Loraine Leeson has been working with The Geezers since 2007 on the Active Energy Project. Over the summer Middlesex University were showcasing the Active Energy project as one of their best research initiatives. Now it has just been announced that the Active Energy project has been shortlisted for THE Awards which are described as the ‘Oscars of higher education’.
You’ll find details on THE Awards shortlist page under Knowledge Exchange/Transfer Initiative of the Year. Click on Middlesex University.
Their submission is below:
Active Energy has involved knowledge exchange between an artist, engineers, young people,
students, galleries, environmental charities and most importantly the Geezers, a group of
retired men who meet at an AgeUK centre in East London.
Using a participatory art process, they have explored how renewable energy can benefit
communities, and the technologies needed to support this.
Over more than twelve years the Active Energy team has developed and tested a prototype
turbine in the Thames, worked with young people on a wind turbine for an AgeUK roof,
collaborated with seniors in Pittsburgh, staged exhibitions in the UK and US, and produced
floating water wheels for Three Mills heritage site and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The project’s methods have since been used to facilitate projects in India disseminating
urgent information on water conservation between villagers in the Rajasthan desert and
supporting children who have suffered from the conflict in Kashmir.
Active Energy