Coventry’s universities prepare for City of Culture with cultural projects open to all

Coventry’s universities are to embark on a series of collaborations to bring their research directly to Coventrians in the run up to UK City of Culture 2021.

Working with local cultural groups the University of Warwick and Coventry University will collaborate on 13 projects during the spring and summer of 2018 that will support Coventry City Council’s Cultural Strategy.

Covering a diverse range of research expertise across the institutions, the collaborations will highlight the Cultural Strategy’s goals of partnership, lifelong learning, diversity, health and well-being and economic growth.

The first project to be announced, Is the future of Humankind, Martiankind?, will use LEGO Mindstorms and LEGO Architectureto help solve problem of how to send humans to Mars across five single day workshops in Coventry libraries (Earlsdon, Bell Green and Willenhall) and the Warwick and Coventry campuses.

A collaboration between Dr Alan Richards of Coventry University’s Disruptive Media Learning Lab (DMLL) and Dr Glenn Miles of WMG, the University of Warwick, Is the future of Humankind, Martiankind? invites people to find solutions on how future Martian residents meet health, transportation, habitation, education and industrial needs.

With dates and venues set to be announced for all 13 Creative Exchanges, Is the future of Humankind, Martiankind? addresses a question that would once seem only in the realm of science-fiction but is increasingly becoming science-fact – with the necessary reusable rocket technology already under development, but what solutions can Coventrians come up with to help them on their way?