22nd April 2025

Organised by education environment charity Another Way, this year’s Earth Day saw 200 students from 15 Cornish secondary schools gather for a day of celebration and empowerment at its Power of 10 Festival in Penryn.

The festival brought together keynote speakers, local environmental organisations, and creative workshops to help young people discover their unique skillsets for tackling the climate and biodiversity crises. A donation by The Duchy of Cornwall supported five schools to attend the festival for free.

Highlights from the day included making music through plants, holding insects and learning about their unique roles in various ecosystems, creating art from vegetable-based paints, and experiencing lively seagrass meadows through VR headsets. The Duchy’s Future Farming Advisor Jeremy Clitherow enjoyed taking part in the day of festivities.

Amy Bray, CEO and founder of Another Way commented: “Cornwall sees our second Power of 10 Festival following on from our similarly successful event in Cumbria last year. It is clear that young people are passionate about their futures and the impact of climate change is a key factor. Another Way is providing these young people with education and an environment that allows them to explore and be comfortable protecting our natural world.”

David Cope, Head of Sustainability at the Duchy of Cornwall said: “We’re passionate about young people making a positive impact on the planet, especially in Cornwall. That’s why the Duchy of Cornwall made a donation to support the Power of 10 Festival to involve more school children to improve the Cornish environment.”

Students were also encouraged to dissect the complex emotions that often accompany climate action in an eco-anxiety workshop as well as asked in-depth questions about local environmental policies in a Q&A session with an MP from Truro and Falmouth.

“It was so cool to see how we can speak to our MPs and speak up about the things we believe in,” remarked Festival attendee Bellamy.

Throughout the day, students used the Power of 10 app to connect and share ideas with other young people from schools across the UK. Each attending group also used the app to vote on environmental action campaigns, which will be carried out in their classrooms over the next year. The most popular campaigns created involve reducing fast fashion and plastic consumption within student communities. Students who attended the Festival are now part of the Power of 10 digital community and are able to access support from Another Way to carry out their campaigns in addition to a library of resources on planet-friendly living.

Alongside the Duchy, the day was supported by Cornwall Council and the University of Exeter.

Find out more about Another Way on their website.