News
Thursday, 01 July 2010
MINI Plant Oxford Helps Ark Set Sail on Voyage of a Lifetime
Last month saw the spectacular culmination of an innovative arts and science project, The CIAO! Ark. The project, which initially began in January, was designed to get school children from across Oxfordshire thinking about the positive benefits of a low carbon future.
Approximately 10,000 people turned out to see the installation while it was up, enjoying the many workshops, performances and concerts (and not to mention the glorious sunshine!) that made up the Ark’s exciting five day public and schools based programme.
One of the Ark’s keenest supporters throughout this process has been Cowley based car manufacturer, MINI Plant Oxford. The Plant played an extremely active role during the run up to the five day festival, offering hands on support to the project by sending its own engineers to run workshops within participating primary schools.
The workshops - which were designed to encourage the children to think about and explore the future of transport - culminated in a competition to see which school could propel a scale model of the MINI the furthest along the floor using nothing but sustainable energy.
In the end, the winner was The Unicorn School from Abingdon, who achieved an impressive distance of 17 metres by giving their car a huge push. Their entry was displayed inside the Ark along with other projects, films, models and artworks which had been produced by the children involved – all of which helped to create a positive picture of a low carbon world that everyone can aspire to.
For more information about MINI Plant Oxford, please visit thier website.
For further details about the CIAO! Ark, please see their website.
