Charnwood Champions: A Passport to Inclusive Environmental Science is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) will develop and pilot a progressive, place-based “passport” model that supports learners from early years through to employment or higher education.
The initiative aims to develop a framework that can be replicated nationally and tackle long-standing barriers to inclusion in the environmental science sector, which remains one of the UK’s least diverse.
Based in Leicester and Leicestershire, a region facing intersecting challenges of high deprivation, low green space access, and educational inequality, Charnwood Champions will co-create environmental learning experiences with local schools, youth groups, and communities.
“Environmental science must reflect the diversity of the communities it serves,” said Dr Katie Parsons, Project co-lead. “Charnwood Champions creates new, visible pathways for underrepresented and disadvantaged groups into green careers and environmental leadership.”
The programme builds on Loughborough University’s existing partnerships, including with Charnwood Forest Geopark, the British Geological Survey and the Leicestershire Civic Universities Partnership, which involves collaboration with the University of Leicester, De Montfort University, local authorities, and a wide range of community partners.
Key features of Charnwood Champions include a structured, longitudinal “passport” that builds environmental knowledge, green skills and career awareness over time, along with engagement with diverse environmental science role models and professionals. The project seeks to counter the perception of environmental science as elitist or inaccessible, by integrating a wider range of disciplines, including the arts and social sciences, for a more inclusive approach.
The project will benefit over 200 young people and aims to serve as a national blueprint for widening participation in the environmental science workforce. Findings will be shared widely through open-access toolkits and presentations at national forums.
Dr Josh Wolstenholme, co-lead, emphasised the importance of a long-term, community-rooted approach: “One-off workshops won’t solve systemic exclusion. Charnwood Champions is about building confidence, connections, and a sense of belonging in environmental science from the ground up.”
Innovation Funding Manager and former Programme Manager for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Programmes at Innovate UK, Dr Rachel Obrike said: “By fostering sustained engagement from early years to higher education, we are building a robust and diverse pipeline into environmental science. The project will rigorously evaluate its methods and share outcomes across the sector, helping shape future policy, practice, and funding priorities. As someone deeply committed to inclusive research, I am thrilled to see this initiative take shape."
Daniel Parsons, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Innovation and a Professor of Geoscience added: “This initiative arrives at a critical moment for the environmental sector, given a growing green skills gap, the UK Government's Climate Action Plan to embed sustainability in education, and the urgent need to address a significant diversity deficit within the environmental sciences, which remains one of the least diverse disciplines. Without immediate action, entire communities risk continued exclusion from the green transition.”
One of the project’s key partners, the Charnwood Forest Geopark—an aspiring UNESCO Global Geopark—will provide hands-on learning linked to the area’s unique geological and ecological heritage, supporting green skills development from geology to poetry. By piloting this inclusive, place-based framework in Leicestershire, Charnwood Champions aims to create a replicable model for widening participation in environmental science across the UK.