13 June 2019
13 June 2019
Glasgow’s next generation of business leaders are being asked to develop circular initiatives that can be embedded within a shopping or retail environment, as part of this year’s St. Enoch Centre Art Competition.
Working in partnership with St. Enoch Centre, Circular Glasgow have challenged pupils in Govan, Hillhead and Notre Dame High School to come up with innovative solutions that can be instilled among the centre’s retailers.
Now in its 11th year, the challenge will focus on the Circular Economy theme as part of its 30th birthday celebrations, in a bid to strengthen the shopping centre’s ongoing commitment towards a circular model.
The visual submissions from the young people will be displayed within the retail hub from Friday 28 June until Sunday 22 September. Shoppers will then be asked to vote for their favourite entry, with £650 up for grabs across the school and individual prizes.
The young people were given case studies of the circular initiatives completed by St. Enoch Centre to date, as well as innovative solutions from around the world, to inspire forward thinking ways to reduce waste within a retail environment.
Last year, the shopping centre launched a coffee grounds to compost fertiliser programme, using waste coffee from its retailers to add nutrients to the compost used within the plants throughout the mall.
St. Enoch Centre is also making use of the surprising number of prams abandoned within the mall, with a project that looks to repurpose broken prams for families who need them.
Anne Ledgerwood, General Manager of St. Enoch Centre, commented: “We’ve recently celebrated our 30th birthday, and as we look forward to the next 30, we’re focused on embedding a circular model within the centre that allows us to maximise the use of all resources.
“For a city to fully achieve a successful circular economy, young people must be at the heart of understanding what must be done while driving forward a movement to achieve it, and we’re thrilled to be part of these conversations.
“We’ve already heard some really creative ideas and we’re excited to see what the teams come up with.”
Circular Glasgow senior project manager Rebecca Ricketts visited the schools to look at what has been created so far, give feedback and offer insights into creating a circular model.
Alison McRae, senior director at Glasgow Chamber of Commerce said: “There are many opportunities for retailers to create value through the circular economy, and as Glasgow strives to become a leading circular city, it’s really encouraging to have one of the city’s largest retail hubs focused on creating a movement working in partnership with some of the city’s young people to support this.
“St. Enoch Centre is certainly leading the way in this area and it will be great to see how these new creative ideas will potentially impact the shopping centre, the wider community and the city alike.’’