Newcastle University and Cap-a-Pie, UK

Climate Change Catastrophe! - a new show about climate change, made by kids, for grown-ups

What do kids think about climate change? Can school children develop the engineering solutions to one of society’s biggest challenges? Climate Change Catastrophe! is a theatre project developed jointly between Cap-a-Pie and Newcastle University’s School of Engineering that will give you inspiring perspectives on one of the biggest challenges of our time - climate change. It’s all about what children think about climate change – their hopes, fears, and ideas for the future. The show was released as a six-part online series in May 2021.

To make this show, scientists and engineers at Newcastle University worked with hundreds of Key Stage 2 students from across the North of England as well as theatre company Cap-a-Pie. Ideas were shaped together, based on research in the School of Engineering and interactive activities. Everything you see in the show has been informed by, inspired by, or is directly from ideas from children.

What the Judges Thought

The judges loved the way this project brought scientists and school children together. It was great to see how the project makes academic expertise available to schools through fun activities. Important when considering such dark subject matter. 

What it Means to Win

“We are so proud of our climate action research at Newcastle University but to win this award for a project that benefits society is really special. This brilliant collaboration demonstrated how, through the creative input of theatre makers and the wonderful young people of our region, knowledge can be transformative.”

Professor Julie Sanders, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost, Newcastle University

Top 3 Learnings

1. We learnt the importance of partnership working across academic, creative, and community sectors.
2. We discovered that creative arts organisations are vital to communicating complex engineering ideas.
3. Our engineers learnt that children have freedom of imagination to think up crazy climate solutions!