT MORE".

Stop the war

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster created with felt pen and coloured pencil. Bold text reads: "Recycling a day keeps the pollution away!" Behind the text, the sun shines over the wavy surface of the sea. Below the surface can be seen bubbles and plastic litter.

Recycling a day keeps the pollution away!

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster in water colour paint and felt pen. Image: A triangular iceberg is depicted against a blue sky with the sun shining. A penguin and a polar bear are on the iceberg, with a multicoloured whale's tail off to the side. At the top of the poster is the text: "You are the voice Make your choice!" On the iceberg, text reads "Make it better not worse Otherwise no more Polar bears or Penguin birds!

You are the voice – Make your choice!

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster in coloured pencil and felt pen. The words STOP POLLUTION take up the top of the poster, with the O of "STOP" drawn as a stop sign. A factory chimney belching smoke is shown at the side. The lower half of the image shows water with dead fish, bottles, plastic bag and a fishing net. Text in wavy writing reads: Stop pollution, Or there is no sollution!

Stop pollution

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster in felt pen. Image: In two fonts, text reads: An ICEBERG for some plastic Choose wisely. Behind the word "iceberg" is a stylised sea. Next to the words "for some plastic" are a plastic bag and a single-use plastic bottle. The words "Choose Wisely" are behind two lenses of a pair of glasses

An iceberg for some plastic

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A poster created with coloured pencil and felt pen. Image: A circle is divided into two vertically by a stark black line. The left hand side shows fish killed by plastic pollution. The right hand side shows a map of the earth. Two swords at diagonals allude to the CND sign. The words "YOU CAUSED THIS" in red and "WE FIX IT", in green, surround the circle.

You caused this – we fix it

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
Poster in coloured pencil and felt pen. Image: a red radiator with 'evil eyes' and a sword hovers above an icy scene with a single polar bear. Text following the contours of the landscape reads: Every time you turn on the radiator, you kill a polar bear. Stop climate change.

Every time you turn on the radiator…

Our art teacher showed us some protest art and we designed our own posters and T-shirts.
A 3-dimensional 'fruit van' made by a child out of white paper and pen

Future Oxford & the Maldives

We discussed: pollution, eco-homes and towns, plastic reduction, and how to tackle greenhouse gases.
Model made with painted cardboard tubes, felt, art straws and modelling clay. The model depicts a building made of on giant green tubes with a flat roof covered in solar panels. A greenhouse containing flowers and a cylindrical structure are also on the roof.

A living space for the future
A different view of the building on green cylinders showing the rooftop vegetable plot in the greenhouse and the inside of the building.

A living space for the future
The photo shows the roof and side of a building on green tubular stilts. A greenhouse created from art straws has a modelling clay flower and vegetable patch. An array of solar panels is arranged on the roof.

A living space for the future (different angle)
Multimedia piece in progress created from water colour paint, wooden lolly sticks, cardboard, cotton wool and coloured tissue paper. Image: a sign saying "biodiverse garden this way" points to a path which leads through grass and trees to a pond and a built structure behind a hedge and a gate.

We gathered ideas and designed biodiverse gardens.
A multimedia 2D and 3D wall display made with paper, printed text, newspaper, paint, cardboard and art straws. Entitled "our eco-friendly bus" the display is made up of several elements, each with an explanatory panel: solar panels, recycled clothes for chairs, "take or leave a plant" and two structures to provide habitats for bees and other widlife.

Our Eco-friendly bus

Part of the eco-friendly bus display, this model created from recycled card has two built structures. A sign explains that they are a bug house and a bird house. A blue house is decorated with a bee and a green house is decorated with a butterfly and ladybird.

Bug house and bird house

Part of the eco-friendly bus design
A detail from the eco-friendly bus display. A cardboard sign says "Recycled clothes for chairs". Text boxes describe the makers' ideas including a 'take a plant' scheme which aims to encourage travellers to take home a free plant rather than the more usual newspaper, and an explanation of the choice of an electric engine and sustainable materials for the bus itself.

Recycled clothes for chairs

A detail from the eco-friendly bus display
The photo shows details from the eco-friendly bus design. At the top are six solar panels created from art straws, with a text explaining that these were intended to provide electricity for travellers' device charging points.

Solar panels; take or leave a plant

Details from the eco-friendly bus design
A multimedia piece created from watercolour paints, paper, recycled card, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, cotton wool and silver foil. Image: a river with a bridge and rocks runs diagonally through the garden. Trees and brightly coloured flowers are planted around the edge of a grassy area. The garden also contains two wooden structures, one with a ladder leading to it and the other with flowers growing from it.

Child's design for a biodiverse garden, from 2023 Our World, Our Futures project
A painted 3D model made from recycled card and modelling clay. The model depicts a steep-roofed cottage with two windows and solar panels on the roof. Flowers grow up the sides of the house and beside the path to the red front door. The garden also contains a tree and a pond with two fish. A bicycle is propped up against the house wall.

A living space for the future
The image shows a multimedia piece on a desk in a classroom. Two children's hands and some art equipment are visible. The piece depicts a garden containing planted areas, a rock-edged path and a pond. In the centre is a wooden structure.

We gathered ideas and designed biodiverse gardens.
A 2D/3D mixed media piece using watercolour paint, pipe cleaners, silver paper, tissue paper, card, cotton wool and lolly sticks. Trees, grass and brightly coloured flowers surround two ponds connected by a bridge, with a river flowing into one pond. A bench provides seating near the pond.

We gathered ideas and designed biodiverse gardens.
3D model created from recycled card. A brown-painted hexagonal building is placed on top of a cylindrical column. Windows are cut out of the upper part of the building. The whole structure is positioned inside a rectangular enclosure.

A building for the future
3D model created from card, art straws, modelling clay, tissue paper and paint. Flanked by two trees and two wind turbines is a triple-layered structure. The uppermost layer is a roof and the middle layer is a garden area with grass, a chair and table and a pond surrounded by rocks. This garden is supported on stilts.

A living space for the future
A 2D/3D multimedia piece created with felt pen and watercolour paint, coloured tissue paper, pipe cleaners, a pom pom, recycled egg boxes and wooden lolly sticks. Image: a wind turbine stands in the centre of the garden which is divided into different zones by waterways. Two pyramid structures are in front of the wind turbine.

We gathered ideas and designed biodiverse gardens.
a 3D model made of wood, card, paint and live cress. Two tall wind turbines rise up behind a rectangular structure. Fixed to the side is a rectangular raised bed with cress growing from it. The whole structure is positioned on a wooden board.

A living space for the future
A 3D model of a dress. Its bodice is created from recycled beige and yellow ribbons, with a simple large blue flower motif. The skirt is created out of overlapping pieces of recycled newspaper fixed to fabric from an old T-shirt, and decorated with newspaper flowers. Behind the dress is an explanatory panel which includes a recipe for milk glue.

Eco Dress

Sustainable clothing
A 3D model created from modelling clay, paper and thin wooden sticks. Two circular islands, surrounded by turquoise sea, are connected by a bridge. The left-hand island has a ring of houses with a central spiral structure, The right-hand island has two larger buildings and park areas.

A floating city

A living space for the future
A 3D model created from recycled cardboard, modelling clay, paint and a recycled tray. The model is of a 2-storey building. The lower storey just out below the upper one and is shaded in graduated tones of blue. Both storeys have roof gardens with grass and trees. The upper garden also has a pond with lily pads and a bench.

A living space for the future
A 3D model created from recycled cardboard, art straws, paint and wooden lolly sticks. A rainbow-coloured fence surrounds an inner enclosure which contains another rainbow-fenced area. The inner are has trees and a vegetable patch.

A living space for the future
The photo shows four lego models covered by plastic domes created from recycled supermarket food containers. The nearest dome contains a vibrant garden area. To the left is a dome with three single-storey buildings with growing roofs.

A living space for the future
3D model created with recycled plastic fruit containers and Lego. Image: Four transparent "domes" cover different models. One is of a house and two smaller fat-roofed buildings with grass and flowers growing on the roofs. One is a vegetable plot and another a flower bed. The fourth one has a bicycle visible.

A living space for the future
The photo shows a detail from the lego future space. Beneath a plastic dome made from a supermarket food container is a square grassy garden area with a wide variety of flowers and green plants.

A living space for the future (detail)
The photo shows a detail from the lego future living space. A plastic dome shleters what looks like a children's play area with a curved pink slide and steps, a yellow bike and two other pieces of equipment. Each is decorated with pink flowers.

A living space for the future (detail)
The photo shows a large paper display with four lego models under transparent plastic domes created from recycled food containers. The domes are labelled Rainfi=orest, Houses, Crops and food and 'Third dome'. The domes are to the left of the paper and the rest is filled with text boxes describing the makers' design ideas, including 'lift the flaps' labelled 'The Maldives', 'A new way of living', 'Funding' and 'Benefits'. Facts such as the environmental benefits of a plant-based diet are also included.

Hexagonal domes

A living system for the future
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This is the world we’ll have to inherit. This is our future. We’re gonna have to deal with these issues at some point. Adults talk but they don’t take action. Some do but the majority don’t. They leave it to the government. And world issues get left behind.

Schoolchild

I’m not saying that my children, at eight and nine years old, are going to turn around and change the world tomorrow. But I’m hoping that my children at eight and nine years old care about their environment, and will be able to, in a few years’ time, stand up and say “Well, actually, I want my world to look like this. And this is how I’m going to do that”.

Teacher

All these things are personal to us so it was quite nice that we could choose.

Schoolchild

There are people… who are showing that our generation can already make a difference even before we’re adults. It makes me feel like there’s hope rather than an endless list of things to fix.

Schoolchild

The [children are] like, fully sold on it, they really believe in what they’re doing. They’ve researched it. They’re very clear about what they’re doing. I think that they’ve been empowered. I think [the project] has transformed them.

Teacher