In the EPI•STEM PODCAST Episode 16, co-hosts Geraldine Simmie PhD and Michelle Starr PhD welcome guests from thepost-primary school, Coláiste Chiaráin in Croom Co. Limerick – Edel Farrell, the physics teacher and three Transition Year students, Felix Nabor, Masha Galinovska and Andrew Szetlitsvoi.

The students and their physics teacher recount the deep learning in STEAM education they experienced from participating in the project entitled DESIGN A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE IN IRELAND IN 2050. The project was offered to schools in Limerick as a pilot partnership between EPI•STEM at the University of Limerick, the HUNT Museum and theLimerick Education Support Centre.

Here the physics teacher and TY students share the vision of their futuristic design, the multiple ways they developed asustainability mindset during the project, and the importance of thinking, planning, doing and reflecting on justice for the greater good of society and the local environment.

Besides working with the physics teacher, the students worked closely with the Art teacher, Michael Delorgy and the art room provided a welcome space to plan the details of the project.Through this combination of STEAM subjects their OCTO_ECO_VILLAGE concept was formed, a fully sustainable eco-village in the shape of that most versatile animal, the OCTOPUS. The village was fully pedestrianised with green bicycle routes and an underground car park. The eco-village was situated on the banks of a river with ready access to water. Renewable energy was in-built, and climate friendly material was used to construct the dwelling spaces, the local housing and community meeting spaces for cultural activities andmulti-denominational worship.

The musical selection today is by Ayyaz Mehmood, a final year student in the Performing Arts in World Music in The Irish World Academy of Music. Ayyaz is a singer and a songwriter. Here Ayyaz is playing acoustic guitar and singing one of his own compositions, entitled ‘Homelife’.