Young Voices, Future Swansea

10th June 2026

Working with people who are local to the BIOME building is very important for the REPAIR project, so it was great to have the help of some enthusiastic youngsters in May to create a wonderful new resource for their school in the Sandfields area.

In early May, Dr Gethin Matthews, a historian at Swansea University, went to speak to a Year 4 class at St Helen’s School about the past, present and future of central Swansea. The youngsters at Sandfields are already familiar with some new ideas which are helping their environment, as rain gardens surround the school and have been successful in reducing incidents of local flooding.

Then, on a bright spring day, the class went on a bus trip in the company of Dr Matthews and the artist Siôn Tomos Owen. They investigated different sites around Swansea which show how people have interacted with their environment over the centuries. Some industrial sites were looked at, such as the locations of former steelworks, coal mines or copperworks. The culture of Swansea was also discussed, with a visit to Mynyddbach chapel, home of ‘Calon Lân’. Heading towards the city centre, the youngsters were taken with the story of the medieval castle, and then learned about why there are so many different architectural styles to be seen along Oxford Street, before we finished by the BIOME building.

The following day, the children reflected on what they had learned and shared their own ideas about Swansea’s past, present and future. Drawing on the places they had visited and the stories they had heard, they highlighted important aspects of the city’s history, including coal mining, copper smelting, Swansea Castle and the impact of the Second World War. They also imagined a positive future for Swansea, one in which nature flourishes, people enjoy healthy and active lives, and communities work together to create thriving neighbourhoods. The BIOME featured strongly in their thinking, representing a way of living that works with the environment rather than against it.