The FIDA Home Transformers Challenge, a project developed by Futures Institute at Dollar Academy (FIDA) in collaboration with the Sustainability team at Barratt Developments, challenged 34 pupils from four secondary schools across Clackmannanshire and Stirling to survey an 1860s cottage that is currently in a state of disrepair, and develop a plan to transform and make it sustainable.

Hosted at the Dollar Academy campus, the FIDA project brought together students from Alva, Dollar and Lornshill Academies, and Wallace High School. Working in mixed-school teams, they engaged in a variety of tasks and activities to tackle key sustainability improvement areas including carbon reduction through green energy, smart technologies to reduce energy consumption, and the use of the outdoor space to encourage biodiversity.

A highlight of the week was a visit to a Barratt construction site. Barratt has made the commitment that every new home they build from 2030 will be ‘net zero’, and the site visit gave the FIDA students the opportunity to see current sustainable building practices in action. Throughout the week, the students also heard from a number of external industry experts, including an architect, surveyor, researchers from the Institute for Sustainable Construction at Edinburgh Napier University, as well as Barratt Group’s Directors of Sustainability, Biodiversity, Design and Technology.

Having planned out their property transformation, the teams were required to present their plans and recommendations to an external judging panel at the end of the week.

The judges were impressed with the overall quality of work shared by the teams, but one student’s efforts in particular stood out. Evie, an S5 student from Lornshill Academy, confidently led her group’s presentation, which included original ideas such as a grey water harvesting system, backed up by thorough research. Her outstanding contribution to the project across the week has earned her a work experience opportunity with Barratt Developments, supported by a bursary to cover travel and accommodation.

Ian Munro, rector of Dollar Academy and FIDA founder, said: “The Home Transformers Challenge was a fantastic success due to the commitment and imagination of all involved; our thanks go to the industry experts, judges and students for their efforts and contributions throughout the course.

“It was fantastic to collaborate with Barratt Developments on this project to provide our young people with real-life experience in driving change towards a sustainable future.

“Evie’s contributions throughout were excellent, and I am sure she will impress the Barratt team in when she travels there to gain valuable industry experience and continue learning about sustainable property development.”

Bukky Bird, group sustainability director at Barratt, said: “We are pleased to have been part of The Home Transformers Challenge and to see the enormous contribution that it is making to young people. We look forward to hosting Evie on her placement and hope that this empowers her to have a successful career within the construction sector.

“Barratt’s support of the FIDA project is part of our nationwide schools outreach programme, which is a landmark in the construction sector. It aims to reach 1 million young people and to raise awareness of the wide variety of roles within the sector.”

FIDA was launched with a vision to tackle three fundamental challenges – the need to find a compelling alternative to traditional classroom teaching and exams; equitable access to education; and sustainability.

FIDA provides young people from across Scotland with unique opportunities to undertake real-world challenges founded on the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. These take the form of workshops, skills-based courses, design challenges and competitions, all of which are free to take part in.

Every course and project is co-designed and delivered with experts from industry and universities, and requires students to think creatively and draw upon different areas of knowledge and learning. To date, over 600 pupils and 80 teachers from across Scotland, and further afield, have registered on FIDA’s online platform and have benefited from free access to FIDA resources.