Nature is at the forefront as Brighton ME hosts Sussex Bay sustainability event  

Brighton MET College recently had the pleasure of hosting local organisation Sussex Bay, as they held their first ever ‘Design to Deliver’ showcase event.  

Sussex Bay is a community-born and nature-first project, which aims to drive ecological restoration along the Sussex coastline, from Selsey in the West to Camber Sands in the East.

The event allowed four small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to pitch their projects, which use space data to help nature, to an audience of investors and conservation innovators.

The four projects beat fierce competition from more than 100 entries to win up to £50,000 of funding to develop projects for nature regeneration.

The projects included an AI-powered app helping children speak to endangered animals; a tool to use nature to fight climate change; a way to measure forest health; and a method to make decisions to build healthy communities.

On the day some of the college’s level two art and design students also had the opportunity to speak with some of the leading industry experts who attended the event.

Princess Knowles, one of the art and design students, said:
“I found today very motivational because I feel like when you are my age, you don’t typically get this kind of opportunity. When I’m older I want to do acting and fashion, so this has been very good to go to and hear some of the pitches.

“We spoke to a lady earlier about her organisation, about the animals she is trying to help, in particular birds, and just nature itself. She also talked about how she wants the youth to get more involved with nature and nature projects, and she wanted us, 15 and 16-year-olds, to bring ourselves into nature more.”

Paul Riley, principal of Brighton MET College, added:
“The Sussex Bay project is important for our local region’s regeneration, and we were delighted to host this exciting competition.

“We hope their presence will also ignite a passion for conservation innovation among our students. The four projects in contention were truly impressive and innovative, and we loved hearing all about their creative approaches to tackling real-world environmental challenges.”