Dearne Valley College to host eco-festival

The event will celebrate the continent’s most environmentally-friendly communities and aim to spread best practice.

There will be hands-on workshops, demonstrations and debates to appeal to businesses, schools and communities.

Eco-Vision project manager Joanne Wehrle said: “The Dearne Valley will be transformed by the know-how of its people and by the imagination and commitment of its community and its enterprise.

“The Eco-Vision will see the Dearne Valley become a community with the lowest carbon footprint of any comparable place within ten years.

“And in doing so it will realise a full transformation from being a carbon production area as part of its coal mining heritage, to one of the most heavily polluted areas in Western Europe, to a leading community in reducing the world’s carbon and ecological footprint.”

College principal and chief executive Paul Townsley said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to engage on the Green Agenda and to raise awareness of eco-developments locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. 

Keynote speakers will include Wath-born Neil Baxter, chairman of Rotherham Work and Skills Board and managing director of Bramall Construction, and Freiburg Innovation Academy director Hans-Jörg Schwander.

The festival will be held on Friday, March 18, from 9.30am to 4pm at the Manvers campus.

Organisers have challenged schools, groups and businesses to record how they will reduce their carbon footprint over the next 12 months. The winner will be announced at the festival.

To enter, or for further information about the event, contact 0114 273 5144 or  [email protected].