Partnering with the Portway School in Plaistow, London, the organisations launched an after-school club where 24 year 5 children explored urban sustainability and professional skills through an immersive digital challenge. The programme, titled “Greening Our Cities,” challenged students to design and build sustainable urban environments using Minecraft Education.

This exciting new initiative was aimed at introducing a variety of built environment roles to children from a young age, to encourage more young people to pursue a career in construction and help fill the skills gap.

By using a platform familiar to children, the initiative makes complex concepts such as sustainability and urban planning accessible and engaging for young learners. The project followed the RIBA Plan of Work, providing students with a professional framework to plan and execute their Minecraft projects. Children worked in teams, conducting stakeholder interviews within their Minecraft worlds and developing mindmaps to strategise their urban designs.

Sponsored by WSP and Gleeds, who provided Minecraft Education licenses, and supported by the Project Data Analytics Task Force and RICS Early Engagement Team, the programme culminated in a competitive showcase where teams presented their sustainable city concepts. Participants attended an awards ceremony at the RICS Headquarters in London on January 20, 2025, where book vouchers were awarded to the top three teams: The MCH City, The Dragon Flares and The Wardernised Crystal Clear Creator.

Mackyla Palmer-Logue, early engagement coordinator at RICS, described working with 24 enthusiastic Year 5 students at Portway School as a privilege, commenting: “Through the “Greening Our Cities” after-school club, students designed sustainable urban environments using real-world industry principles. Their creativity, teamwork, and problem-solving skills flourished, introducing them to surveying, project management, and digital innovation while also developing invaluable professional skills.

“Seeing their confidence grow, culminating in a fantastic awards ceremony at RICS HQ, reinforced the importance of early industry engagement and inspired future opportunities for young learners.

“This innovative approach represents RICS’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of built environment professionals and creating the workforce of the future”.

James Garner, head of data, insights and analytics at Gleeds, said, “It was fantastic to see the children enthusiastically get involved with the programme and how Minecraft was used to educate young people about the built environment industry. Gleeds is proud to have supported on this initiative and I look forward to seeing how it progresses.”

Adam Bradley, programme solutions group director, WSP, praised the students’ “dedication to their projects where they showcased learning about sustainable design and the careers in quantity surveying”.