Young people go green for Eco Week

TURNING crisp packets into blankets for homeless people is among the sustainable activities being carried out by hundreds of School children across Liverpool during next week's Eco Week. The Eco Week started on:- Monday, 19 May 2025,  is a dedicated week for Schools to consider current environmental issues and how to tackle them.  The focus on environmental concerns forms part of the Council's commitment to reaching Net Zero. In 2019, it declared a climate emergency, leading to the creation of the Net Zero Action Plan. The project was created after Liverpool Schools Parliament (LSP) voted to make the environment their top topic of the year in February. The LSP is a group of young people, aged between seven and 19, who represent their School Councils and meet regularly to discuss local issues and feed back their thoughts and recommendations to staff at Liverpool City Council. Eco Week is a collaborative effort between the:- Council, LSP, and 17 Schools spanning across the City. Since then, the Council has taken steps to reduce carbon emissions across Liverpool, including using:- the Mersey to heat homes, supporting active travel methods, and switching to energy efficient methods across highways projects.

Councillor Laura Robertson-Collins, Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Communities, Neighbourhoods and Streetscene said:- "Reducing the negative impact we have on the environment and looking after the communities we live in are both incredibly important topics. Liverpool is a fantastic City that we can be proud to call home, and we need to be listening to our young people to see how we can protect it for years to come. Our ambition is to make Liverpool a UNICEF Child Friendly City, which means taking feedback from young people and working to tackle the issues they face as they grow up. The environment is clearly a topic close to home for our Liverpool Schools Parliament. We've listened to their concerns and worked closely alongside them to create Eco Week, which has had a great take-up by Schools across the City. LSP has suggested a range of engaging activities, and our local primary Schools have responded with creativity and enthusiasm. These are the kinds of activities and messages that will stick with our young people for a long time and make a hugely positive change to our City."

As well as looking at saving energy, many of the projects taking place during Eco Week are focusing on reuse and recycling, and the small changes people can make at home to have a big impact.

Pupils will be looking at what can and can't be recycled in Liverpool, and how to make art or accessories out of old materials rather than throwing them away.

Anyone looking to get involved at home can find out what should be placed in their purple and blue bins on the Council website and how to reduce the amount of rubbish they produce through handy tips by the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority.

Karen Lane, a teacher at Holy Name Catholic Primary School said:- "As citizens of the future, it is important that children are taught about how all of our actions have an impact on the world around us. Engendering a respect of the world we live in, learning how to behave responsibly and making the right choices, all helps to empower children to believe they can influence the future of our planet. Hopefully this will inspire them to believe that they really can make a difference by living in a more sustainable way."

Abigail, a member of Holy Name's Eco Committee said:- "It is important to try and make the world a better place. By being a member of the Eco Committee, I can share ideas to help other people to be eco-friendly."

The full list of Schools taking part is:-

• St Francis De Sales Catholic Infant and Nursery School, Walton.
  

• Monksdown Primary School, Norris Green.
  

• St Michaels Catholic Primary School, Kensington.
  

• Hunts Cross Primary.
  

• Whitefield Primary School, Everton.
  

• Pinehurst Primary School, Anfield.
  

• Garston Church of England Primary.
  

• Emmaus CofE and Catholic Primary School, Croxteth.
  

• St Vincent de Paul Catholic Primary School.
  

• Kirkdale St Lawrence CofE School.
  

• Holy Name Catholic Primary School, Fazakerley.
  

• St Patrick's Catholic Primary School, Toxteth.
  

• Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary School, Aintree.
  

• Our Lady and St Swithin's Catholic Primary School, Croxteth.
  

• St Oswalds Catholic Primary School, Old Swan.
  

• Lister Infant School, Tuebrook.
  

• Wavertree Church of England School.

Satellites help NOC track tidal change for safer navigation

SCIENTISTS at the UK's National Oceanography Centre (NOC) in Liverpool have used satellite data to create a unique insight into the iconic Mersey River that will help port operators be smarter about managing complex navigation channels.

Through a novel UK Space Agency funded project focusing on Liverpool's famous river, NOC's scientists showed that changes in areas exposed at low tide can be mapped from space.

The project, run in partnership with the Channel Coastal Observatory (CCO) and Peel Ports Group, means port operators could now pre-empt sand or mud moving and blocking their navigation channels, reducing larger remediation works.

Maintaining rivers like the Mersey, which handles more than 60 million tonnes of freight a year through Peel Ports Group, is important for safe and efficient port operations. But it can be expensive and difficult to monitor an estuary of this size regularly enough to keep up with the continual changes in sandbank and channel positions using the standard survey methods that use survey boats or light aircraft

Russell Bird, Deputy Group Harbour Master (Hydrographic and Dredging), at Peel Ports Group, said:- "Through this project we've been given new, fresh insights into parts of the River Mersey. Gaining an understanding of these areas is helping us to enhance the way we manage navigational safety and dredging strategies. The findings that NOC has achieved has showed us the potential to manage significant changes in the river more proactively."

The project analysed data from optical and radar satellite images combined with information from the Gladstone Tide Gauge, which sits within the Old Lock Keeper's Office at the entrance to Gladstone Dock, in Liverpool.

These were further combined with fine scale water level data from the new Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite, launched in December 2023 that enabled more precise estimates of tidal water levels right across the estuary.

The analysis enabled the team to map changes in the riverbed from 2018 to 2023. These maps then provide a clearer picture of how the river is evolving, helping experts plan dredging operations more effectively and avoid unnecessary costs.

Lydia Green, Head of Business Engagement at UK Space Agency said:- "A key aim of the Unlocking Space for Business programme is to support businesses to benefit from the use of satellite solutions by addressing key sector challenges. NOC's project is a great example of how satellite data can be used to deliver operational efficiencies within UK ports and gives the organisation a competitive edge with new insights into coastal areas."

Christine Sams, one of the project leads at NOC at the time, said:- "This project shows how cutting-edge satellite technology can help us understand the physical changes happening in dynamic environments like the River Mersey. It's an exciting step forward for managing coastal areas like Liverpool and beyond."

Dr Paul Bell, co-lead on the project, explains:- "The phenomenal advances in the capabilities of the latest satellites are fuelling a revolution in our ability to observe complex and dynamic areas like the Mersey Estuary on a regular basis. We are combining these new satellite capabilities with cutting edge algorithms developed at the NOC that distil this huge volume of data into 3D maps of the estuary that we can turn into movies showing how the sandbanks and channels move around."

The success of this project builds on years of research and development funded across multiple projects and puts Liverpool at the forefront of using innovative technology to address challenges in coastal management, with the potential for these methods to benefit other parts of the UK in the future.

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