Schoolchildren have imagined a futuristic vision of a thriving town.
The Year 7 to 10 students from Darlington have come up with a range of ideas for the town's future, including repurposing redundant offices, traffic-reducing transport systems, and a heritage train.
The students also suggested ways to attract investment, retain and develop a skilled workforce, boost tourism, and protect the environment.
Eight secondary schools took part in the second round of the Jacobs Engineering Group Big Big Project – STEAM: Ahead, hosted by Darlington College.
The competition is part of The Enrichment Partnerships Pilot, launched last year and run by Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, funded by the Department of Education and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The initiative is overseen by the National Citizens Service and the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.
The participating schools include Carmel College, Haughton Academy, Polam Hall School, St Aiden's C of E Academy, Hurworth Academy, Hummersknott Academy, Longfield Academy, and Wyvern Academy.
The students worked with business mentors from organisations such as Carver Group, Bannatyne Group, Vurv Group, Zenith Training, AAA Caring Caretakers, Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, Clive Owen accountants, Becky Voss MUA, and Uptax.
They were tasked with examining the council’s three areas for long-term success and asked to research their own innovations to determine what they thought Darlington should look like by 2040 when the pupils will be of working age.
In the latest round, the students were asked to find a case study of a thriving town centre elsewhere in the country, highlight its key selling points, and consider whether they could be transposed on Darlington.
They were also asked to seek feedback from residents of all ages on what was missing, what was good, and what could be improved, as they developed the growth strategies identified in the first round.
The teams spent the day in Darlington College looking at future clean energy generation, making electric model cars, and designing marketing material showing Darlington as a "hidden gem to the world," before presenting their findings Dragon’s Den style to a panel of judges.
The panel comprised BHCET’s enrichment partnership manager Sarah McGee, Darlington College’s head of marketing and engagement Claire Hankey, Duke of Edinburgh Scheme’s North East enrichment partnerships officer Lori Bennett, and Darlington Borough Council transport planning officer Tom Murray.
The students were also asked to discuss green energy and the importance of industrial heritage to the area.
Ms McGee said: "All the students were brilliant and have shown such in-depth knowledge of the town.
"The presentations were polished and it was clear to see just how much effort they had put into them."
Claire Hankey added: "As panellists, we learned a great deal about the borough listening to the presentations and the students had some amazing ideas on how to improve all aspects of life in Darlington.
"The event left us feeling very optimistic that with this generation the borough will be in safe hands."
Haughton Academy’s lead for extracurricular activities, Megan Alexander-Weir, said: "This has been a really exciting opportunity for our pupils and, while they were nervous, they felt so rewarded to have come through it.
"They thoroughly enjoyed presenting their ideas and taking part in the college activities."
Five schools secured a place in the final – Carmel, Haughton, Hummersknott, Longfield, and St Aidan’s – which will be held on March 25, at 6.30pm, at Darlington’s Dolphin Centre.
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