Knockevin Rooting for All-Ireland environment success

Knockevin Rooting for All-Ireland environment success

24 April 2024

STUDENTS from a local school have reached the final of a prestigious all-Ireland competition.

Having opened their new Roots Café on their Castlewellan campus, the students of Knockevin Special School have advanced to the final of the Young Environmentalist Awards in Dublin next month.

The aim of of their Roots eco-café is to promote using local, sustainable food and reducing plastic waste.

Run by ECO-UNESCO, the Young Environmentalist Awards is a programme that recognises the work of young people who have taken environmental action in their school community and come up with creative solutions to solve environmental issues.

During the semi-finals, the Knockevin students successfully displayed the merits of their Roots Café to a panel of experts at a Dragons Den-style event at Lough Neagh Discovery Centre, Co Armagh.

Knockevin principal Sara Liddell said: “Knockevin recently opened Roots Cafe at our Senior School campus in Castlewellan. 

“The main aim of the cafe is to provide work experience opportunities for our pupils in a safe and supportive environment. 

“When we consulted pupils about the name, logo and vision for the cafe, they were very clear that they wanted it to be eco friendly and sustainable. 

“They have taken a number of steps including using Fairtrade products, reusing ground coffee and going paperless, with an app developed for taking customer’s orders.”

She added: “We felt it was important to get some recognition for the amazing work our pupils are doing so we encouraged them to enter the prestigious all-Ireland ECO-UNESCO Young Environmentalist Awards. 

“We were delighted that they reached the semi-finals and are now extremely excited to hear how they get on at the Dublin finals next month.”

Director of ECO-UNSCO Elaine Nevin said: “This year is a very special year as it marks 25 years of the Young Environmentalist Awards. It’s a testament to the passion young people in Ireland have for solving environmental issues with over 65,000 young people participating over the last 25 years,” she said.

“It’s fantastic to see such a spread of entries this year, from across 30 counties with projects ranging from investigating wind turbine efficiency to the importance of worms in biodiversity. “Unfortunately, not every team can go through to our Young Environmentalist Awards finals, but we are delighted to see such high numbers of young people 

entering and carrying out such innovative environmental action projects locally.”

She added: “It won’t be an easy job for our panel of judges, but I urge every team to pursue their projects and continue to enact change in their schools, youth groups and communities for the good of our planet.”