Students from a school in Blackburn have been selected to present their innovative idea to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on the main stage of the world’s biggest EdTech show.

Bett UK will take place at the ExCeL Centre in London between January 24-26 and bring together more than 30,000 educators, innovators, and changemakers from around the globe looking to make a genuine impact on the lives of teachers and learners.

The students, aged nine to 14, were selected from 45 schools across the UK and include students from Witton Park High School in Blackburn.

Also representing East Lancashire at the show will be Bowland High in Grindleton - who worked together with Witton Park – and Barrowford Primary School in Nelson.

As part of the Design4SDGs Design Challenge, the students will pitch their solutions for the United Nations’ SDGs on the main stage of Bett UK.

The challenge, now in its second year, was launched by educator and Innovation X founder Evo Hannon to promote big thinking and innovative ideas on a large scale, providing solutions for the United Nations SDGs.

Students from Witton Park and Bowland High have produced apple sauce from the school’s apple trees and surrounding nature reserves, in an effort to combat waste.

They also conducted broader research into food waste across the UK.

Students at Barrowford Primary came up with an idea to create an easily accessible app that will offer daily doses of positive climate actions that everyone can do, from ‘only boiling the cuppa you need’ to planting trees.

Each week there will be how-to videos, hacks, and tips, and other ways that everyone can make small changes with big consequences.

There will also be students from Roseacre Primary Academy and Thames Primary Academy in Blackpool, who create a YouTube channel called Cooking with the Community, containing guides for families to cook healthy meals using food from local food banks.

Emma Vandore, head of content at Bett, said: “We are so excited to welcome such wonderfully creative children from Witton Park Academy, Bowland High, Barrowford Primary School, Roseacre Primary Academy, and Thames Primary Academy, to Bett UK 2024.

“With so many threats facing the planet right now, the importance of the UN’s SDGs has never been more pronounced.

"It is inspiring to see these young people present their innovative solutions to the urgent challenges their generation will face head-on.”

Evo Hannan, founder of Innovation X, who runs the awards, added: “Congratulations to students at these schools for taking part and sharing their incredible creative ideas with the rest of us.

"The Design4SDGs Design Challenge aims to show how small-scale, practical solutions can lead to widespread, lasting change.

“The EdTech community at Bett UK, including resource manufacturers, will benefit from sitting up and taking notice of the next generation’s evolving ideas.”