Climate change competition

We invite secondary school pupils of James Gillespie and St. Thomas of Aquins, or living in the Grange, to express their thoughts and ideas on how climate change could affect the Grange area.

The Grange is a defined area in south Edinburgh of mainly residential houses. It was established over the later part of the nineteenth century. The Grange enjoys excellent amenities, not least the magnificent trees which spread their wings in summer – and drop leaves in the autumn!

But how will climate change affect the Grange? In the wider world:

• The global average temperature in February was 1.77^oC above the pre-industrial average and marked the ninth month in a row of record heat (Copernicus);
• Global warming risks the “destabilisation of Antarctica”, where huge swaths of ice melt into the ocean and threaten rises in global sea levels of up to several metres (University of Liege);
• Severe weather damage will increase and intensify (NASA).

The Grange Association, a local charity concerned with the amenity of the area,  takes climate change seriously. We know some of the potential challenges that such change will pose but want to find out how young people feel. We hope to highlight your concerns and challenge us all to think about how they might affect people living here. 

How to enter

You can choose your own way of entering. It could be by essay (800 – 1,200 words). Or, it could be by a digital slide deck (made up of a maximum of 8 Powerpoint slides) or TikTok video. Or, a poster or story board (neither more than A1 size). Do it in any way that you feel comfortable with and, most importantly, allows you to express your point of view.

Prizes

The prizes will be in cash. The first prize will be £100 and there will be other prizes depending on the number of entries received, prizes will be awarded by category.

Conditions of entry (any competition has some!)

1. The topic to be addressed is “How will climate change affect the Grange?”
2. You should be a secondary-school pupil, either living in the Grange or studying at either James Gillespie’s or St Thomas of Aquin’s High Schools
3. It must be your own work
4. You should include any sources of information you have used at the end of your essay, the final slide, on the face of the poster/story board or separately if necessary.
5. Judgement will be at the sole discretion of the judges appointed by the Grange Association
6. All physical entries will be returned
7. Any entry may be publicised by the Grange Association through its magazine and website (anonymously, if required) and included in any public display thereafter
8. Entries must be submitted to the Grange Association by 31 May 2024. Entrants must give their name, address, date of birth, school and class. Send or hand in your entry to John Elliot, Chair, Grange Association, 1 Lauder Loan, EH9 2RB or email it to chair@grangeassociation.org
9. The results will be made available by 30 June 2024.

See this map of the Grange Association area.

Download the competition poster.