City of Culture student projects

CovHack was a free-to-attend student hackathon, which took place between Saturday 15th February and Sunday 16th February 2020.

Students from across the UK came to Coventry University to form teams to take part in an “invention marathon”. Each team was given 24 hours to develop a software or hardware-based product. Alongside this, the participants also attended workshops that introduced development tools including NodeJS and Docker, and put their analytical skills to the test by solving challenges to reveal secret codes.

CovHack was shortlisted for The National Societies and Volunteering Awards 2020.

Based on the famous game ‘Exquisite Corpse’, three classes from different schools in Coventry will each be asked each to create a fragment of the same story.

The idea is that every student asks their grandparents to say two words.

The students will then have to collaborate to create a story, that the next school will continue using the same method.

The third school will be in charge of finishing the story.

This story will be collected and checked to ensure is coherent enough to then be illustrated in a moving book with animations.

Led by Alvyda Alaburdaite, Green Cov aimed to focus public attention on the threat of anthropogenic climate change. Local communities, schools, artists and retirees were invited to collaborate in the creation of a community-made exhibition.

Inspired by Coventry Canal, fashion student Alice Wylie looked to create a sustainable six-piece womenswear collection featuring nautical knots.

This project aimed to respond to the need for greater sustainability in Coventry and appreciation for local heritage around the canal.

This project, led by Emma Pepperdine, was inspired by abandoned architecture and the redemption of buildings in Coventry, by combining new and old fabrics to create a sustainable fashion collection showcasing the beauty within decay. The aim of the collection was to raise awareness of sustainability across different areas of the design industry and to celebrate the regeneration within the city.

This project, led by Alice Cobert, focussed on keeping Frederick Lanchester's legacy alive through the lens of our current city landscape by creating large-scale photo montages, combining the black and white archival images with modern-day photographs of Coventry.

This work, led by Arandeep Singh, created a photo-exhibition of people in their national dress with a caption of what it means to be a national of their country, and what they love about their adopted home in both English and their national language.

This was open to all and increased understanding of different cultures, creating harmony and sustainable intercommunal relations in Coventry.

Lucy Pearce created a pack to distribute within schools that aimed to help children gain a wider understanding of mental well-being, through creative activities with the help of Dexter the Dinosaur.

The "Youtopia" brand, which Lucy ran alongside her studies, aimed to raise awareness of mental well-being amongst children in a positive, fun way.