A CALL has gone out to find more business and industry mentors from the region.
Fuel Change is an organisation leading the drive toward net zero and it is looking for more Dumfries and Galloway mentors to help the next generation develop carbon cutting solutions.
Its Challenge Programme forms project teams of young people from businesses and organisations and sets them real world carbon reduction challenges.
The challenge tasks are set by industry and worked on over a 16 week period after which findings are presented to a judging panel with a view to progressing ideas to the implementation stage. Mentors work with a group for a couple of hours per week to help them refine their ideas.
Recent project teams have worked on tasks such as reducing carbon outputs from the timber logics industry, using farm waste to generate energy and how to make the textile industry more sustainable.
Alastair Laird lives in Annandale and is a current mentor.
After a career in senior roles within the nuclear industry, he saw the advantage of getting involved with Fuel Change. He was most recently the interim director of deconstruction and transfer for EDF Energy (UK).
Alastair said: “I work in the energy sector so I’m well aware of the importance of net zero. All three projects I was involved in were good, creative blue sky thinking looking at some big picture issues.
“There is also an element of STEM to each project theme but not overly so as the focus is problem solving. Some of the outcomes were really quite impressive and I’m confident that there will be enthusiasm for progressing some of them to the implementation stage.”
Anyone who thinks they have the skills and experience to become a Fuel Change mentor should contact Jennifer Tempany by email at [email protected]
