3M Worldlywise

3M Worldlywise

Interactive resources exploring sustainability issues
http://www.3m.co.uk/intl/uk/3Mworldly-wise/index.htm

Background

3M wished to conceive a resource with the aim of educating young people about sustainable development and promote the uptake of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) subjects among 11 – 16 year olds.

Aim

To highlight the importance of addressing sustainability issues and exemplify how science and engineering principles can be applied in creative ways to solve problems.

What did we do?

Created a site that demonstrates:

  • Sustainability in everyday life (e.g. energy use, transport, lifestyle choices)
  • Sustainability in the construction industry (e.g. insulation, building sustainable homes and using scientific principles to create new products and processes)

The interactive resource depicts a town which is making sustainable adaptations to become better suited to the future, exploring the issue of sustainability from different perspectives. The resource covers curriculum topics within Science, Maths and Geography at Key Stages 3 and 4, along with aspects of Education in Sustainable Development.

Results

As of April 2011 the site had:

  • 71,000 Visitors
  • 2,000 Teacher Registrations
  • 42,000 Downloads

This exceeded the target aim by 10%.

Dick Strawbridge MBE (best known as an engineering expert on such TV programmes as Channel 4′s Scrapheap Challenge, BBC’s Coast and It’s Not Easy Being Green) launched the site on 26th November 2009 and said:
“I am delighted to be involved with such a fantastic project, which aims to ignite children’s passion for science and maths while raising their awareness of environmental issues. I am confident that 3MWorldlywise will inspire more young people to go on and study STEM subjects and ensure there are enough scientists and engineers to continue looking after the world and its resources for generations to come.”