University News Last updated 26 August 2010
Students from across Birmingham will be telling Prince Charles their views about the environment when he visits the city next month (September 2010).
Birmingham City University will be hosting a forum which will give 70 young people the opportunity to put forward their opinions to the Prince about sustainable living.
The Prince of Wales will be visiting Millennium Point as part of a national tour to promote greener living. His visit on Thursday 9 September will mark the West Midlands launch of The Prince's Charities Foundation’s project, START. The tour, which takes the Prince, via Royal Train, to ten different locations throughout Britain, aims to inform people across the UK how they can lead ‘greener’ lives in a simple yet positive way.
Millennium Point, which is home to the University’s Faculty of Technology, Engineering and the Environment (TEE) will also be host to an exhibition of green initiatives from across the West Midlands. Following the forum, The Prince will be taking a tour of the ThinkTank museum.
Called Working towards a Smarter Future, the event is being organised by Business in the Community (BITC), BT, Sustainability West Midlands (SWM), Smarter Working West Midlands and Thinktank.
The Prince’s tour follows a recent visit to Birmingham by the Prime Minister, David Cameron, who saw an example of TEE’s work which aims to contribute to a more sustainable future. He attended an event at the Birmingham-based headquarters of the UK's leading Indian Food Supplier, East End Foods, with whom TEE is developing an Urban Farm.
The project involves an Urban Farm, the use of algae to create an alternative fuel, the regeneration of the iconic former HP Sauce factory site that will result in 250 new jobs and an educational visitor centre. Dean of TEE, Peter Rayson, said: "East End Foods has partnered with the University and TEE because of our expertise in Bioenergy, Construction, Media and ICT as these capabilities underpin the Urban Farm and Food Journey Experience centre that is planned for their new facility.”