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If you were sailing away on an ark to a low carbon future, what would you save and what would you leave behind?
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What's New? The final stage of construction. The CIAO! Ark is getting ready for launch on the lawn of the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History.  The Ark - Tuesday evening. The Ark is now in the final stage of construction, the Artwork is being installed, the eco friendly energy sources have been hooked up and the finishing touches are being added ready for the opening of the Ark on Wednesday. Visit our Events Programme page for a full listing of events taking place on and around the Ark over the next 5 days. MINI Engineers Challenge Local School Children to Think Green MINI Plant Oxford’s involvement with The CIAO! Ark Project builds on its long-held interest in environmental sustainability and its active community involvement.  The winners with their trophy. Hundreds of primary school children first became interested in the MINI Plant when they learned about the development of its 100% electric, zero-emissions ‘MINI E’ at the Children’s Climate Change Conference earlier this year. Since then a team of engineers and apprentices have been out to all of the ten participating schools to run a workshop designed to encourage children to think about the future of transport, and to set them a challenge: Construction of the Ark has begun! The CIAO! Ark is already starting to take shape on the lawn of the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History.  The Ark - Saturday afternoon. The crew started work early saturday morning, to move the Ark to it’s city centre location. They have done a great job, and as you can see the Ark is rapidly taking shape.
MINI Plant Oxford helps launch CIAO! Ark’s maiden voyage. CIAO! is delighted to announce a new partnership with MINI Plant Oxford. MINI Plant Oxford supports a range of local community activities and with the support of Oxford Inspires, the city’s cultural agency, have made this partnership possible. Hundreds of Oxfordshire primary school children were first captivated by the car manufacturer when they learned about the development of the 100% electric, zero-emissions MINI E at the Children’s Climate Change Conference, held at the Shedonian Theatre when the Ark project was launched in January. Dr Jürgen Hedrich, managing director of MINI Plant Oxford, said: “We are delighted to support the Ark project. MINI is all about doing things differently and taking on new challenges. I’m hoping that this partnership will prove to be a fascinating experience for both the schools involved in the Ark project – and for our engineers who will be working with them. “It also offers an opportunity for our employees and their families to get involved with helping to actually build the Ark, so we will be playing a hands on role.” SAE Oxford get involved with the CIAO! Ark Project SAE Oxford, the international headquarters for the world’s largest private college for audio engineering and digital film training has become one of CIAO!’s latest project partners.  Neve Genesys console in Control Room 1 at SAE Oxford The studio and sound recording facilities are located in Littlemore and are second to none. When they offered us the opportunity to professionally record the pupils of St John Fisher Catholic Primary School, performing the song they are creating as part of the Ark schools project with Nick Cope of the Candyskins, we jumped at the chance! SAE will also be recording the ‘Ark Anthem’, which will be performed by pupils from all of the ten participating schools. This will allow a large number of children the opportunity to experience the life of pop stars in using world-class recording studios. Oxford University Museum of Natural History CIAO! are thrilled to announce that the Ark will be situated on the front lawn of Oxford University Museum of Natural History during the CIAO! Ark Festival, from 23rd – 27th June 2010.  Front lawn of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History The green space in front of one of Oxford’s most iconic buildings is the perfect setting for an installation that represents a meeting place for science and the arts. Given that 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity as well as the Museum’s 150th anniversary, the five-day celebration of low carbon living on the theme of ‘a positive vision of a low carbon future’ encourages people to think of the many ways in which they can protect species close to home as well as reducing their carbon footprints. We will be releasing a full programme of the events taking place on the Ark very soon… Theatre Chipping Norton generously donates their pantomime set from 2009 Following its successful Christmas 2009 run at The Theatre, Chipping Norton, Dick Whittington’s pantomime set will continue to entertain the masses, albeit in a different shape and form! The Theatre has very generously donated the pantomime set in order for the materials to be recycled and reused in the building of the CIAO! Ark.Our aim is to build the Ark from reclaimed materials gathered from a 20-mile radius of Oxford city centre and this donation will hopefully be the first of many, in a project that brings together scientists, architects and arts organisations from across Oxfordshire. The CIAO! Children’s Climate Change Conference Despite severe weather conditions, the CIAO! Children’s Climate Change Conference went ahead as planned and marked the official launch of the CIAO! Ark Project.  Dr Myles Allen addressing the children at the Sheldonian. Eight of the ten primary schools involved in the project valiantly made their way to Oxford's Sheldonian Theatre, some on foot and on buses that had not been running the previous day when many of Oxford's streets were barely passable owing to blizzards! The scientists speaking at the event arrived in their wellies and, against all odds, nearly 400 school children listened to some of Oxford's leading environmental scientists and engineers present their visions for a low carbon future and explain the science of climate change. Remote controlled cars powered by hydrogen whizzed around this historic building; children watched the effect of greenhouse gases being demonstrated with infra-red cameras and the audience learnt why even the smallest of insects enable us to eat vanilla and chocolate ice cream! Science came alive and the message was clear: we all have a part to play in this enormous challenge and the Ark adventure has only just begun... Amazed to discover some of the latest technologies being developed to combat climate change, one child of Woodstock C of E Primary School commented: “I thought that the various talks were very interesting and I learnt a lot of things about climate change and how I can do my bit to save the environment. I had no idea that you could do so much to your house to make it eco friendly.” Rachel, Year 6 Scientists will now go into the ten primary schools to hold workshops exploring all facets of low carbon living. Children will then work with professional artists to express what they have learned creatively through theatre, dance, music, creative writing, crafts, storytelling, film and photography. These final artworks will be performed and exhibited on the Ark when it is installed from 23-27 June 2010. The Ark itself is being designed by Architecture san Frontières and theatre designer Nomi Everall, and will be made from reclaimed materials from a 20-mile radius of Oxford. It will be an object of beauty, with lighting and sound from clean, green power. The Ark will be placed in 'the Sea of Troubles' - a visual representation of what the children choose to leave behind, from asthma inhalers to values and behaviours that they feel have contributed to environments problems. Thursday 14th January 2010, Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford The CIAO! Ark Project – Children's Climate Change Conference is awarded the Inspire Mark by the Cultural Olympiad.  The Sheldonian Theatre Oxford The CIAO! Children’s Climate Change Conference has been awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark in recognition of the values that the project shares with the Cultural Olympiad. Speakers at the event are: Update on the ark school science projects  The Schools Science Projects Each of the 10 primary schools working on the project is paired with a scientist to explore the issue of low carbon living and ideas about the future. Following the Sheldonian Theatre conference, children will take on investigations in their schools in diverse areas including: • predicting future climate and imagining life in a warmer world Children will share their results with scientists and policy makers when they make presentations at a reverse conference on 24th June 2010. |
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CIAO! is an Oxford-based arts organisation that offers children and young people exciting opportunities to engage with the highest quality performing arts from around the world. |
CIAO! is a charitable company registered in England and Wales, no. 4823610.
Registered office address: CIAO!, TBAC Centre, 1-5 London Place, St Clements, Oxford, OX4 1BD.
Registered charity no. 1111140
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