The Waterline 2024 and Student Sustainability Challenge

On Wednesday 27th November 2024, the Humber cemented its position as a revolutionary leader in climate action and innovation during The Waterline 2024 at the Aura Innovation Centre in Hull. Since its inception in 2019, this flagship campaign has united businesses, academia, and communities to address the global climate emergency, showcasing the region’s remarkable strengths and resourceful potential to drive decarbonisation. 

This year’s event focused on engaging the next generation in the net-zero agenda, exploring the Humber’s strategic importance in tackling climate change, and empowering attendees to lead a greener, more visionary future. 

Morning Highlights: The Business Breakfast Panel 

The event began with David Laister, PR and Media Director at Fred, who hosted the session and delivered the opening remarks, setting the stage for the discussions ahead. He highlighted the Humber’s £15 billion clean growth investment, which is projected to create 20,000 jobs. “The Humber is a global leader in offshore wind, green hydrogen, and decarbonisation,” he said. David emphasised the importance of leveraging these assets to meet national and international net-zero goals while driving economic growth across the region. 

• Ruth Amos, Inventor and Founder of Kids Invent Stuff, shared her journey as an advocate for STEM education. “We need to show young people, particularly girls, how exciting engineering can be,” she explained. Ruth stressed the transformative role of creativity, hands-on challenges, and social media in inspiring the next generation to explore careers in sustainability and innovation. 
• Rich Quelch, Chief Marketing Officer at John Good Group, shared the company’s journey to achieving carbon neutrality through their People, Planet, and Performance approach. “It’s vital to embed purpose into everything we do, ensuring sustainability is at the core of business strategies,” he said. Rich also pointed to the ripple effects of aligning sustainability goals with community impact, showcasing the company’s ability to inspire other businesses to follow suit. 
• Chris Jackson, Director of Regeneration at Hull City Council, spoke passionately about the Humber’s resilience and potential. He highlighted the dual challenges of being one of the UK’s most flood-prone areas while also possessing significant geographic and industrial advantages. “Hull and the Humber have a unique opportunity to lead in addressing global climate challenges,” he said. Chris also underscored the importance of devolution as a catalyst for change, explaining: “With two devolution deals in progress, the region now has a seat at the table, ensuring inward investment and long-term collaboration.” He noted that Hull City Council is working on ambitious regeneration plans to enhance the region’s vibrancy while preserving its rich maritime history. 

Key Themes and Insights 

The panel delved into the Humber’s role as the UK’s largest industrial CO₂ emitter and its evolution into a decarbonisation hub. Key themes included: 

• Devolution’s Impact: Chris Jackson highlighted that without devolution, the Humber had missed out on opportunities in the past. Now, with the deals in progress, there is a clear recognition of the region’s strategic importance. 
• Cross-Regional Collaboration: Panellists agreed that partnerships across the Humber, combined with national government support, are crucial for achieving sustainability targets. 
• Purpose-Driven Growth: From John Good Group’s business model to Hull’s community-focused regeneration, the discussion repeatedly returned to the idea that meaningful change requires aligning profit with purpose. 
• Showcasing the Humber: Events like The Waterline, and local events that have been supported by The Waterline, are instrumental in elevating the Humber’s profile as a leader in tackling the global climate emergency. 

The conversation reinforced the Humber’s position as a transformative region, not only responding to climate challenges but actively shaping what sustainability leadership looks like. 

Keynote Address: Ruth Amos Inspires the Next Generation 

After lunch, the event featured a captivating talk from Ruth Amos, Inventor and Founder of Kids Invent Stuff, who celebrated creativity, resilience, and the importance of role models in STEM. Ruth shared her inspiring journey, which began at the age of 16 when she invented the Stairsteady, a product that won her the Young Engineer for Britain award. Ruth’s story illustrated how a simple idea could evolve into a game-changing innovation, and how persistence, passion, and innovation can lead to remarkable achievements. 

Ruth also spoke about her work co-founding Kids Invent Stuff, a platform designed to ignite young people’s interest in engineering. Through this content, she and her co-founder, Shawn Brown, bring fun and imaginative invention challenges to life, encouraging children to embrace their creativity.  

She emphasised the importance of role models in shaping young people’s aspirations, particularly in fields where representation has historically been lacking. Ruth’s own experience as one of only two girls in her school’s resistant materials class further fuelled her desire to make engineering more accessible and appealing to the next generation. "We must show young people that STEM is not just a career, but a way to make a real difference in the world," she added, reinforcing the need to inspire more children to explore these fields. 

Phillips 66 Sustainability Challenge 

The spotlight then shifted to the Phillips 66 Sustainability Challenge, where students presented innovative projects addressing real-world environmental issues. 

Here were the three finalists chosen to present:  

• Humberstone Academy proposed using wax worms to reduce plastic pollution by breaking down polyethylene waste, providing an eco-friendly solution to the plastic crisis. 
• Sir John Nelthorpe School introduced the use of methanotrophs to reduce methane emissions from wetlands while preserving biodiversity and improving flood management. 
• Engineering UTC Northern Lincolnshire won the challenge with their Roller-TeQ project, a system that harnesses kinetic energy from vehicles to power homes. This innovative design, which uses pressure plates to convert energy from cars, earned them the challenge’s top prize, which includes £5,000, a trip to London to visit Parliament and Phillips 66’s head office, and train tickets to the capital courtesy of Hull Trains. 

The judging panel - featuring Ruth Amos, Paul Fursey (Phillips 66), Diana Taylor (Future Humber), and David Leatham (Hull Trains/Lumo) - commended all participants for their creativity and innovative thinking to sustainability. 

Conclusion 

The Waterline 2024 exemplified the Humber’s commitment to sustainability, innovation, and empowering the next generation. From thought-provoking panel discussions to groundbreaking student projects, the event demonstrated the region’s remarkable leadership in tackling the climate emergency while creating opportunities for future generations. 

The Humber’s message was clear: it is not only addressing the challenges of net zero but redefining what it means to lead in a sustainable future.