Cardiff Council Update: 19 July 2022

Welcome to our latest update, covering: multi-million pound challenge to increase local food production; our junior graduates celebrating Children's University success; and calling on children and young people to add their voices to the debate on the future of our schools.

£2.6 million sustainable food challenge to improve local food production and supply

A £2.6 million challenge to encourage innovation in the production and supply of locally grown food has been launched.

The project, which is a partnership between Cardiff Council, Monmouthshire County Council, the Cardiff Capital Region Challenge Fund, Welsh Government, and the SBRI (Small Business Research Initiative) Centre of Excellence, aims to identify and support projects that can harness the potential of land, technology and people to increase the sustainable production and supply of locally grown food in the Cardiff Capital Region.

Innovative organisations interested in applying for the challenge can register their interest here: https://sdi.click/spsf

The Challenge requires applicants to clearly demonstrate:

How they will increase the sustainable production of food in the region and generate positive economic, social and environmental impacts.
How they will supply nutritious, locally grown food whilst ensuring a fair price for producers and the wellbeing of future generations.

Junior graduates celebrate Children's University successes

It's a typical Cardiff University celebration - after months of learning, mortar boards are thrown in the air by fresh-faced students dressed in formal gowns while proud parents look on and smile.

There's something rather different, though, about this graduation scene - all the youngsters are Cardiff primary school pupils who've taken part in a new scheme designed to encourage and develop a love of learning.

The Passport to the City programme is a key commitment in the council's Stronger Fairer Greener strategy. Its aim is to ensure young people from all backgrounds can enjoy all of Cardiff's amenities.

It is delivered through the council's new Cardiff Children's University, a new partnership between the council's schools, the Children's University charity and Cardiff University.

Today's graduation event will formally launch the Cardiff programme and celebrate the success of more than 400 children from St Mary the Virgin CiW Primary in Butetown, St Fagans Primary, Peter Lea Primary in Fairwater and Windsor Clive Primary in Ely who have taken part in pilot schemes over the past year.

Calling young people! Add your voice to debate on the future of Cardiff schools

Sometimes the world can seem like it's run by grown-ups for grown-ups... while the young people who are the future are either ignored or have their views dismissed altogether.

Now, Cardiff Council is seeking to change this perception by giving young people a chance to become directly involved in how the city's education is shaped over the next 10 years.

Power to the People: Cardiff Influencers Programme 2022 is a new initiative designed to establish a forum of younger teenagers from across the city and give them a platform and the ability to shape strategy and influence how the authority will invest millions of pounds in education across the city.