Canopy Club is a great one for students aged 9 – 11, as the two-hour workshops sees them take on the role of canopy scientists in our Rainforest Biome. They get to carry out an investigation, collecting evidence about leaf sizes, shapes and colours, and then explain their findings. It’s a brilliant way to introduce primary school kids to scientific ideas in a really unusual ‘living classroom’.

Then there’s Rainforest Uncovered, which challenges students to think how they could survive in the rainforest with no equipment, gadgets or gizmos from the real world. The 9 – 11- year-olds draw on knowledge from Papua’s Kombai tribes to become experts at jungle life. They learn how the Kombai do things like use poisonous tree roots to catch fish, and how the rainforest can actually provide them with food, shelter and healthcare.

For older students, aged 13-16, we’ve just launched Sustainable Attainable, which introduces them to sustainable business practices. We share Eden’s own learning about how we manage the visitor attraction for the benefit of people and the planet as well as for profit. Students learn about the challenges and decisions involved in running an enterprise, and they come away from the workshop with ideas for their own schools and lives.

Our educational workshops cost from just £3.80 per pupil. Find out about all of them, from Foundation level right through to tertiary visits, on our School visits webpage.

The project has been running since last spring, when we teamed up with HMP Dartmoor and The Conservation Foundation’s Tools Shed project to provide the first permanent garden tool recycling programme in Cornwall.

Old, broken and unwanted tools have been dropped off at the collection point at Eden and then transferred to HMP Dartmoor’s dedicated Tools Shed workshop, where prisoners have been able to learn a variety of new skills while refurbishing the donated items. As a result, they now have 20 sets of reconditioned tools, which will be given away to schools and community gardening groups in Cornwall.

Eden’s Karen Dawkins says: ‘We’ve had some rather weird and wonderful donations; some were so rusty they seemed beyond repair, but the men at HMP Dartmoor have worked hard to refurbish as many tools as possible to ensure the success of this great project.’

David Shreeve, creator of the Conservation Foundation, explains: ‘The project was designed to bring a new and positive approach to recycling. It’s a simple idea, but it has received a fantastic response from the public and has really involved prisoners and prison staff as well as making a difference to many schools and community groups.’

Tools Shed was piloted initially with HMP Wandsworth before being extended to other prisons. Currently tools are being repaired at Morton Hall in Lincolnshire, Bullingdon in Oxfordshire,Thorn Cross Young People’s Institution near Warrington, Feltham Young People’s Institution in London and High Down Prison in Surrey.

How to apply for free gardening tools
To receive a free set of these special tools, or to nominate a deserving school or group, email or write to Karen Dawkins: kdawkins@edenproject.com / Eden Project, Bodelva, Cornwall, PL24 2SG, before Friday 27 January 2012. Please include the name, address, and contact details of the organisation that would receive the tools and a short paragraph on where and how the tools would be used.

The first 20 winners to be selected will be notified by 3 February and invited to collect their tools from Eden between midday and 2pm on Friday 10 February.

How to recycle your old gardening tools
To donate any old, broken or unwanted garden hand tools, drop them off at the Tools Shed collection point, which is situated at the Tyre Shelter on the perimeter road opposite the Eden Project Waste Recycling Centre.

The centre, known as The Green Build Cornwall Foundation, is to be run by Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust (CSBT) and will be housed within a cutting-edge green building itself (see below for a photo of Eden’s sustainable Core building).

Its design and exact location within Eden is yet to be decided, but the space has a clear aim: to facilitate collaboration and catalyse exciting innovations within the green building industry in the county.

Paul Bright, CEO of CSBT, explains that green building suppliers will be able to bring in innovations, products and experiments to be trialed and monitored and shared with the public. He describes it as an ‘open book, open door set up’.

He says: ‘It’s going to be an experimental test-bed of everything that’s best in Cornwall. Bring your talents, bring your materials and bring your expertise… There’s a business ethic behind this… We want people to understand that the sum of the parts is greater than the parts.’

The centre will also establish academic partnerships, with a view to it being used for training, awareness raising and the sharing of best practice.

Gaynor Coley, Eden’s Managing Director, said at the launch: ‘The great thing about Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust is that they want everyday housing in Cornwall to be more sustainable, to be more energy-efficient and actually to be a more pleasant place to live. And that’s absolutely spot on in terms of Eden’s mission.’

Visit the Cornwall Sustainable Building Trust website or watch a video about the forthcoming Green Build Cornwall Foundation.

Since it started in October 2010, the course has worked with 315 people from 273 businesses in the local area.

Designed and delivered by the Eden team and funded by the European Social Fund, Green Foundation motivates businesses to engage with sustainability and identify opportunities to help them secure a competitive edge in the low-carbon economy.

Organisations are encouraged to make positive changes helping to ensure that Cornwall has a resilient and sustainable business base.

Based on the success of our programme working with Cornish businesses, we’re now developing Green Foundation to deliver to businesses across the country. Lindsey Brummitt, Programme Manager at Eden, said: ‘We are absolutely delighted to win this accolade.

‘Green Foundation offers a really practical response to some of the business challenges of today and the results have been fantastic – we have seen real tangible changes to save money, collaborate and drive positive change and we are very proud to be supporting local businesses on the journey to a low carbon economy.’

To find out more about the award-winning programme, go to www.greenfoundation.org.uk

It’s the latest Eden Café Conversation which is part of the St Austell Live programme funded by Cornwall Council and aimed at attracting more people to the town centre.

The theme of the evening is ‘How easy is it to live an ethical life?’ and will also feature Oliver Baines of environmental campaign group Groundswell Cornwall and Eden’s Sue Hill in the chair.

Leo is the author of several books on ethical living including A Life Stripped Bare, in which he chronicled the year-long experiment he and his family conducted to see whether it was possible to live a ‘normal life’ while being as ethical as possible for the family, neighbours and the environment.

Everyone is welcome at the free discussion evening. To book a place contact friends@edenproject.com or phone 01726 811932. Get more information on the Eden Café, situated in White River Place.

The event is a collaboration between Eden and Ecodrive, a Cornwall-based company promoting the use of electric vehicles, and is a successor to the Sexy Green Car Show, the world’s first environmentally friendly motor show, held at Eden in 2007 and 2008.

Four models, the Leaf, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Peugeot iOn, and Smart fortwo electric drive, are available for visitors to inspect and test drive on a first come, first served basis around the edge of the Eden pit.

Also on display from tomorrow will be the Land Rover electric game viewer concept vehicle, conceived in response to interest from a South African game park who wanted an ecologically sensitive vehicle that is also dependable off-road. It is not available for test driving but visitors are able to ride in it.

The Land Rover is capable of a range of 80 km, equating to an eight-hour game drive, and its near-silent operation makes it possible to get closer to the animals.

Another star of the show is the Tesla Roadster electric sports car, on loan from ZeroCarbonWorld from 22 to 24 August.

Entry to the showcase is included in the usual admission price to Eden.

Watch this latest video to find out what they thought of the 10-day programme.

The last few free places are available for employees within the county – register via the Green Foundation website by the end of June.

We were excited when these results came in, showing how much the practical sessions at Eden – on everything from waste to ethical retail to managing energy – has helped them in their workplace.
Here are some headline facts from the first six months:

• 94% said they established connections with other Cornish businesses as a result of the programme
• 99% learnt something from Green Foundation
• 100% felt their business benefitted from joining

They also told us they’d gained in their confidence to tackle sustainability issues. The graphic below is based on before and after surveys with 108 participants 1 September 2010 – 1 April 2011.

There are still a few places on the programme for employees from Cornish businesses, running throughout June and July. Check the dates and claim your place.

Featuring honey and ginger, the beer is described by Sharp’s as having “a delicately spicy, citrus bittersweet flavour designed to quench the thirst during the warm summer months”.

The Rock-based brewery is working with the Eden Project on a range of seasonal beers throughout the year, which use local ingredients and help re-establish hop-growing in the county. For this summer beer we helped them source local honey.

To get your hands on a pint, call Sharp’s to find a stockist near you: 01208 862121.

You can also order another of Sharp’s wonderful brews, Eden Ale, from our online shop.  As well as individual bottles we have a great Eden Ale beer and nuts hamper, £34.50, and an Eden Ale glass and gift set £9.75.

You can find out more about how Eden works with Sharp’s in this video.